The American Petroleum Institute and the Independent Petroleum Association of America submitted comments on the Draft Methodology for prioritizing status reviews and accompanying 12-month findings on petitions for listing species under the Endangered Species Act. API and IPAA appreciate that the Draft Methodology recognizes that the Service can only make decisions under the ESA based on the best available scientific and commercial data. By giving a higher priority to species for which there is ample data currently available, the Service can correctly ensure that it does not base its ESA decisions on speculative, incomplete, or unreliable information. The comments strongly encourage the Service to use sound science as a fundamental tool when assigning a priority level to any species, including any decision that a species warrants the highest priority level. Read the full comments HERE.
