The Bush administration has proposed a change in the Endangered Species Act that would allow federal agencies to decide whether or not a species would be endangered by federal projects, rather than the independent scientific reviews that have made those decisions since the inception of the Act.

According to the Associated Press:
 

The proposal, first reported by The Associated Press, would cut out the advice of government scientists who have been weighing in on such decisions for 35 years. Agencies also could not consider a project’s contribution to global warming in their analysis. …

The rule changes unveiled Monday would apply to any project a federal agency would fund, build or authorize that the agency itself determines is unlikely to harm endangered wildlife and their habitat. Government wildlife experts currently participate in tens of thousands of such reviews each year.

The revisions also would limit which effects can be considered harmful and set a 60-day deadline for wildlife experts to evaluate a project when they are asked to become involved. If no decision is made within 60 days, the project can move ahead.

In a press conference, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the changes are necessary to ensure that the Endangered Species Act isn’t used as a "back door" to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Bush administration declared the polar bear a "threatened" species in May due to the widespread melting of sea ice that provides the habitat for the bears. Most blame the melting on global warming. When the Bush administration added the polar bear to the list of threatened species, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the move should not be seen as an opening to use the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In a press conference yesterday, he said the proposed rule changes were needed to prevent that possibility.

But the rule change would weaken the regulatory power of the Act in general. The Associated Press describes the process further:

Under current law, federal agencies must consult with experts at the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine whether a project is likely to jeopardize any endangered species or to damage habitat, even if no harm seems likely. This initial review usually results in accommodations that better protect the 1,353 animals and plants in the U.S. listed as threatened or endangered and determines whether a more formal analysis is warranted. … Between 1998 and 2002, the Fish and Wildlife Service conducted 300,000 consultations. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which evaluates projects affecting marine species, conducts about 1,300 reviews each year.

Environmental advocates say that the review process has been a critical part of protecting the environment for 35 years, and that this proposed rule change would gut the regulatory power of the Act. But critics charge that the process limits or even halts worthwhile projects and that the Act has long needed to be streamlined.

The rule changes would be subject to a 30-day public comment period as soon as they are formally proposed, which is expected to happen in the next few days. At the close of the comment period they can be finalized by the Interior and Commerce departments. Likewise, a new administration in 2009 could reverse the rule changes, as could congressional legislation.