In an effort to revamp the endangered species regulations that were completed in the final months of the Bush administration, the Interior Department is considering whether to go through the traditional rulemaking process or fast-track new regulations without public notice and comment, a senior official said yesterday.

Tom Strickland, the nominee to serve as assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, said that department officials have "not ruled anything out" with respect to the endangered species rules.

Strickland, a former U.S. attorney, is currently serving as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's chief of staff. At his confirmation hearing yesterday, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) predicted that her panel would approve his nomination early next week. Strickland also won broad backing at an earlier hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

At issue for the endangered species rules are controversial regulations that the Bush administration finalized last December. The Obama administration is exploring whether revisions to those rules should come through a traditional rulemaking process or under the expedited authority Congress gave the department as part of its 2009 spending bill, Strickland said.

The Bush administration rules made it optional for agencies to consult with Fish and Wildlife Service biologists on actions that might threaten species. Environmentalists, wildlife biologists and Democrats blasted the regulations -- saying the consultations were key protections in the Endangered Species Act.

Congress responded with a rider in the fiscal 2009 omnibus spending bill that gives the Interior Department significant leeway to expedite a reversal of the ESA rule and another controversial Bush administration regulation that limited protections for the polar bear. The spending bill allows Interior to skip the usual public notice and comment period and other regulatory requirements, and stipulates that Interior can withdraw or reissue the rules within 60 days "without regard to any provision of statute or regulation."

The rider riled Republicans. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, told Strickland at the confirmation hearing yesterday that he was "very troubled" that Interior might skip the rulemaking process. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) raised similar concerns earlier this month at the confirmation hearing for Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

"My concern is not that reasonable minds disagree about whether these are good rules or about the department's authority to properly revisit the rules," Inhofe said. "Rather, I am appalled that Congress has given the services the unusual authority to waive all requirements for public input and allowance for legal objections."

In remarks after the hearing yesterday, Strickland said the department may not take the expedited route. Prior to passage of the spending bill, the agency had already started work on the formal rulemaking process to alter the rules.

"We had already commenced that [traditional review] pursuant to the president's directive, and then we were given an additional, if you will, arrow in our quiver. We haven't made any decisions," Strickland said.

Obama issued a memorandum earlier this month that gave the department authority to revert to its previous longstanding practice of wildlife consultations while considering the rule revisions. The presidential directive instructs federal agencies to consult with government biologists over whether their actions may harm threatened or endangered species and asks the Interior and Commerce departments to review the regulations.

The regulations are not the only aspect of the endangered species program now under review. Strickland also pledged, if confirmed, to come down hard on any corruption or undue political influence at the agency, especially with the endangered species program and the Minerals Management Service.

"One of the reasons [Salazar] asked me to join him in this job is as a former federal prosecutor, he asked me to come and help him address some of the historic issues that plague the department," Strickland told the panel. "We sent a message throughout the department that the rule of law will apply, and policy decisions will be based on science and on the appropriate considerations, not politics or special interest."

The Interior Department came under fire during the Bush administration after scathing reports from former Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney uncovered undue political influence on endangered species decisions and corruption in MMS's royalty department.

Climate change and wildlife refuges

The new leadership at the department also plans to put special focus on climate change, Strickland said, and work to ramp up climate mitigation plans that had just begun under the Bush administration.

"I think it's fair to say that the department has been behind the curve on this and we have some catching up to do," Strickland told the panel.

The nominee said the agency plans to "fast track" a baseline analysis of the changes that are affecting wildlife refuges and determine what remedial efforts it needs to take, whether that be restoring habitat or acquiring additional land.

"We are going to do it on an accelerated basis and do it with a sense of urgency and mission because we understand that these species, if their habitat is no longer available, will be pressured and we could lose them, so it is a very important part of our goal," Strickland said.

In remarks after the hearing, Strickland acknowledged that the agency has not yet started any new programs to address climate change. He said officials are still working on assessments and mitigation plans begun in the last year of the Bush administration. If confirmed, he said he and other department leaders would develop a more specific game plan to "see how quickly we can move this effort along."