GOP Senators Urge Services To Drop ESA Consultation For Cooling Rule

摘要

Four GOP senators are calling on federal wildlife agencies to "vacate" the formal Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation process with EPA over its pending rule governing cooling water intake structures at power plants, a review that environmentalists have said could result in stricter control requirements. In a Feb. 18 letter to the departments that oversee the wildlife agencies, the lawmakers argue that any endangered species concerns can only be addressed on a site-specific basis and not in a national rule, a line of attack that could preview legal challenges that industry might make once EPA issues the rule.