Attorney General Brown Calls on Bush Administration to Abandon Proposed Changes to Endangered Species Act

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

November 06, 2008

Contact: Christine Gasparac (916) 324-5500


SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today warned the U.S. Department of the Interior for a second time that its proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act could put “entire species and ecosystems at risk for complete destruction,” after the initial warnings were ignored by the Department. The Attorney General believes that the Bush Administration’s proposed changes are in violation of federal law and could gut the scientific review process of the Endangered Species Act.

“In its final days in office, the Bush Administration is trying to make wholesale changes to the Endangered Species Act,” Attorney General Brown said. “The Bush Administration wants to eliminate a requirement in the Endangered Species Act that mandates scientific review and consultation of any land-use decision that might threaten endangered species and their habitats. These proposed changes are unlawful, contrary to the National Environmental Policy Act, and put entire species and ecosystems at risk for complete destruction. The Administration should abandon this effort, or at the very least, complete a full Environmental Impact Statement.”

Passed in 1973, the Endangered Species Act protects threatened species and ecosystems from extinction.

In August 2008, the Department of the Interior proposed to eliminate a requirement in the Endangered Species Act that mandates scientific review and consultation of any land-use decision that might threaten endangered species and their habitats. The proposed changes could allow a government agency to permit mining, logging, and other commercial activities to take place on federally protected land without scientific review. The Department is required to open its proposal to public comment in order to make any changes, and it received approximately 300,000 comments. Yet, the Department took only three days to review the letters, including detailed evaluations of the proposed changes.

Essentially ignoring the public comment, the Department has concluded that that the proposed changes have no impact on the environment.