Biden admin to rescind 2 Trump-era rules limiting endangered species protections

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Jacob Knutson
·1 min read
In this article:
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service announced Tuesday they will rescind two Trump administration regulations that changed the definition of a habitat and limited protections of certain plants and animals.

Why it matters: It's part of the Biden administration's broad rollback of many Trump-era rule changes to the Endangered Species Act and conservation efforts in general.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

What they're saying: “The Endangered Species Act is one of the most important conservation tools in America and provides a safety net for species that are at risk of going extinct,” said Shannon Estenoz, assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

  • “If finalized, today’s proposed actions will bring the implementation of the Act back into alignment with its original intent and purpose – protecting and recovering America’s biological heritage for future generations," she added.

The big picture: The revision is the result of an executive order from President Biden that directed all federal agencies to review their actions to ensure they are consistent with his administration's conservation policies.

  • The agencies said the conservation purposes from the Endangered Species Act were better met by previous rules rather than the Trump administration's changes that were finalized in December 2020.

Go deeper: U.S. declares more than 20 species extinct after exhaustive searches

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting

Recommended Stories

  • A man was being mauled by a 500-pound bear. He survived the attack by kicking it.

    A man survived a 500-pound brown bear attack in Alaska by kicking it after being mauled by the animal.

  • Emissions gap report a "thundering wake-up call," UN chief says

    The sprint to secure more stringent emissions reduction commitments ahead of the COP26 summit has petered out well short of the finish line, a new United Nations report out this morning concludes.Driving the news: The "Emissions Gap" report offers a clear comparison between where emissions need to be to reach the Paris Agreement's goals, and where they actually are. It takes new and preexisting emissions pledges, called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), into consideration.Stay on top o

  • 150 people arrested in US-Europe darknet drug probe

    Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe have arrested 150 people and seized more than $31 million in an international drug trafficking investigation stemming from sales on the darknet, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The arrests are connected to a 10-month investigation between federal law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europol in Europe.

  • Revealed: 60% of Americans say oil firms are to blame for the climate crisis

    While a strong majority of Americans believe global heating is happening, a new Guardian poll shows sharp partisan divides Most Americans want to see oil and gas companies held accountable over the climate crisis, a poll finds. Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images A majority of Americans want to see oil and gas companies held to account for lying about the climate crisis and contributing to global heating, according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the Guardian, Vice News, and Co

  • Search for next GOP star starts with pushing women and minority candidates for state seats

    The search is on for the next Republican political success story, and party operatives are turning their focus and efforts to those running for office on the state legislative level and building the next generation of national candidates.

  • We don't undertsand how it affects us': Chief Scientist on climate change

    In an interview with Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman, Katharine Hayhoe The Nature Conservancy Chief Scientist explains how climate change could be better understood by the public.

  • Florida manatees dying in record numbers amid food scarcity

    Florida fishing guide and environmental activist Paul Fafeita says a highlight for his charter customers is spotting the manatees that forage for seagrass in shallow waters. It's not so thrilling when they come across the emaciated carcass of a manatee that starved to death. “It’s not good when you’ve got clients on the boat and all of a sudden there’s a dead manatee,” Fafeita, president of the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County, said during a recent excursion in the Indian River Lagoon, a favorite hangout for the marine mammals along Florida's east coast.

  • In Kabul children's hospital, medics struggle with staff shortages

    In Kabul's main children's hospital, the crumbling of Afghanistan's health system is reflected in the eyes of exhausted staff as they eke out fast-diminishing stocks of medicines. As crowds of mothers and sick children fill waiting rooms in the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, medical staff are squeezing three babies into a single incubator and doubling them up in cot-like infant warmer beds. "We tell each other that we have do this work, if we don't do it, these problems will become big, it's a loss for ourselves, our society and for our country," said Dr Saifullah Abassin as he moved from bed to bed in the crowded intensive care unit.

  • German dogs to sniff out wildlife at building sites to speed up work

    Sniffer dogs are being trained by Germany's Deutsche Bahn (DB) to find protected wildlife at planned major building sites to speed up projects, the railway group said on Tuesday. Scientists from the University of Innsbruck, the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research are also accompanying the dogs and their trainers.

  • NASCAR Cup Series takes the green at Kansas

    Watch as the NASCAR Cup Series take the green flag at Kansas Speedway in the second race in the Round of 8.

  • Rescued from extinction, bison rediscover Romania mountains

    Two hundred years after the bison disappeared from Romania, more than 100 of Europe's largest land mammal now roam the country's south-eastern forest, the fruit of a seven-year project carried out by NGOs the World Wildlife Fund and Rewilding Europe in the Eastern European nation.

  • White House's new guidance for international travelers includes stricter testing requirements for unvaccinated Americans

    The Biden administration released new guidance governing international travelers flying to the United States on Monday, affecting both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens.

  • The Texas abortion ban has a medical exception. But some doctors worry it's too narrow to use.

    Since Sept. 1, abortion has been illegal in Texas after six weeks gestation, with one exception: If a doctor determines that a patient will face a "medical emergency" if the pregnancy continues, they can perform an abortion later on without breaking the law. But Texas's medical exception is narrower, and less defined, than others found in gestational bans across the country, said Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law who specializes in reproductive

  • A QAnon conspiracy theory about election fraud is becoming a pro-Trump push for traceable ballots

    Instead of giving up false claims about 2020 election fraud some GOP 'America First' candidates are pitching reforms steeped in conspiracy theories.

  • 2 rabbis indicted in fatal fire that killed firefighter, resident

    Two rabbis were indicted in the fire at a Spring Valley assisted living home that claimed the lives of a resident and a firefighter earlier this year.

  • What is America's COVID endgame?

    With cases in retreat and vaccines for children imminent, when can we breathe?

  • Biden blocks second Trump bid to withhold more Jan. 6 documents

    U.S. President Joe Biden has blocked a second attempt by former President Donald Trump to withhold documents sought by lawmakers investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and ordered the latest batch to be handed over to Congress. "Biden has determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the best interests of the United States, and therefore is not justified," Biden's counsel Dana Remus wrote in an Oct. 25 letter to the National Archives and Records Administration. Taylor Budowich, a spokesman for Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

  • Crunch time for Democrats' competing health priorities

    As Democrats try to reach a deal on a massive social policy bill, the legislation's health care measures are emerging as key sticking points. Between the lines: Moderate members have successfully reduced the amount of new spending that the party is aiming to pass, amplifying the tug-of-war between different factions of the party over which health policies to prioritize. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.The big picture: Nothing's dead yet, although some b

  • Walmart Announced Stores Will Be Closed For Thanksgiving Again This Year

    Walmart announced that stores nationwide will be closed on Thanksgiving Day 2021, so that associates and employees can spent time at home.

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene fined third time for refusing to wear mask on House floor

    Andrew Clyde, who claimed Capitol rioters behaved like ‘normal tourists’, also fined by House committee for failure to wear a mask On Monday, Greene said: ‘I’m taking a stand on the House floor because I don’t want the people to stand alone.’ Photograph: REX/Shutterstock A Georgia Republican who compared rules on mask-wearing against Covid-19 to the Holocaust and another who said Trump supporters who invaded the Capitol on 6 January behaved like “normal tourists” have been fined for failing to w