Washington (Platts)--11Aug2008

Oversight of new energy and infrastructure projects under the Endangered
Species Act would be relaxed under a rule the Bush administration proposed
Monday.

The proposal from the Department of the Interior would strip a provision
in the law that now requires that the US Fish and Wildlife Service examine
under all circumstances how local endangered plant and animal species are
affected by new projects.

Under the proposed rule, if the relevant permitting agency's own
scientists determine that a local species will either be helped or the impact
would be neutral, then FWS would not have to conduct its own study.

"Our intent is to reduce the number of unnecessary consultations under
the ESA," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in a statement. "We need to
focus our efforts where they will do the most good. It's important to use our
time and resources to protect the most vulnerable species."

Environmentalists blasted the move, which they described as the most
direct assault on the ESA in more than 20 years.

"The cumulative impact of these changes equals a full-blown attack on
America's premier conservation law," said John Kostyack, executive director of
Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming at the National Wildlife Federation.
"To suggest that our nation's most important wildlife law could be gutted
after a mere 60-day comment period is the height of arrogance and
disrespect for wildlife science. Elected officials have been saying no to
proposals like this for 15 years."

In addition to the local energy impacts, the proposed rule also would
codify President Bush's view that existing laws should not be used to regulate
greenhouse gases and global climate change. DOI spokesman Frank Quimby said
that the rule would mandate regulations only if there is a "direct causal link
between harm of species and its habitat."

This debate builds on the department's decision to put the polar bear on
the "threatened" species list in May because of melting polar icecaps. At the
time, Interior said it had to do so because of what was happening to the
bear's habitat but the department could not regulate industrial greenhouse gas
emissions because the sources are too broad.

"It is not possible to draw a link between greenhouse gas emissions and
distant observations of impact affecting species," Kempthorne said, adding
that Congress and the UN are the best places to examine the issue.

"The Bush administration has acknowledged that climate change as a
serious problem but the proper forums to address it are through Congress and
the Bali action plan," the secretary added.

The proposed rule will come out in the Federal Register later this week,
Quimby said.

--Alexander Duncan, alexander_duncan@platts.com