First Move to Override Bush ESA Rule Introduced in House

U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-West Virginia, introduced Thursday a joint resolution that would invoke the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the Bush administration's recent changes to Endangered Species Act regulations.

H.J. Res. 18 would override an effort by the Departments of Interior and Commerce to eliminate the consultation requirements of section 7 of the ESA. Under the new regulations federal agencies could decide for themselves whether a proposed project would adversely impact a listed species or critical habitat without obtaining the input of biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NOAA Fisheries.

"The Bush Administration has had a long - though one could hardly say proud - history of trying to undermine the ESA and the protection it provides to America's most imperiled species," Rahall said. "Today, I introduce legislation, using the authority granted to the Congress under the CRA, to overturn a rule that served as the Bush Administration's final assault on, and insult to, one of the Nation's landmark conservation laws."

First proposed in late August 2008, the Bush administration sped the regulation ito effect in November.

The joint resolution is co-sponsored by Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., George Miller, D-Calif., Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., Maurice Hinchey, D-NY, Lois Capps, D-Calif., Jay Inslee, D-Wash., Rush Holt, D-N.J., Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., John Dingell, D-Mich., Norm Dicks, D-Wash., Sam Farr, D-Calif., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.