Yesterday, I met with Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe and Assistant Director of Endangered Species Gary Frazer in light of IPAA’s heightened focus on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). My meeting was a follow up to IPAA’s letter to Director Ashe on November 5, 2012 regarding the lack of transparency surrounding the implementation of FWS recent settlement agreements. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss IPAA’s ongoing concerns with the magnitude of the settlement, which forces FWS to act upon hundreds of species in a matter of months.
Assistant Director Frazer gave insight into FWS’ forthcoming regulatory process and what the industry can expect. FWS recently posted three areas of regulatory reform for the comment period earlier this year, which included an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on voluntary conservation agreements, a rulemaking on the definition of significant portions of range, and a rule that is still open for comment regarding the economic analyses of critical habitat designations. Next year, Director Ashe and Assistant Director Frazer explained, FWS plans to finalize some of these rules and others proposed during the Obama administration’s last term. Below is a list of tentative regulatory areas in the order IPAA believes they will be considered.ector of Endangered Species Gary Frazer in light of IPAA’s heightened focus on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). My meeting was a follow up to IPAA’s letter to Director Ashe on November 5, 2012 regarding the lack of transparency surrounding the implementation of FWS recent settlement agreements. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss IPAA’s ongoing concerns with the magnitude of the settlement, which forces FWS to act upon hundreds of species in a matter of months.
- Finalize a narrow revision of the scope and content of incidental take, particularly with regard to programmatic actions.
- Clarify the definition of the phrase of destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.
- Finalize rulemaking regarding definition of significant portion of range.
- Hold public forums and meetings with states regarding the currently open rulemaking on economic analyses of critical habitat designations.
IPAA is committed to working with FWS when possible to mitigate the risk and minimize the regulatory uncertainty that potential ESA listings pose to the industry. It is important to counter the aggressive agenda that anti-development groups are trying to push in the Obama administration. I will keep you updated as we learn more and continue our outreach with Director Ashe and FWS.
