October 8, 2019 — A major fight is shaping up in federal court over the Trump administration’s recently issued rules that rewrite how the government implements the Endangered Species Act.
The battle was broadened on Sept. 25 when attorneys general from 17 states, the District of Columbia and New York City filed a challenge to the regulations in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs, led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, contend that the set of three new final rules—published in the Federal Register on Aug. 27 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service— “fundamentally undermine and contradict” Endangered Species Act requirements.
Two of the regulations took effect on Sept. 26. The effective date for the third, which aims to expedite “interagency cooperation” procedures in listing species as endangered, was extended to Oct. 28. [View 8/12/19 ENR story on regulations here.]
Among other changes, the rules set a stricter definition of “critical habitat” needed for an endangered species to survive; end a practice of giving threatened species the same protections as endangered species; allow economic factors to be aired—though not as a decisive factor—when agencies determine whether to list a species as endangered.