East Idaho Times

U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both Republicans from Idaho, have introduced three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions aimed at overturning the Biden administration's reversal of key reforms to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These reforms, implemented by the Trump administration, had increased stakeholder engagement, defined critical habitat, and ensured effective species recovery plans. The senators argue that the CRAs will preserve these successful reforms rather than allowing them to be replaced by one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington bureaucrats.

"The Biden Administration’s continued insistence to push federal policies for wildlife management comes at the expense of common-sense practices and local engagement and minimizes the superior, on-the-ground knowledge of state, local and tribal stakeholders," said Crapo. "In Idaho, we have found time and again that collaborative efforts at those levels produce the best results."

Risch echoed this sentiment, stating: “The Biden Administration’s abusive interpretation of the Endangered Species Act and reversal of common-sense Trump-era policies must stop. Congress must undo these flawed Biden administration regulations to restore fiscally responsible, science-based decisions that actually protect wildlife and critical projects in the West.”

Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) are also backing this legislation.

“The Endangered Species Act has been a failed and flawed piece of legislation for more than 50 years," said Lummis. "With a less than 2% recovery rate, the Trump-era reforms finally represented a real and meaningful step in the right direction."

Sullivan added: “The Endangered Species Act was a well-intentioned law; however, the Biden administration is enacting ESA rules to promote a radical environmental agenda despite devastating impacts on our economy.”

“Biden bureaucrats are abusing their authority to push through stifling regulations that will hurt our economy and burden private property owners,” said Ricketts. “These one-size-fits-all rules hurt landowners and refuse to take into account how they will hurt local economies."

The resolutions are also cosponsored by a host of other Republican senators.

The three CRA resolutions aim to overturn a series of new rules put forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that undo three key reforms to the ESA implemented by the Trump administration in 2019.

On May 11, 2023, the United States Senate passed a CRA resolution that would overturn the Biden administration’s ESA rule related to critical habitat. The CRA is awaiting consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On September 14, 2023, Crapo, Risch, and Lummis introduced legislation to prevent the Departments of the Interior and Commerce from finalizing these rule proposals and retain the Trump-era regulations within the ESA.