(CN) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday three proposed rule changes they say will strengthen Endangered Species Act protections.
Two of the rule changes, which are subject to a 60-day public comment period before they are finalized and put into effect, undo rollbacks implemented by the Trump administration in 2019.
One of those added economic impacts as a factor for listing, delisting or reclassifying a species — for example, lost revenue from oil drilling or home construction. This new change would remove it.
"When evaluating a species’ classification status, the Services cannot take into account potential economic impacts that could stem from the classification decision, such as costs associated with prohibitions on commercial harvest or interstate sale of that species, or other impacts, such as potential restrictions on land management," the proposed change reads.
Another proposal would reinstate the "blanket rule," which gives species newly listed as "threatened" most of the same protections as endangered species. It would also "add federally recognized Tribes to the entities authorized to aid, salvage, or dispose of threatened species."
A third proposed rule change aims to streamline the federal interagency consultation process.
“The Endangered Species Act is the nation’s foremost conservation law that prevents the extinction of species and supports their recovery,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams in a written statement. “These proposed revisions reaffirm our commitment to conserving America’s wildlife and ensuring the Endangered Species Act works for both species and people.”
Some environmentalists responded lukewarmly to the announcement. Stephanie Kurose, a policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, called it a half measure.
“This disappointing proposal ... restores pieces of the Endangered Species Act but keeps many of the disastrous Trump-era provisions in place,” said Kurose in a written statement. “If federal officials truly wanted to stem the extinction crisis, they’d restore the full power of the Act and overhaul the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
In 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a petition urging the Biden administration to make "bold regulatory improvements that align with the larger ambitions contained within the Act to recover species and their ecosystems, as well as the Act’s mandate that extinction be halted 'whatever the cost.'”
Other conservation groups reacted more favorably. An attorney for Earthjustice, in a statement, called the proposals "promising steps toward restoring the purpose and power of the Endangered Species Act."
The president of Defenders of Wildlife said, in a written statement: "While areas of concern exist within these new regulations, restoring automatic protections for our nation’s threatened species is a huge step in the right direction for the Endangered Species Act and biodiversity."
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, signed into law by President Richard Nixon on Dec. 28, 1973. According to the Department of Commerce, the law has prevented "the extinction of over 99% of the species it has protected over its 50-year history."
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