Attorney General Clark and Coalition Oppose Trump Administration's Proposed Rollbacks to Endangered Species Act Regulations

Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a multistate coalition of 19 attorneys general in sending a comment letter to the Trump Administration opposing four proposed rules by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that would revise key regulations implementing the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. The proposed unlawful ESA rollbacks would significantly weaken protections for a wide variety of critically imperiled species and habitat in California and across the nation. The proposed rollbacks would reinstate many of the same unlawful ESA regulations adopted under the first Trump Administration, which were challenged in court before being partially reversed by the Biden Administration.

The ESA is one of the nation's landmark environmental protection statutes and is vitally important for protecting a wide variety of critically imperiled species and their habitats in California. For over 50 years, the ESA has protected thousands of iconic and threatened species, including the bald eagle, grizzly bear, and humpback whale. Enacted under the Nixon Administration in 1973, the ESA is intended - as the Supreme Court has described it - "to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost." The Trump Administration's rules would dramatically weaken current protections and reduce federal ESA protections, enforcement, and processes, putting these imperiled species and their habitats at risk of extinction.

In the letter, the coalition criticizes the Trump Administration for its proposed rollbacks, which would significantly weaken protections for our nation's most imperiled species by:

• Decreasing the likelihood that species would be listed as endangered or threatened and entitled to the ESA's protections;
• Decreasing the likelihood that critical habitat would be designated as essential for the survival and recovery of such listed species;
• Reducing required consultations between federal wildlife agencies and other federal agencies, thereby reducing federal agencies' duties to mitigate the adverse effects of their proposed actions on listed species and critical habitat; and
• Repealing regulations that protect threatened species from harm, harassment, or death due to various human actions.

In sending this letter, Attorney General Clarkjoins the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the letter is available on our website.

CONTACT: Amelia Vath, Senior Advisor to the Attorney General, 802-828-3171