Issues

IPAA & API Submit Comments on Northern Long-Eared Bat. Today, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the proposed listing of the Northern Long-Eared Bat. The joint comments note that while the White Nose Syndrome disease has been identified as the primary reason for reductions in the Northern Long Eared Bat population, the service is only proposing an endangered listing, an action which is primarily focused on habitat protection.

IPAA and API’s comments also note the lack of evidence of oil and gas operations impacting the bat’s population and habitat. From the comments:

“Although listing the Northern Long-Eared Bat is not warranted, any such listing decision should avoid placing restrictions on human activities that bear no causal relation or offer no demonstrable influence on the incidence, spread or effects of WNS on the species. In particular, no evidence has been put forward that oil and gas exploration and production operations jeopardize the future existence of this species. The development of oil and gas wells, pipelines and processing facilities in the region where the Northern Long-Eared Bat is found has not resulted in changes to habitat, hibernation, migration, roosting or reproduction of the species that cause adverse effects at a population level. Technological advances in directional and horizontal drilling technology minimize the impacts on forests in which the species is found, and reduce habitat disturbance and fragmentation. In fact, some evidence suggests that openings in the canopy such as those provided by access roads promote beneficial foraging by the species.”

API and IPAA also submitted comments in January 2014 regarding the proposed listing. On June 30th, the deadline for a final listing decision for the Northern Long-Eared Bat was extended for six months and the comment period was re-opened for a period of sixty days.  A final decision on whether to list the bat is now expected by April 2, 2015.

IPAA Submits Comments to OMB. On July 22, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a draft policy in reference to Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions. The aim of the policy is to provide landowners credit for undertaking voluntary conservation measures for at risk species prior to a listing decision under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Within that register notice was also a brief proposal on the information collection aspects of the draft policy. This week, Independent Petroleum Association of America Vice President of Federal Resources Dan Naatz submitted comments in regard to this aspect of the proposed policy to the Office of Management and Budget(OMB). From the letter:

“Given FWS’s apparent failure to fully comply with the regulations and its failure to provide the information necessary for the public to evaluate this proposed information collection, IPAA respectfully request that OMB direct FWS to provide another notice that contains the proper information.”

Read IPAA’s full letter to the Office of Management and Budget regarding the draft policy HERE.

Interior Denver Sage Grouse Meeting Scheduled. The Denver area sage grouse meeting will take place on Friday, September 12th from 8 a.m to 10 a.m. CT at the Colorado State Office. Attendees from the Department of Interior will include Neil Kornze, Sarah Greenberger, Michael Bean, Jim Lyons, and Dan Ashe. To RSVP for the event please contact John Northington and Samantha McDonald.

House Natural Resources Committee to Hold Hearing on Northern Long Eared Bat. On September 8th, the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania entitled “The Northern Long Eared Bat: The Federal Endangered Species Act and the Impacts of a Listing on Pennsylvania and 37 Other States.” The hearing will discuss both the current status and health of the bat, as well as how a federal listing could impact economic activities in the habitat region. According to Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04):

“Similar to the listing and habitat designation of the Northern Spotted Owl over 20 years ago, this is a potentially sweeping decision that affects portions of 38 states.  It is vital that a decision of this magnitude be based on actual data, not settlement deadlines, and that it includes input from affected landowners and stakeholders not only from Pennsylvania, but from the rest of the two-thirds of the United States that would be impacted.”

The meeting is open to the public and will also be broadcast live from the committee’s website. Visit the event page HERE for additional details.

Committee Holding Legislative Hearing on ESA Bills. The House Natural Resources Committee will also be holding a legislative hearing on several pending Endangered Species Act (ESA) bills on September 9th in Washington, DC. According to the hearing notice these bills will include the following:

  • H.R. 1314 (Flores), to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.
  • H.R. 1927 (Costa), the “More Water and Security for Californians Act,” to provide congressional direction for implementation of the Endangered Species Act as it relates to operation of the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project and for water relief in the State of California.
  • H.R. 4256 (Stewart), the “Endangered Species Improvement Act of 2014,” to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require, in counting the number of a species in a State for purposes of determining whether the species is an endangered or threatened species, inclusion of the number of the species on State and private lands as determined by the State, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 4284 (Neugebauer), the “ESA Improvement Act of 2014,” to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to encourage greater State input and authority over species and habitat management by allowing States to propose and implement State Protective Action before species are listed under that Act, and for other purposes.
  • H.R. 4319 (Crawford), the “Common Sense in Species Protection Act of 2014,” to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the Secretary of the Interior to publish and make available for public comment a draft economic analysis at the time a proposed rule to designate critical habitat is published.
  • H.R. 4866 (Mullin), the “Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act of 2014,” to reverse the Department of the Interior’s listing of the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, to prevent further consideration of listing of such species as a threatened species or endangered species under that Act pending implementation of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-Wide Conservation Plan and other conservation measures, and for other purposes.

