ESA Policy News Jan. 13: Obama SOTU calls for cooperation, FWS rule prohibits salamander importation, USGS Director confirmed
Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read the full Policy News here. 
WHITE HOUSE: OBAMA SOTU REFLECTS ON ACCOMPLISHMENTS, CALLS FOR COOPERATION
For his final State of the Union address, President Obama sought a conciliatory and hopeful tone while requesting that Congress allay partisan tensions to reach consensus on advancing his remaining priorities.
Regarding his accomplishments and priorities, the president defended his administration’s actions to address climate change and increase investments in renewable energy.
“Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change, have at it. You will be pretty lonely because you’ll be debating our military, most of America’s business leaders, the majority of the American people, almost the entire scientific community, and 200 nations around the world who agree it’s a problem and intend to solve it,” said Obama.
In the final portion of his speech, the president lamented that he had failed to alleviate brinksmanship between the two parties and called upon Congress and the American people to get engaged in improving discourse and the political process.
Click here to read the president’s full State of the Union remarks.
FWS: INTERIM RULE WOULD PROHIBIT IMPORTATION OF 201 SALAMANDER SPECIES
The US Fish and Wildlife Service published an interim rule that would prohibit the importation and trade of 201 salamander species. The rule is a preemptive effort to prevent the fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), which has decimated salamander populations in Europe through the pet trade, from spreading to native salamander populations in the United States. The Ecological Society of America (ESA) wrote a letter to the Service in November 2014 requesting the importantion ban. ESA Rapid Response member and amphibian expert, Dr. Karen Lips’ (University of Maryland), research on host-pathogen ecology and Bsal was used to inform the scientific understanding of Bsal’s threat.
The agency may grant permits for the importation and transportation of listed species for scientific, medical, educational or zoological purposes. The rule allows owners of listed animals to keep them as states allow but prohibits interstate transport for all animals listed as alive or dead under the rule.
The interim rule would take effect on Jan. 28, 2016. Click here for additional information.
Click here to read ESA’s letter to FWS.
FWS: WEST INDIAN MANATEES RECLASSIFIED UNDER ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
On Jan. 7, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed to downgrade its listing of the West Indian manatee from “endangered” to “threatened.” The agency cites “significant improvements in its population and habitat conditions and reductions in direct threats” since the manatees’ listing as the rationale for the reclassification.
The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as one that is currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and a threatened species as one that is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. The new listing does not affect current federal protections for the species.
According to FWS, the Florida manatee population has increased by 500 percent over the last 25 years. The agency worked with state and local officials to establish over 50 manatee protection areas that helped the species recover. Their full geographic range today includes at least 13,000 manatees.
Click here to view the full FWS announcement.
INTERIOR: SENATE CONFIRMS KIMBALL AS USGS DIRECTOR
The US Senate voted to confirm Suzette Kimball as director of the US Geological Survey (USGS) on Dec. 18, one of its final acts before adjourning for the remainder of 2015.
President Obama first nominated Kimball in Jan. 2014. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee had approved her nomination in June 2014, but the full Senate had not voted on her before the 113th Congress adjourned at the end of that year, so the process began again when the 114th Congress convened in Jan. 2015. The nomination was also delayed in part because Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who chairs the committee, had concerns with various Department of Interior regulations that impact Alaska.
Having served as acting-director, Kimball’s general duties will not change. The USGS is uniquely non-partisan, given that it does not issue regulations and chiefly functions as the US Department of Interior’s science arm.
Click here to read Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s statement on the confirmation.
EPA: RISK ASSESSMENT CONCLUDES COMMON PESTICIDE HARMS BEES
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a preliminary pollinator risk-assessment that finds applying the pesticide imidacloprid to crops is harmful to the bees that pollinate them.
The assessment was prepared in collaboration with California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation. EPA also collaborated with Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which recently released an imidacloprid pollinator assessment that found the same preliminary conclusions as the EPA report.
The assessment is the first in a series of four risk assessments of neonicotinoid insecticides that are potentially harmful to pollinators. Preliminary pollinator risk assessments for the pesticides clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran are scheduled to be released for public comment in Dec. 2016.
Click here for additional information on EPA’s pollinator risk assessment activities.
EPA: NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR NEW ENGLAND ENVIRONMENTAL MERIT AWARD
The US Environmental Protection Agency is accepting nominations for its 2016 Environmental Merit Awards.
The awards are open to “scientists, community activists, business representatives, public officials and other individuals committed to preserving the environment” who reside within EPA’s Region 1 (New England). In addition to individuals, award categories are open to businesses, governmental entities and other organizations.
Nominations are due Feb. 12, 2016. Click here for additional information on specific award categories and the award nomination process.