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The Biden Administration has proposed new changes to a suite of rules that would significantly affect the applicability and implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed revisions reverse reforms made by the prior administration to regulations governing the listing and delisting of species and plants, the designation of critical habitat and the interagency consultations that are part of the approval process for projects that involve federal permits or funding. One change, in particular, would upend longstanding policy and require offsets to any impacts that cannot be avoided through the “reasonable and prudent measures” (RPMs) that project proponents currently employ. A summary of the proposed changes follows below.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality proposed rule ignores recent NEPA amendments included in the debt limit deal.

The House votes to repeal a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule. As a result of the rule, at least 3,000 projects already under construction will have to re-do their Endangered Species Act consultations, threatening schedules and even project feasibility.

Please join �鶹��Ƶ of America on August 16, 2023, from 2:00pm ET to 3:00pm ET for a virtual townhall update on its climate change initiatives and discussion on carbon reporting and the construction industry. This virtual townhall will be open to all �鶹��Ƶ members and chapters. There is no charge, but you must register to reserve a seat—click here.

Agencies may delay permits until changes are final

What if a project owner asks you about carbon reporting or the embodied carbon of materials? Preparing for these questions can take months or even longer—and can involve compliance, sustainability and even finance team members. Get a head start at �鶹��Ƶ’s Construction Safety Health and Environmental Conference on July 25-27, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. Learn about regulatory initiatives related to climate change policies, carbon reporting practices, the business case, documenting of emissions in materials, and related tools.

�鶹��Ƶ submitted its first set of comments on a Biden administration guidance implementing a new executive order that changes the process of developing regulations (Executive Order 14094 on Modernizing Regulatory Review). The new policy would limit the business community’s access to the administration during the inter-agency review process, while encouraging feedback from groups that ordinarily would not engage in the regulatory process. The policy effectively closes the door on the very entities that stand to bear the compliance cost of a proposed regulation. The executive order also raises the threshold of a significant regulatory action, meaning fewer regulations would be required to undergo review. �鶹��Ƶ encourages the administration to abandon the executive order.