For additional information regarding the legislative hearing visit the meeting’s page HERE.

Groups Seek ESA Protections for Monarch Butterfly. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety filed a petition this week with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), requesting the monarch butterfly be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). According to the groups, the butterfly’s population has decreased by 90 percent over the last decade. The species habitat has been impacted by the use of certain herbicides which are used by farmers to grow crops, most notably in the Midwest.

The monarch’s population distribution is expansive, as this map shows HERE.The FWS will now issue a 90-day finding on whether the petition warrants further review.

NOAA Lists 20 Coral Species as Threatened. This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that twenty coral species will be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). According to the Center for Biological Diversity, “today’s decision is the single-largest protection decision for corals under the Endangered Species Act.”

In 2009, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to add eighty three coral species to the Endangered Species list. In response, NOAA proposed protections for sixty six of the coral in 2012. According to NOAA’s assistant administrator Eileen Sobeck, this week’s final decision to list twenty of the coral “is a result of the most extensive rulemaking ever undertaken by NOAA. The amount of scientific information sought, obtained and analyzed was unprecedented.”

Of the twenty species of coral, five occur in the Caribbean and fifteen occur in the Indo-Pacific. Read NOAA’s full press release announcement on the decision HERE.

In the News

USFWS launches ESA status review for greater sage-grouse, seeks information. The Dallas Chronicle. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week that it is initiating its formal status review of the greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act by requesting information from a broad array of state and federal agencies and tribes.

Enviros make plea for cooperation on sage grouse bird. Houston Chronicle. The best way to protect the greater sage grouse while keeping drill bits turning in Western states is for environmentalists and oil companies to work together on safeguarding the bird’s habitat, conservationists said Monday.

Arctic grayling fish won’t get federal protections. Associated Press.The Arctic grayling fish does not need special protections under the Endangered Species Act following years of conservation efforts by landowners and federal and state agencies to protect the fish in the upper Missouri River, U.S. wildlife officials said Tuesday. Habitat quality, numbers of fish and genetic diversity are stable and increasing for most Arctic grayling populations in Montana, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe said.

Scorecard rips BLM sage grouse plan for central Wyo. E&E News.A coalition of conservation groups today urged the Interior and Agriculture departments to revise a plan for managing greater sage grouse in central Wyoming, arguing that the plan unveiled in June fails to follow the best available science. The coalition, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, the American Bird Conservancy and WildEarth Guardians, among others, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging them to revise the plan to follow the recommendations of a team of sage grouse experts that in 2011 laid out specific steps to save the imperiled bird. NOTE: Center for Biological Diversity press release HERE. Letter to the Interior HERE.

Oil producers adjust to lesser prairie chicken listing. Eagle Ford Shale News. Permian Basin producers continue adjusting their operations to accommodate rules put in place with the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as “threatened.”

Vanishing bird ignites debate over endangered species rules. The Hill. A potential move by federal regulators to list a small bird as endangered has ignited debate over changes to the Endangered Species Act.

Powering society while protecting sage grouse. Elko Daily Free Press (Op-Ed). Unfortunately, the proposed 425-megawatt China Mountain wind project on the Idaho-Nevada border was cancelled by its developer, RES Americas. Citing concerns over sage grouse issues, news accounts quote RES as saying “the sage grouse population is facing a number of challenges, and for this reason we ultimately decided that the best option was not to pursue the project.”

Oregon Spotted Frog Listed Under Endangered Species Act. Jefferson Public Radio. The Oregon spotted frog, once abundant in the Northwest, now lives in a few scattered wetlands across the region. Over the years, it’s lost up to 90 percent of its habitat. Now, the frog will receive protection under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species. Note: The Columbian also reports.