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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Endangered Species Act -- parts of
it could become extinct: Bush wants to let federal agencies decide whether
projects might harm endangered animals. New rules would cut scientific reviews.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:City></st1:place> Times- 8/12/08<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>By Juliet <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Eilperin</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State></st1:place>
Post</span></font></b><font size=4><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><br>
<br>
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">WASHINGTON</st1:place></st1:State>
— The Bush administration Monday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the
Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected
species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent
scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.<br>
<br>
The new rules, which will be subject to a 30-day comment period, would use
administrative powers to make broad changes in the law that Congress has
resisted for years. Under current law, agencies must subject any plans that potentially
affect endangered animals and plants to an independent review by scientists at
the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under
the proposed new rules, dam and highway construction and other federal projects
could proceed without delay if the agency in charge decides they would not harm
vulnerable species.<br>
<br>
The Associated Press obtained a draft of the proposal and reported its details.<br>
<br>
Afterward, in a telephone call with reporters, Interior Secretary Dirk
Kempthorne described the rules as a "narrow regulatory change" that
"will provide clarity and certainty to the consultation process under the
Endangered Species Act."<br>
<br>
But environmentalists and congressional Democrats blasted the proposal as a
last-minute attempt by the administration to bring about dramatic changes in
the law. For more than a decade, congressional Republicans have been trying
unsuccessfully to rewrite the act, which property owners and developers say
imposes unreasonable economic costs.<br>
<br>
"I am deeply troubled by this proposed rule, which gives federal agencies
an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide whether or not to comply with
the Endangered Species Act," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.),
chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who asked for a staff
briefing before the proposal was announced but did not receive one.
"Eleventh-hour rulemakings rarely, if ever, lead to good government. This
is not the type of legacy this Interior Department should be leaving for future
generations."<br>
<br>
Bob Irvin, senior vice president of conservation programs at the advocacy group
Defenders of Wildlife, questioned how some federal agencies could make the
assessments, when most do not have wildlife biologists on staff.<br>
<br>
"Clearly, that's a case of asking the fox to guard the chicken coop,"
Irvin said, adding that the original law created "a giant caution light
that made federal agencies stop and think about the impacts of their actions.
What the Bush administration is telling those agencies is they don't have to
think about those impacts anymore."<br>
<br>
But Dale Hall, who directs the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the move would
not apply to major federal projects and would give his agency more time to
focus on the most critically endangered species, rather than conducting reviews
of projects that pose little threat.<br>
<br>
"We have to have the ability to put our efforts where they're
needed," Hall said, adding that individual agencies will have to take
responsibility if their projects do harm a protected species. "This really
says to the agencies, 'This law belongs to all of us. You're responsible to
defend it.' "<br>
<br>
The new rules would also limit the impact of the administration's decision in
May to list the polar bear as threatened with extinction because of shrinking
sea ice. At the time of that decision, Kempthorne said he would seek changes to
the Endangered Species Act on the grounds that it was inflexible, adding that
it had not been modified significantly since 1986.<br>
<br>
In a statement Monday, the Interior Department declared that even if a federal
action such as the permitting of a power plant would lead to increased
greenhouse gas emissions, the decision would not trigger a federal review
"because it is not possible to link the emissions to impacts on specific
listed species such as polar bears."<br>
<br>
The draft rules obtained by the Associated Press would bar agencies from
assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its
effect on species and habitats.<br>
<br>
Kempthorne said the new regulations included that language "so we don't
inadvertently have the Endangered Species Act seen as a back door to climate
change policy that was never, ever intended."<br>
<br>
The new rules were expected to be formally proposed immediately, officials told
the Associated Press. That would give the administration enough time to impose
the rules before November's presidential election. A new administration could
freeze any pending regulations or reverse them, but that process could take
months. Congress could overturn the rules through legislation, but that could
take even longer.<br>
<br>
Tim Coyle, senior vice president for governmental affairs at the California
Building Industry Assn., said that while his association would have to read the
rules before making a judgment, he welcomed Kempthorne's statement on the polar
bear because it offered "clarity on an issue that if it was left broad and
ambiguous, could be a serious problem for the home-building industry here in
California. . . . For home builders, clarity in the rules is always, always
helpful."<br>
<br>
Although Kempthorne said he had received "encouragement from both sides of
the aisle to see if we couldn't bring about steps that would make the
Endangered Species Act more effective," his proposal opened a new front in
the ongoing battle between the administration and Congress on the environment.<br>
<br>
An aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Environment and Public
Works Committee, said she, like Rahall, had requested but not received a
briefing. The panel is drafting a letter to the Interior Department and will
hold an oversight hearing.<br>
<br>
In a statement, Boxer called the rules change "another in a continuing
stream of proposals to repeal our landmark environmental laws through the back
door. I believe it is illegal, and if this proposed regulation had been in
place, it would have undermined our ability to protect the bald eagle, the
grizzly bear, and the gray whale."#<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray;font-style:italic'>Byron</span></font></i></st1:PersonName><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'> Leydecker</span></font></i></st1:PersonName><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'>, JCT</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>Friends of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>, Chair</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray;font-style:italic'>PO Box</span></font></i></st1:Street><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'> 2327</span></font></i></st1:address><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><i><font size=3
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;
font-style:italic'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></st1:City><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>415 383 4810</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>415 383 9562 fax<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>bwl3@comcast.net<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></font>
<font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>(secondary)<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>http://www.fotr.org<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
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