The US government is planning a major reinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), The New York Times reported and officials confirmed to AFP on Thursday.
The policy shift was delivered in a new memo signed by Brian Nesvik, director of the Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service.
In it, the department will reduce the term “take,” a term that relates to pursuing, killing or capturing of a species, to simply “affirmative conduct intentionally directed against a particular animal or animals.”
This change would no longer treat the unintentional killing of protected wildlife as unlawful.
Wildlife deaths resulting from foreseeable risks posed by activities such as commercial fishing or logging would end up exempt from the landmark 1973 law.
The Interior Department confirmed the memo’s authenticity to AFP.
“The memorandum accurately reflects the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s guidance for implementing the Endangered Species Act following the final rule rescinding the regulatory definition of ‘harm,’” the department told AFP.
“Under the guidance, the ESA’s prohibition on ‘take’ continues to prohibit conduct including harassing, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing or collecting protected wildlife,” it added.
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Broad overhaul of Endangered Species Act
Last year, the Trump administration declared it would consider “economic considerations” when deciding whether to protect species at risk of extinction.
The move is the latest attempt to loosen the landmark ESA’s rules. Combined, the changes overturn five decades of precedent in how the law is interpreted and applied.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has argued that the changes are necessary, claiming the ESA has been “weaponized” to stop economic projects, weaken competitiveness, undermine national security, and ultimately hurt Americans.
Among the changes to ESA is the redefinition of the term “harm,” which would allow oil drilling, mining and other activities in endangered habitats as long as those activities do not directly kill or injure the animals.
The automatic application of endangered species protections to those listed as “threatened” was also halted.
Additionally, the Trump administration announced that it was shrinking two vast stretches of protected land in Utah by more than 90%, to open millions of acres of protected land for fossil fuel extraction and mining.
States sue the government
Last week, the attorneys general of 20 Democratic-led states, along with Washington, DC, submitted a lawsuit against the administration over its overhaul of ESA.
One lawsuit tackles the redefinition of “harm,” while a second lawsuit challenges a rule that removes protections for newly threatened species, and the new business-related considerations taken into account when declaring “critical habitats.”
“The Trump administration is trying to undermine the law, the will of Congress and the will of the people who overwhelmingly support protections for endangered species,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said.
“Instead of stewardship, this administration’s approach to our land, to our water is one of exploitation,” he added.
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Edited by: Sean Sinico
