Biden Administration Restores Bird Protections By Removing Trump Rule


WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Wednesday restored protections for migratory birds that were loosened under former President Donald J. Trump, a move celebrated by conservatives but expected to increase tensions between the administration and the oil and gas industry.

The move comes as some bird species disappear from the planet. North America almost lost three billion birds in the last 50 years, the scientists said. In addition to suffering from habitat loss and climate change, they also die from collisions with buildings, power lines and communication towers. They die in oil waste pits and oil spills.

Department of the Interior secretary Deb Haaland said the agency would formally repeal a rule that went into effect in the last days of the Trump presidency that protects businesses, landowners and others from legal consequences if their activities unintentionally kill birds.

This meant that a construction crew that knocked down a barn with owl nests, or an oil company responsible for a disaster that killed thousands of birds, could not be punished.

Ms Haaland said instead the Biden administration would turn to a long-standing interpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits “incidental” harm to birds. He said restoring federal protections is a critical step because while some industries are taking voluntary measures to protect the birds, populations are still declining.

The losses are part of the growing global biodiversity crisis from habitat loss, climate change and other human activities. One million species threatened with extinction. Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Suggested removal of 22 animals and one plant removed from the endangered species list. One of Bachman’s warblers was a migratory songbird not seen since 1988.

“This moment, however sober, can serve as a wake-up call,” Ms. Haaland told reporters. “Unless we change the status quo, our children and grandchildren will not know the Earth as well as we do.”

But Erik Schneider, policy director for the National Audubon Association, said it wasn’t enough to restore the protections lost under former President Trump. Biden wants his administration to go beyond the new regulation.

“If we’re going to bring back three billion birds and protect birds from climate change, we need a government-wide effort to significantly accelerate bird conservation efforts,” he said.

Oil industry representatives at odds with the Biden administration on separate issues Efforts to restrict fossil fuel leasing on public landsdenounced the arrangement and said the agency had separated them for harm. The overwhelming majority of prosecutions under the law have been brought against energy companies.

“This rule takes us to a time when federal agencies are selectively prosecuting oil and gas companies,” Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, an independent association of oil and gas companies, said in an email. He declared the new rule “legally vulnerable”.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was enacted to protect the bird from overfishing and poaching at a time when the feathers of snowy egrets were in such high demand for hat decorations that it nearly caused the bird to become extinct. It makes it illegal “in any form or by any means” to hunt, capture, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs of the listed species without permission.

Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the law to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, cell phone towers, wind turbines, or other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds have been killed, and BP has agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Trump administration in 2017 reinterpreted the lawprotect companies from liability unless they knowingly and intentionally try to kill birds. Despite a stern decision by a federal judge to rescind the policy in response to a legal challenge from a coalition of eight state attorneys general and environmental groups, a final regulation was issued days before Mr Trump stepped down.

The repeal of Mr Trump’s rule will take effect within 60 days from Oct. In addition, the Home Office said it will receive comment on a possible new permit system so that some companies are not penalized if birds die or are injured despite reasonable precautions while doing business.



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