Zeno Swijtink
08-15-2008, 03:16 AM
My friend wrote: "Even a conservative publication like the Wall Street Journal gets the point here. As the Bush Administration winds down, and the probability increases that the Republicans will lose seats in both chambers of Congress look for all sorts of overt and, more dangerously, covert attempts to further gut the already weakened regulatory agencies."
Bush Seeks to Limit Species Law (https://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850393688731887.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)
STEPHEN POWER - Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is proposing to reduce the environmental reviews federal agencies must undertake as part of the Endangered Species Act.
The proposal could speed up commercial development, but environmentalists said the changes could threaten the protection of wildlife.
The draft rules also would attempt to limit the use of the Endangered Species Act as a tool for fighting climate change. They would state that agencies don't have to consult one another in cases where a project would have only an indirect effect on a threatened or endangered species. Bush administration officials described that aspect of the proposal as a way to prevent the act from becoming a "back door" for regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Polar Bears were listed as a threatened species in May.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited such concerns in May when he announced his decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the act, following evidence that the loss of sea ice is threatening polar bears' Arctic habitat.
The draft rules would be subject to a 30-day public comment period before being finalized by the Interior Department, giving the administration time to impose them before the fall election.
Under current law, all federal agencies must consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before undertaking any actions that could affect an endangered species.
Such consultations occur thousands of times each year and often prompt complaints from home builders, highway developers and other groups that say the regulations unnecessarily delay certain projects.
Administration officials said the proposed changes would limit the duration of such consultations and lend greater certainty to the process. The proposals would allow agencies to terminate consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service if it doesn't act on a request within 60 days.
Currently, the Fish and Wildlife Service must tell agencies within 30 days of getting a consultation request whether it needs more information, but it isn't required to give agencies a formal answer on the request within a set time period. Business groups complain that the consultation process can last months or even years.
In announcing the proposed changes, Mr. Kempthorne described them as an attempt to respond to the frustrations of Fish and Wildlife Service officials, who he said often have been unable to prioritize as a result of the many consultation requests from other agencies.
Administration critics assailed the proposed changes as an 11th-hour effort to undermine the Endangered Species Act. "What the administration is proposing to do is allow agencies to decide for themselves that their actions will not impact endangered species and thereby remove any opportunity for the experts at the [Fish and Wildlife Service] to review those determinations," said Bob Irvin, a senior vice president of the Washington-based Defenders of Wildlife.
Bush Seeks to Limit Species Law (https://online.wsj.com/article/SB121850393688731887.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)
STEPHEN POWER - Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is proposing to reduce the environmental reviews federal agencies must undertake as part of the Endangered Species Act.
The proposal could speed up commercial development, but environmentalists said the changes could threaten the protection of wildlife.
The draft rules also would attempt to limit the use of the Endangered Species Act as a tool for fighting climate change. They would state that agencies don't have to consult one another in cases where a project would have only an indirect effect on a threatened or endangered species. Bush administration officials described that aspect of the proposal as a way to prevent the act from becoming a "back door" for regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Polar Bears were listed as a threatened species in May.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited such concerns in May when he announced his decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the act, following evidence that the loss of sea ice is threatening polar bears' Arctic habitat.
The draft rules would be subject to a 30-day public comment period before being finalized by the Interior Department, giving the administration time to impose them before the fall election.
Under current law, all federal agencies must consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before undertaking any actions that could affect an endangered species.
Such consultations occur thousands of times each year and often prompt complaints from home builders, highway developers and other groups that say the regulations unnecessarily delay certain projects.
Administration officials said the proposed changes would limit the duration of such consultations and lend greater certainty to the process. The proposals would allow agencies to terminate consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service if it doesn't act on a request within 60 days.
Currently, the Fish and Wildlife Service must tell agencies within 30 days of getting a consultation request whether it needs more information, but it isn't required to give agencies a formal answer on the request within a set time period. Business groups complain that the consultation process can last months or even years.
In announcing the proposed changes, Mr. Kempthorne described them as an attempt to respond to the frustrations of Fish and Wildlife Service officials, who he said often have been unable to prioritize as a result of the many consultation requests from other agencies.
Administration critics assailed the proposed changes as an 11th-hour effort to undermine the Endangered Species Act. "What the administration is proposing to do is allow agencies to decide for themselves that their actions will not impact endangered species and thereby remove any opportunity for the experts at the [Fish and Wildlife Service] to review those determinations," said Bob Irvin, a senior vice president of the Washington-based Defenders of Wildlife.