Biden officials finalize a rule making it harder to kill birds, reversing Trump
Source: Washington Post
The Biden administration finalized a rule Wednesday revoking a Trump administration policy that eased penalties for killing birds, restoring federal protections that had been in place for a century. The Trump administration’s reinterpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act ranked as one of its most contentious wildlife policies. It relaxed legal penalties for energy companies, construction firms and land developers that unintentionally killed birds through activities such as construction and oil drilling.
The new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule would restore protections under the bedrock environmental law, which prohibits the “take” of migratory bird species — regulatory-speak for hunting, killing, capturing, selling or otherwise hurting them. Trump officials had sought to exclude accidental deaths from the “take” definition, a move backed by the oil and gas industry. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the new rule would protect more birds threatened by the dual crises of climate change and habitat loss. She noted that the Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the ivory-billed woodpecker extinct Wednesday, along with 22 other species that can no longer be found in the wild.
“The specifics for each of the species' demise vary, but the story arc is essentially the same: Humans altered their habitat in a significant way, and we couldn't or didn't do enough to ultimately change the trajectory before it was too late,” Haaland told reporters on a call Wednesday. “But this moment, as sobering as it is, can serve as a wake-up call. Our children and grandchildren will not know the Earth as we do unless we change the status quo,” said Haaland, who is on a trip to California and visited the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday.
The Biden administration will step up enforcement to ensure companies and individuals take precautions to avoid bird deaths in the future, officials said, and will develop a new policy after taking public comment. Mallori Miller, vice president of government relations at the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents small and midsize oil and gas companies, said the group was “disappointed” with the Biden administration's move to reverse the Trump policy.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/09/29/migratory-bird-treaty-act-biden/
These are the types of things that are going on "behind the scenes" where Congress can generally pass resolutions that dissolve Rules changes, and then replacements can be put in place through the usual Federal Register process if needed.
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Makes me happy 
