Issues

IPAA talks ESA reform at Midland conference. This week, IPAA’s Samantha McDonald spoke at Midland College’s Petroleum Professional Development Center’s annual Environmental Regulatory Seminar regarding the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and how it impacts the oil and natural gas industry.

During the seminar, McDonald highlighted that while reduced regulatory burdens are afoot under the Trump Administration, comprehensive reform of the ESA is imperative for industry growth and stability. Of note, McDonald highlighted to the audience that the lack of political appointees, lack of votes in the Senate and a mobilized environmental community are some of several challenges standing in the way of change. In addition to shoring up industry support for reform, IPAA also discussed support for proposed changes to the ESA and the necessity for oil and natural gas companies to further discuss conservation efforts to protect endangered species.

For more information on the event, reach out to SMcdonald@IPAA.org.

Senate Pentagon bill leaves out sage grouse language. The Senate Armed Services Committee concluded its work on the National Defense Authorization Act last week, omitting provisions for the Greater sage-grouse. The Senate language differs from the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the bill that passed a day prior, including provisions that would bar the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the Greater sage-grouse or lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for 10 years and delist the American burying beetle.

The inclusion in the House bill came about through the leadership of Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Natural Resources Chairman and fierce proponent for congressional modernization of the ESA. While this is not the first time Bishop has brought this issue up, he has alluded that this time may be more successful than his previous attempt to do the same in 2016. “We’ll have to see what happens,” Bishop said in an interview earlier this month. After a pause, he added, “You obviously know why I think it could happen, but I can’t say why I think it could happen, so we’ll leave it at that.”

Prior attempts failed due in part to resistance from Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), who had opposed language involving the sage-grouse in past years. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK), who will chair the Committee in McCain’s place, has expressed interest in the Bishop provisions.

New report suggests West is losing sagebrush at alarming rate. Following the release of a report by the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) detailing the exponential growth of invasive plants on private and public lands, federal officials are calling efforts to save the sagebrush a failure. Sagebrush is a staple Western shrub that serves as an essential habitat for the sage-grouse and other endangered Western species.

“There is widespread recognition that invasive annual grasses and wildland fire are the most crucial threats to the sagebrush ecosystem, yet invasive annual grass management is not funded at a level to be effective in breaking the invasive annual grass/fire cycle,” the report said.

With fire-prone greenery spreading and displacing native plants, wildfires are increasingly abundant and destroying habitats that support around 350 species of wildlife, including the embroiled sage-grouse.  In a phone interview last week, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) said that controlling wildfires would not just halt destruction of millions of acres in the West, but it would also reduce the need to list the sage-grouse as threatened or endangered.

In the News

Judge greenlights habitat suit with unusual battle lines. E&E News (Sub req’d). A lawsuit challenging an Obama-era decision to designate more than 1.8 million acres of critical habitat for three Sierra Nevada amphibian species is set to move forward. A federal judge yesterday denied the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Common sense is on the plaintiffs’ side, and I conclude they have satisfied the motion to dismiss standards,” Judge Trevor McFadden wrote. At issue is a critical habitat rule the Obama administration finalized in August 2016 for the Yosemite toad, the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog and the northern population segment of the mountain yellow-legged frog.

Klamath Tribes sue regulators over management of Oregon lake. San Francisco Chronicle. The Klamath Tribes are suing federal regulators claiming they failed to keep a southern Oregon lake full enough to ensure the continued survival of sucker fish. The tribes filed the lawsuit in federal court Wednesday calling on the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to take “immediate, emergency measures” to protect two endangered sucker fish species in the Upper Klamath Lake. If a severe drought hits the area this summer, it could worsen the water quality and affect the fish, Tribal Chairman Don Gentry told the Herald and News.

Utah Congressman proposes amendment to prevent sage-grouse listing. KBSX.  Currently the sage grouse is not listed under the Endangered Species Act. And a bill before Congress would prevent that from happening anytime in the next decade. This isn’t the first time that Utah Representative Rob Bishop has tried to block the sage grouse from being listed. But his previous attempts were shot down. This year, the idea seems to be getting more traction.

Sierra Club wants look into MVP permit, after ruling on other pipeline. Charleston Gazette-Mail.  After a federal appeals court pulled a crucial permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline last week, a group of environmental advocates is asking federal regulators to take the same stance on the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s permit. The permit, called the Incidental Take Statement, describes the threat pipeline construction might have on endangered or threatened species, and is issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with environmental groups, saying the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s Incidental Take Statement was too vague and didn’t specifically address the threat to endangered species. The buried pipeline could potentially affect five species of endangered plants and animals on its 600-mile-long route from West Virginia to North Carolina, with an extension into Chesapeake, Virginia.