Wildlife agencies to cancel Trump endangered species rules

27/10/2021 7:05

        President Joe Biden's administration announced Tuesday plans to cancel two environmental rollbacks under former President Donald Trump that limited habitat protections for imperiled plants and wildlife.
        
        The proposal to drop the two Trump-era rules by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service is part of a broad effort by the Biden administration to undo regulations that Democrats and wildlife advocates say favored industry over the environment.
        
        The designation of lands and waters as critical for the survival of vulnerable species can limit mining, oil drilling and other development. That's made the designations a flashpoint for conflict between environmental and business interests.
        
        Industry groups and Republicans in Congress have long viewed the Endangered Species Act as an impediment to economic development. Under Trump, they successfully lobbied to weaken the law’s regulations with changes that gave added weight to economic development and other interests.