Already there’s been a few issues. No doubt there will be more; might as well have a grab bag for them.
[quote=“Changes Proposed for Endangered Species Act”]
The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.
The new rules, which will be subject to a 30-day per comment period, would use administrative powers to make broad changes in the law that Congress has resisted for years. Under current law, agencies must subject any plans that potentially affect endangered animals and plants to an independent review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under the proposed new rules, dam and highway construction and other federal projects could proceed without delay if the agency in charge decides they would not harm vulnerable species.
[…]
Bob Irvin, senior vice president of conservation programs at the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife, questioned how some federal agencies could make the assessments, since most do not have wildlife biologists on staff. [/quote]
This, obviously, is brought to you by the same crew that installed so many incompetent managers over the past 8 years. Let’s trust them to make these decisions, based on no real data, because science is never really sure of its ‘facts’ anyway.