Trump administration revisions to Endangered Species Act regulations are creeping ahead despite the government shutdown, with the White House’s gatekeepers flashing another green light this week.
With the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) giving its blessing Tuesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries move a step closer to replacing a set of ESA rules set during the Biden administration.
“That suggests that the interagency review was essentially done when the shutdown began,” Jonathan Wood, vice president of law and policy at the Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center, said Thursday.
A one-paragraph summary of the to-be-proposed ESA rule change states it will “clarify, interpret, and implement portions of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act concerning interagency cooperation procedures.” Precisely what this may mean is not clear, but environmentalists are wary.
