By Joel Rosenblatt
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued the Bush administration over claims it implemented new regulations dropping required scientific reviews of federal agency policies that may hurt endangered and threatened species.
Brown sued yesterday in federal court in San Francisco claiming the new regulations, proposed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Commerce and approved Dec. 16, conflict with provisions of the Endangered Species Act, according to an e-mailed statement Brown sent today.
The rules allow federal agencies to pursue or permit mining and logging on federal land without review or comment of scientists on what effects the activities may have on endangered or threatened species and their habitats, Brown said in the statement. The regulations also drop a requirement that proposed federal projects measure greenhouse gas emissions, Brown said.
"The Bush administration is seeking to gut the Endangered Species Act on its way out the door," Brown said. The regulations "circumvent a time-tested statute that for 35 years has required scientific review of proposed federal agency decisions that affect wildlife."
Tina Kreisher, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, said the agency doesn't comment on pending lawsuits.
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