Sun editorial:

A complete sham

Public comments given curt review in rush to dilute the Endangered Species Act

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

The Bush administration is making a mockery of a long-standing practice in the federal government — to set aside substantial time for reviewing public comments about major rule changes.

Since midsummer the Interior Department has been rushing to implement a high priority of President Bush’s regarding the Endangered Species Act. The White House is seeking rule changes that would significantly dilute the act’s effectiveness.

The administration tried to get the rule changes through Congress in 2005, but failed. Now it wants to make the changes administratively, which it claims it has the power to do once public comments have been received and reviewed.

A 60-day comment period expired last week. Online responses and letters numbered at least 200,000 (not counting 100,000 form letters).

Normally, it would take months to review that many comments. But the Associated Press reported that a team of 15 was ordered to have the reviews completed this week. They were given 32 hours, from Tuesday through Friday.

An analysis by the House Natural Resources Committee, led by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., concluded that each member of the team would have to review seven comments each minute. Many of the comments are long and technical, including one submitted by a University of California law professor that numbers 70 pages.

The rule changes would give federal agencies the power to decide for themselves whether any project they were planning to build, fund or authorize, including highways, dams and mines, would harm endangered species. Since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, such projects have undergone independent review by government scientists.

The new rules would also prohibit federal agencies from assessing whether emissions from a project would intensify global warming, thus harming endangered species or their habitats.

Obviously, the administration is so hellbent on getting these developer-friendly changes made that it is turning the comment review process into a total sham. If the rules indeed get changed, the next president should immediately work to reverse them — this time after giving appropriate thought to public comments.

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By KDR81

Oct. 23, 2008

8:19 a.m.

Flag

Close the Department of the Interior, all it does is work to make property more expensive than it should be.

If you want to save the animals, sell them off.
By redferret

Oct. 23, 2008

9:12 a.m.

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Wow, and let's make Yosemite a giant Bed Bath and Beyond. That kind of short sighted thinking will give us a strip mall in the grand canyon. Seriously it's their environment, and if they're endangered, leave them be.