Senators Lummis, Capito, Lead Letter Highlighting Concerns to the Endangered Species Act

On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) led a letter that was sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the Endangered Species Act.  The letter highlighted concerns from Republican lawmakers with proposals to roll back crucial reforms to the ESA.

The senators sent this letter after the Biden administration announced it would make changes to the ESA, which would create more red tape and overly burdensome regulations. The senators also asked for the comment period on these proposals to be extended to give those impacted by the regulations enough time to address their concerns. In the letter, the senators urge the administration to fully consider the impact the proposed rules would have on communities throughout the nation. The letter further states that instead of returning the ESA to an overly burdensome and ineffective state, the administration must prioritize efforts that empower private landowners and other stakeholders to achieve the goal of removing species from the ESA list.

In May, the U.S. Senate passed a Congressional Review Act resolution sponsored by Senator Lummis to retain the regulatory definition of habitat within the ESA. The Senate also passed Congressional Review Act resolutions to overturn the northern long-eared bat and western prairie chicken’s listing as endangered under the ESA.