Endangered Species Act Technical Changes

October 17, 2008 - On Aug. 15, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed to amend Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 consultation regulations. The proposal is intended to streamline procedures for gaining FWS approval of authorizations issued by other federal agencies-such as grazing permits-that can impact endangered species. The proposed changes: " allows the option to use documents generated for other purposes to serve as required biological assessment rather than preparing new ones; " clarifies "cumulative effects" to not include future federal activities that are physically located within the action area for the matter under review; " identifies specific instances where federal agencies are not required to consult with the agencies; " clarifies that an informal consultation can address multiple actions, an agency program or a segment of a comprehensive plan; " establishes a 60-day deadline for the agencies to render their concurrence determination; and " states that there is no requirement to consult on greenhouse gas emissions' contribution to global warming and its associated impacts on listed species. The Public Lands Council along with the American Sheep Industry Association, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Texas Cattle Feeders, Idaho Cattle and Wyoming Stock Growers submitted comments to the FWS regarding proposed changes to the ESA section 7 consultation process. They stated that this proposed rule was a meaningful first step and urged the services to issue a final rule as soon as practical.

The full set of comments can be accessed at www.sheepusa.org/?page=site/text&nav_id=06a255e39cc23a7bd55e703587d2d01d.
Reprinted from Public Lands Council

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