Fish and Wildlife Service seeks blatant exclusion from National Environmental Policy Act requirements (Confirms USARK’s Challenge to Rule):
The Obama Administration has repeatedly made a bias of compliance with the environmental impact review requirements when it serves their purposes (for example, see the Keystone pipeline issue which has conveniently been under NEPA review for years).
Just two months after USARK raised questions with regard to the FWS failure to respond to environmental impact criticisms by the industry, researchers, state and federal wildlife officials, and zoos and aquariums when listing the four species of injurious snakes, FWS proposes a blanket NEPA exclusion for itself under the Lacey Act.
There is no justification for excluding a Lacey Act listing that – as with snakes – has adverse environmental consequences. The FWS is clearly concerned that their listing is on shaky legal ground and they are looking for ways around federal law. The reptile community must oppose this proposal!
Our legal arguments challenging the Lacey Act listings are strong and clearly have the agency on the defensive. USARK will be posting talking points in the coming days so that you can join us to defeat this blatant abuse of agency power.
You can view the pertinent information from the Federal Register at https://usark.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/NEPAaction.pdf and the reopening posting at https://usark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FWS-HQ-FAC-2013-0118-0005.pdf.
More News:
The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) welcomes the Executive Order on Combating Wildlife Trafficking issued by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, on July 1, 2013. The Executive Order addresses both its domestic and international response to the current surge in wildlife trafficking. View the full release at
and the Executive Order at https://usark.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/COMBATING-WILDLIFE-TRAFFICKING.pdf.
