A Trump administration proposal to eliminate key protections established by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is “an assault against nature” and must be reconsidered, said U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL).
The congressman called the proposal by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Commerce Department “ill-advised” in a recent letter sent to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
The department heads on Aug. 12 unveiled revisions to the implementing regulations of the ESA in an effort to increase transparency and effectiveness and modernize the administration of the Act.
Specifically, the administration’s new plan would eliminate automatic protections for threatened plant and animal species; reduce requirements for scientific review and consultation before approving permits for activities such as oil and gas drilling and construction projects; and minimize the requirements for delisting a species from threatened or endangered status.
Barring any actions to block or amend the proposal, the final rule is set to take effect 30 days after it is formally published in the Federal Register.
Rep. Buchanan blasted the plan, saying it will make it easier to remove an endangered species from key protections and places threatened species at greater risk of becoming extinct.
“Once a species becomes extinct, it is forever lost,” wrote Rep. Buchanan, co-chair of the Animal Protection Caucus. “We have a duty as the caretakers of our nation’s natural resources to preserve the wild species that call our country home. The proposed rulemaking goes directly against this responsibility.”
The lawmaker noted that since its enactment in 1973, the ESA has been so successful that 99 percent of the species placed under its purview have been saved from extinction.
“The more than 45-year-old law is the gold standard for conservation and the protection of wildlife,” Rep. Buchanan wrote, adding that the ESA is essential to safeguarding the nation’s most-vulnerable wildlife, including the American bald eagle, the California condor and the Florida manatee.