Weekly Newsletter |June 21, 2019

Issues

Sage-grouse amendments in spending minibus fail in rules committee. Ahead of this week’s spending package debate, House lawmakers introduced dozens of proposed amendments to the so-called minibus that includes measures to fund the Department of Interior (DOI), Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal 2020.

Republicans filed multiple amendments to the DOI section that put restrictions on certain wildlife designations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that were soundly rejected by democrats. Among others,  defeated amendments included measures that would prohibit funding in the bill from being used to treat the Mexican wolf, gray wolf, greater sage-grouse or grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem area as endangered or threatened species.

The Rules Committee voted 8-4 in approval of 290 amendments to the second fiscal 2020 minibus. The House is expected to begin considering the package on the floor next week after it wraps up work on the first minibus, which includes the Energy-Water spending bill.

Interior sued for documents on sage-grouse plan revisions. The Western Values Project filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming Interior failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests made by the group last year seeking “materials related to the sage-grouse and the BLM’s process for amending its sage grouse plans.”

The group says it requested documents under FOIA from DOI, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding agency officials’ communications with oil and gas industry representatives during the period in which the agency was working on changes to the sage-grouse protection plan.

The group also requested documents related to the BLM’s procedures “for tracking, categorizing, and analyzing public comments” related to changes to protections for the bird announced in March.

The lawsuit is the latest legal action by the Western Values Project pertaining to Interior’s handling of FOIA requests. The group has also sued in the past year for travel records and other documents pertaining to former Secretary Ryan Zinke, Secretary David Bernhardt’s predecessor. As DOI and its bureaus do not comment publicly on matters pertaining to pending or ongoing litigation, the agency has declined to comment.

In the News

Enviros Urge Halt of BLM’s Revised Sage-Grouse Plans. Law 360. Environmental groups urged an Idaho federal court to block the Trump administration’s changes to federal protections for the greater sage-grouse, saying the government is already giving the green light to more oil and gas drilling affecting the bird’s habitat under the watered-down rules. Western Watersheds Project, the Center for Biological Diversity and others pressed for a preliminary injunction to address the administration’s decision to issue separate amendments to resource management plans for northeastern California and Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, which the groups said weakened a comprehensive Obama-era plan for the sage-grouse that the groups already contended wasn’t strong enough.

River herring will not be added to list. E&E News, Sub req’d. The federal government says two species of herring are not at risk of going extinct, and will not be listed under the Endangered Species Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the government has finished a review of the status of alewife and blueback herring and decided against designating the fish as endangered or threatened. The fish live on the East Coast and are an important piece of the food chain. NOAA says river herring such as alewives and bluebacks “have declined from historical numbers,” but recent management efforts have helped protect the fish. Both species have historically been subject to commercial fishing because they are valuable as bait. The fishery for another herring species, Atlantic herring, is much larger and is also under scrutiny by regulators and environmentalists.

Environmental group sues over ice seal habitat decision. E&E News, Sub req’d. An environmental group sued the Trump administration yesterday for failing to designate critical habitat for two species of seals that rely on sea ice off Alaska’s northwest coast. The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Department of Commerce and NOAA Fisheries for not designating critical habitat for threatened ringed and bearded seals. NOAA Fisheries spokeswoman Julie Speegle said by email the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. Designation of critical habitat for a threatened species is required by the Endangered Species Act a year after a listing. Federal agencies that authorize activities such as oil drilling within critical habitat must consult with wildlife managers to determine whether threatened species will be affected.

Greens ask court for NEPA review of Pacific fracking. E&E News, Sub req’d. Environmental groups yesterday asked a federal court to require a broader analysis of environmental impacts from hydraulic fracturing off the California coast. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California last year froze new well stimulation treatments until the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management fulfilled its obligations under the Endangered Species Act and Coastal Zone Management Act (E&E News PM, Nov. 9, 2018). Attorneys for the Environmental Defense Center and the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper this week asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to require the government also to conduct a more comprehensive review under the National Environmental Policy Act. “The current ban halting the dangerous practices of offshore fracking and acidizing is critical to protecting our local environment,” said Linda Krop, chief counsel at the California-based Environmental Defense Center.

Sage Grouse Recovery Plan Raises Concerns. Crested Butte News. Two of the Gunnison county commissioners have reported back to one another during meetings that they are concerned about the sage grouse recovery process. Commissioner Jonathan Houck travelled to Delta for a public recovery planning meeting earlier this spring, and said on May 14, “It was difficult.” There is a species assessment and collaborative action plan underway, but Houck said there appeared to be little progress. “I didn’t hear a clear pathway for what that looks like. I shared with them that they don’t have a lot of success with, ‘trust us, we will come back with this later,’” he said. Commissioner Roland Mason asked more about the endangered species recovery plan that is supposed to be done in October. “It will be a draft, driven by a settlement of our lawsuit,” said Houck, referring to the county’s efforts to dispute the federal ruling to maintain the sage grouse’s endangered species designation.