Conservation groups are suing the Trump administration over a rule that would give economic interests a greater say in determining wildlife protections.
The rule, finalized last Friday by the Interior Department, requires regulators to consider excluding areas from critical habitat designations when presented with “credible information” of meaningful financial impacts that would result from setting aside areas for the benefit of vulnerable wildlife.
This federal action is part of the Trump administration’s broader overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to ease barriers to industrial development.
Environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, representing groups like the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife, alleged in the lawsuit that the rule provides industry interests with “an effective veto over important agency decisions” to protect habitats for imperiled species.
