California Tries to Block Bush ESA Changes

The state of California has filed a lawsuit challenging the Bush Administration's last-minute changes to Endangered Species Act regulations.

In a filing Monday night with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, attorney general Jerry Brown alleged that the Interior Department's proposed changes, which would eliminate agency obligations to consult with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service or NOAA Fisheries before engaging in development activities that might impact a listed species, violate the ESA itself.

“The Bush Administration is seeking to gut the Endangered Species Act on its way out the door,” Brown said. “This is an audacious attempt to circumvent a time-tested statute that for 35 years has required scientific review of proposed federal agency decisions that affect wildlife.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the Interior and Commerce departments, by issuing the new regulations, violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to consider the environmental ramifications of the proposed new regulations and the Administrative Procedures Act by not adequately considering public comments.

The Bush administration's late changes to the ESA regulations also remove a requirement that federal agencies consider greenhouse gas emissions before approving development projects on public land.

The regulations were proposed in August and finalized Dec. 16.

The complaint is here.