By MATTHEW BROWN (Associated Press)
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration in Montana restored regulations to safeguard at-risk plants and animals that had been rescinded under former President Donald Trump.
One of the changes announced is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will bring back a long-standing rule that requires full protections for species newly classified as threatened.
The rule for full protections was removed in 2019 as part of a set of modifications to the enforcement of the species law under Trump that were supported by industry. These changes occurred while extinctions were increasing globally because of habitat loss and other pressures.
Under the new regulations, officials will also not take into account financial impacts when determining if animals and plants require protection. Additionally, the regulations from the wildlife service and National Marine Fisheries Service make it simpler to designate areas as crucial for a species’ survival, even if it is no longer found in those locations.
The proposed regulations' details, which could take a year to finalize, were acquired by The Associated Press before their public release.
Among the species that could benefit from the regulations are at-risk fish and freshwater mussels in the Southeast, where the aquatic creatures are in many cases absent from parts of their historical range, according to officials.
Environmentalists had expressed frustration that it’s taken years for Biden to act on some of the Trump-era rollbacks. Their urgency is fueled by the possibility of a new Republican administration following the 2024 election that could once again ease protections.
The proposal of the regulations last year faced strong opposition from Republican lawmakers, who claimed President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration has hindered oil, gas and coal development, and prefers conservation over development.
Industry groups have long seen the 1973 Endangered Species Act as a hindrance. Under Trump, they successfully worked to weaken the law’s regulations as part of a broad dismantling of environmental protections. Trump officials revoked protections for endangered species and for the northern spotted owl, gray wolves, and other species.
