House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman is taking another big swing at reforming the Endangered Species Act, and Democrats are up in arms — again.
This bill — dubbed the “ESA Amendments Act of 2024” and unveiled Tuesday — is the latest effort to revise the statute after a yearslong Capitol Hill march, as Republicans have slammed the 1973 law for several decades but have been unable to rally sufficient bipartisan support to revamp it.
A number of the provisions echo regulatory changes pushed during the Trump administration that have subsequently been rolled back under President Joe Biden.
In an interview with POLITICO’s E&E News, Westerman said his bill would update the ESA for the first time in 50 years to make it more effective and prevent it from being abused to delay projects and development.
