Biden administration moves to reverse Trump-era Endangered Species Act rollbacks

The Biden administration announced two proposed rules Wednesday morning that would undo Trump administration rollbacks of Endangered Species Act (ESA) enforcement.

The proposals include the restoration of the so-called blanket 4(d) rule, which extends the same protections given to endangered species to those listed as threatened, which is “essential to ensuring that these species are protected before it’s too late,” said McCrystie Adams, vice president for conservation law at Defenders of Wildlife.

The second provision, meanwhile, removes language allowing agencies to weigh economic factors when determining whether to list a species. Adams called this a “really important step forward,” adding “the decision whether or not to protect a species under the act should be solely made under the best available science.”

The administration also announced a third proposed rule that would streamline the federal interagency consultation process. Each of the three rules will be subject to a 60-day comment period.

“The Endangered Species Act is the nation’s foremost conservation law that prevents the extinction of species and supports their recovery,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said in a statement. “These proposed revisions reaffirm our commitment to conserving America’s wildlife and ensuring the Endangered Species Act works for both species and people.”

The rules would undo 2019 rulemaking under the Trump administration, which led to litigation from Defenders of Wildlife and several other environmental groups. The Wednesday announcement “realigns this part of the regulations with the plain language and intent of the Endangered Species Act,” Adams said.

However, “there are provisions in these proposals that do cause us concern … specifically, changes made in 2019 that we think are inconsistent with the act that have been retained in this proposal, and we will be pushing to change those provisions,” she added.

The rules come as congressional Republicans have frequently used the Congressional Review Act to take aim at the administration’s environmental rules, including a recent resolution rescinding the expansion of the definition of critical habitats under the ESA. Biden has vowed to veto the measure, which thus far has passed only the Senate.

House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) was sharply critical of the proposals, saying in a statement on Wednesday “the Biden administration is rolling back commonsense reforms and further turning the ESA into a political battering ram rather than a conservation tool.”

“These proposed rules take us in the wrong direction and are entirely unnecessary given the proven track record of success from private conservationists and state and local land managers,” Westerman added.

–Updated at 2:14 p.m.