On March 3, President Obama requested that the Departments of the Interior and Commerce review regulations impacting the consultation process for the Endangered Species Act (ESA), to determine if a new rule-making process should be undertaken, reports the Wildlife Management Institute. The Presidential Memorandum also requested that agencies resume the traditional consultation process during the review, effectively overriding the regulations that became final on January 15, 2009. The announcement was made during the President's appearance at the Interior Building in Washington, DC, to celebrate the department's 160th anniversary.

"Today I've signed a memorandum that will help restore the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, a process undermined by past administrations," Obama said. "The work of scientists and experts in my administration ? including right here in the Interior Department ? will be respected."

The previous administration began to evaluate and rewrite the consultation regulations in August 2008 (see Outdoor News Bulletin articles in the September 2008 and January 2009 archived issues). Those regulations made it easier for an agency to proceed with a project without consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service as to whether the project would have an impact on threatened or endangered species.

Since the regulations went into effect before the new administration took office, their overturn would take an act of Congress or the Departments would have to go through the full regulatory process. Bill language in the omnibus appropriations bill signed by President Obama on March 11 streamlined what the new administration would have to do to reverse the regulations. It will now be able to withdraw the ESA rules within 60 days without having to go through any public comment period or legal challenge; the Senate voted down an amendment that would have removed the language from the bill. In the interim, the memorandum signed by the President will ensure that the full consultation requirements of the ESA are in place until the regulation can be changed. (jas)