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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color="#666666" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666'><img width=140
height=20 id="_x0000_i1115" src="cid:image001.gif@01C933C6.F9CC0B50" border=0><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:125%'><font size=1 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.0pt;line-height:125%;font-family:Verdana;
color:black;letter-spacing:.3pt'><span itxtvisited=1 id=udtD>updated <span
itxtvisited=1><span class=time>5:24 p.m. PT,</span></span> <span itxtvisited=1><span
class=date2>Tues., Oct. 21, 2008</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1 style='margin-left:0in'><b><font size=6 color="#cc0000" face=Georgia><span
style='font-size:21.5pt'>Feds rush to ease endangered species rules<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h2 style='margin-left:0in' itxtvisited=1><b><font size=3 color=black
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>15 reviewers, 200,000 comments, 32
hours to go through all of them<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#666666" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666;display:none'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<span CM=AutoBox itxtvisited=1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#666666" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666;display:none'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:
150%'><span itxtvisited=1>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:place></st1:State><font
size=2><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'> - Rushing to ease
endangered species rules before President Bush leaves office, U.S. Interior
Department officials are trying to review 200,000 comments from the public in
just 32 hours, according to an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>The
Fish and Wildlife Service has called a team of 15 people to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> this week to pore through letters
and online comments about a proposal to exclude greenhouse gases and the advice
of federal biologists from decisions about whether dams, power plants and other
federal projects could harm species. That would be the biggest change in
endangered species rules since 1986.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>In
an e-mail last week to Fish and Wildlife managers across the country, Bryan
Arroyo, head of the agency's endangered species program, said the team would
work eight hours a day starting Tuesday to the close of business on Friday to
sort through the comments. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's office,
according to the e-mail, will be responsible for analyzing and responding to
them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11><a name=storyContinued></a><font size=2 color=black
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>Last week's end to
the public comment period initiated the review.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><b
itxtvisited=1><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
11.0pt;line-height:150%;font-weight:bold'>'Last-ditch attempt'</span></font></b><font
size=2><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'><br itxtvisited=1>
Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee,
whose own letter opposing the changes is among the thousands that will be
processed, called the 32-hour deadline a "last-ditch attempt to undermine
the long-standing integrity of the Endangered Species program."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>At
that rate, according to a committee aide's calculation, 6,250 comments would
have to be reviewed every hour. That means that each member of the team would
be reviewing at least seven comments each minute.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>It
usually takes months to review public comments on a proposed rule, and by law
the government must respond before a rule becomes final.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>"It
would seem very difficult for them in four days to respond to so many
thoughtful comments in an effective way," said Eric Biber, an assistant
professor at the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">California</st1:PlaceName>, <st1:City w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:City>, <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Law</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. Along with other law professors
across the country, Biber sent in 70 pages of comment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>Fish
and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall told the AP on Tuesday that the short
time for processing the comments was requested by Kempthorne and would set a
record.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>"There
is an effort here to see if this can be completed" before the
administration is out, Hall said. He said the goal was to have the rule to the
White House by early November. In May, the administration set a Nov. 1 deadline
for all final regulations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><b
itxtvisited=1><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
11.0pt;line-height:150%;font-weight:bold'>Overruling Congress?</span></font></b><font
size=2><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'><br itxtvisited=1>
How fast the rule is finished could determine how hard it is to undo.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=left
itxtvisited=1>
<tr itxtvisited=1>
<td style='padding:3.75pt 11.25pt 0in 0in' itxtvisited=1><font size=2
color="#666666" face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:#666666'></span></span></font>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-element:frame' itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1
id=byLine><font size=2 color="#666666" face=Arial><span style='font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=textbodyblack11><font size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>A new administration could freeze any
pending rules. But if the regulation is final before the next president takes
office, reversing it would require going through the review and public comment
period again, which could take months and sometimes requires years.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>Democratic
presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama already has said he would reverse the
proposal. Congress also could overturn the rules through legislation, but that
could take even longer. Sen. John McCain's campaign has not taken a position on
the Bush administration's proposed change in endangered species regulations.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>Environmentalists
said the move was the latest attempt by the Bush administration to overrule
Congress, which for years has resisted efforts by conservative Republicans to
make similar changes by amending the law.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>Criticism
from environmental groups and Democratic leaders prompted the Interior
Department to extend the public comment period from 30 days to 60 days.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>"Somebody
has lit a fire under these guys to get this done in due haste," said Jamie
Rappaport Clark, executive director of Defenders of Wildlife and the head of
the Fish and Wildlife Service under former President Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=textbodyblack11 itxtvisited=1><span itxtvisited=1 id=byLine></span><font
size=2 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:150%'>The
Interior Department received approximately 300,000 comments over the 60-day
comment period, many critical of the changes. About 100,000 of them were form
letters, Hall said.</span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
line-height:150%'><o:p></o:p></span></font></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=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron Leydecker, JCT, Chair</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">www.fotr.org</a> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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