Subject: [permaculture] Environmentalists blast changes to Endangered Species rules - CNN.com
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:50:56 -0500
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/12/endangered.species/index.html
Environmentalists blast changes to Endangered Species rules
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration cleared the way Thursday for federal agencies to skip consultations with
government scientists when embarking on projects that could impact endangered wildlife, the interior secretary said.
Environmentalists are not happy with President Bush's changes to regulations
of the Endangered Species Act.
The final regulations to the Endangered Species Act take effect before President Bush leaves office in January, but
wildlife conservation groups say undoing the damage could take months.
"The responsibility to initiate consultation will still lie with the federal agency undertaking the action," Interior
Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said, but if the agency in question can satisfy the requirement that no harm will come to an
endangered species, then there is no need to consult with either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National
Marine Fisheries Services.
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[permaculture] Environmentalists blast changes to Endangered Species rules - CNN.com,
Lawrence F. London, Jr., 12/12/2008