News flash: Environmentalists and builders have found something they agree on with regard to Endangered Species Act regulations.
Perched on a tiny piece of common ground, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Associated General Contractors of America both urged two federal agencies to extend a public comment period that has drawn more than 7,000 comments and that still has another three weeks to go.
“We have already begun the legwork required to talk to our members and gather their input,” Spencer Phillips, counsel for the Associated General Contractors of America, advised the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, adding that “an extension would give stakeholders the additional time and bandwidth required to provide quality.”
Phillips noted that the association and its 28,000 member firms are simultaneously delving into four Trump administration ESA regulatory packages, as well as a separate and equally significant EPA proposal concerning regulations for the “waters of the United States.”
