Trump administration narrows Endangered Species Act definition of harm

The Interior Department announced a final rule that narrows the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, removing the requirement that habitat destruction be illegal. The change is intended to reduce regulatory constraints on activities such as drilling, mining, logging and other land development projects.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the previous definition “interfered with private property rights” and turned routine activities into a “regulatory trap.”

Environmental organizations warned that the rule could jeopardize dozens of species, including California’s tiger salamanders, Yosemite toads, California condors, northern spotted owls, Little Kern golden trout and several others that are currently protected under the law.

“For the first time ever, a presidential administration now claims that species protected by the Endangered Species Act shouldn’t be safe from habitat modification that destroys where they live, raise their young, or search for food,” said Kristen Boyles, attorney for Earthjustice.

“For more than four decades, the definition of ‘harm’ recognized a simple truth: if you destroy the places wildlife need to survive, you are putting species on a path to extinction,” said Ben Greuel, wildlife campaign manager at the Sierra Club.

The rule is expected to facilitate expanded oil drilling, mining and other projects in areas that were previously restricted to protect wildlife habitats. Earthjustice estimates that increased drilling could threaten marine species such as humpback whales, sea otters, leatherback sea turtles, marbled murrelets and wild salmon.

Several environmental groups have announced plans to challenge the regulation in court, arguing that it lacks scientific and legal justification.