WASHINGTON — In a move that environmental groups say strikes at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, the Bush administration on Thursday announced new rules that would let federal agencies decide on their own whether their projects harm endangered species, instead of requiring them in many cases to get a second opinion from federal wildlife experts.
Opponents said the move destroys the checks and balances that have helped the government save hundreds of species from extinction under the 1973 law.
Conservation groups argued that the changes were illegal and threatened to file lawsuits to get them thrown out. They also said they hoped President-elect Barack Obama would take steps after he takes office to limit the effects of the rules and start a new process to rewrite them.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kemp thorne said the reason for the rule change was linked to global warming.
Kempthorne listed the polar bear as a threatened species in May but said the Endangered Species Act could not be used to try to halt global warming.
The new regulation specifies that there is no need for consultations when the harm to endangered or threatened species is a result of a global process that’s too broad to measure.
Kempthorne said it’s impossible to pinpoint the death of any single animal from emissions from any single polluter. In fact, emissions of heat-trapping gases disperse evenly in the atmosphere around the globe and remain there for centuries. The resulting warming and melting of polar ice have put the polar bear at risk of extinction by midcentury, scientists have said.
“We made it very clear that the Endangered Species Act was never intended to be a back door for climate-change policy,” he said. “We felt it important that we make modifications to the rules so that the door isn’t allowed to be opened and it’s not beneficial.”
The rule changes also go further and specify that federal agencies are not required to consult with the biologists of the two agencies that enforce the act — the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Services — if they think a project such as a timber sale or construction of a power plant won’t harm or kill a threatened or endangered species.
The Interior Department on Thursday also finalized a rule implementing another section of the Endangered Species Act to clarify that it will not protect polar bears from oil and gas development or greenhouse-gas emissions.
The Endangered Species Act makes it illegal to kill or harm an animal listed by the government as threatened or endangered. The federal government issues permits for construction and other activities but must ensure that these animals or plants and their habitat would not be jeopardized.
