President Trump Signs Executive Order Directing Agencies to Use Emergency Provisions of Environmental Laws to Speed COVID-19 Economic Recovery<\/strong><\/a> COVID-19 Delays Competition for NEON Management<\/strong><\/a> Congress<\/strong><\/a> Executive Branch<\/strong><\/a> International<\/strong><\/a> Scientific Community<\/strong><\/a> ESA In the News<\/strong><\/a> Opportunities to Get Involved<\/strong><\/a> <\/a> David Hayes, a top Interior lawyer during the Clinton administration and director of New York University\u2019s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center, noted that emergency waivers in NEPA were designed for \u201cfast-moving emergencies.\u201d Courts will likely see the difference between these emergencies and economic slowdowns. The Center for Biological Diversity vowed to challenge the order in the courts in a letter to President Trump.<\/p>\n Environmental justice advocates noted that the order will harm communities of color, who have used NEPA to challenge increased pollution in their communities.<\/p>\n Separately, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced two bills to reform NEPA permitting. The Federal Permitting Modernization Act (S. 3926<\/a>)\u00a0sets timelines for project review under NEPA. For example, permitting agencies would be limited to a 60-day public scoping period. Agencies use scoping periods to solicit feedback from the public regarding issues that should be addressed in environmental impact statements and other NEPA documents. The Republican senators\u2019 second bill (S.3927<\/a>) shortens the timeline from 150 days to 90 days to file a petition for judicial review of a permit, license or approval of an infrastructure project under NEPA.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has been pursuing a major overhaul of the NEPA regulations since 2018 and released a notice of proposed rulemaking narrowing the interpretation of the rule in January 2020 (see ESA Policy News, January 13, 2020<\/a>). ESA and nine other scientific societies submitted\u00a0comments<\/a>\u00a0to the Council on Environmental Quality criticizing the proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act regulations in March.<\/p>\n Mirroring proposals from the White House, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue\u00a0sent<\/a>\u00a0a\u00a0memo<\/a> to the Forest Service directing the agency to limit the number of pages and time spent to complete NEPA documents. Perdue said that these actions will provide relief from \u201cburdensome regulations\u201d and\u00a0boost the productivity of national forests.<\/p>\n <\/a> NSF Chief Officer for Research Facilities James Ulvestead alluded to this delay during the May 2020 National Science Board meeting (see ESA blog:\u00a0National Science Board Unveils Visions 2030 Report, Charts Impacts of COVID-19 on the National Science Foundation<\/a>).<\/p>\n <\/a> Separately, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also advanced the nomination of Mark Menezes to be deputy secretary of the Department of Energy to the full Senate. If confirmed, Menezes would fill the position vacated by Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette when he was promoted to his current role from deputy secretary in December 2019.<\/p>\n Senate:<\/strong>\u00a0The full body passed a series of procedual measures leading to the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422<\/a>). This bill would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million a year.\u00a0The LWCF provides funds to federal agencies and state and local governments to purchase lands for conservation and recreation opportunities. Funding for the LWCF comes for oil and gas leasing revenue. The full Senate is expected is approve the final bill this week.<\/p>\n House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:<\/strong>\u00a0Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and other committee leaders\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0an omnibus surface transportation bill, titled Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act (H.R. 7095<\/a>). This nearly $500 billion bill creates new programs to incentivize states to reduce carbon emissions from transportation and helps states adapt infrastructure for extreme weather events before disasters occur. Under the legislation, states and cities must consider climate change in their transportation planning. The bill also allows states to receive federal transportation funds for wildlife crossings and natural infrastructure projects and authorizes a study on wildlife-vehicle collisions and habitat connectivity to update existing Federal Highway Administration research. Unlike previous transportation bills, this legislation is not bipartisan.<\/p>\n Last summer, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced a\u00a0bipartisan surface transportation bill<\/a>\u00a0(S. 2302<\/a>). The full Senate has not yet considered that bill.<\/p>\n Climate:<\/strong>\u00a0Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0the Growing Climate Solutions Act (S.3894<\/a>). This bill would create a U.S. Department of Agriculture program charged with helping farmers and forest owners access carbon offset markets and certifying third-party greenhouse gas storage and reduction verification and technical assistance programs. An advisory council composed of agriculture experts, scientists, producers and others would advise this program and the Department of Agriculture. Sen. Stabenow is the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.<\/p>\n See ESA\u2019s\u00a0Legislative Tracker<\/a>\u00a0for more updates on legislation relevant to the ecological community.<\/p>\n <\/a> BLM:\u00a0<\/strong>The agency announced its intention to open up about 115,000 acres of land in Utah to oil and gas leasing in September. Many of the parcels included in this auction are near the Bears Ear National Monument and Canyonslands, Arches and Capitol Reef national parks. The accompanying environmental assessment is open for public comment through July 9. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance noted that these lease sales could be hampered by legal challenges and there may be few interested bidders because of the current low price of oil.<\/p>\n Last month, the Trump Department of Justice argued that the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Zuni Tribe and the Utah Din\u00e9 Bik\u00e9yah lack the legal standing to challenge Trump\u2019s decision to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument.<\/p>\n NOAA<\/strong>: The agency\u2019s Education Council is\u00a0seeking<\/a>\u00a0public comments and feedback on its draft Education Strategic Plan, intended for release later in 2020. The draft plan\u2019s purpose is to provide a framework to guide collaboration across NOAA and a structure in which to track and report progress. Comments must be received on or before July 2, 2020. NOAA intends to release a final strategic plan later in 2020.<\/p>\n EPA:<\/strong>\u00a0Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Environmental Protection Agency released the\u00a02019 State of the Great Lakes report<\/a>. The document provides an overview of the status and trends of the Great Lakes ecosystem and concludes that the Great Lakes are \u201cfair and unchanging.\u201d Despite on-going restoration and protection efforts, the report finds that there are still significant challenges to the ecosystem\u2019s health, including the impacts of nutrients and invasive species.<\/p>\n A proposed change to the Clean Air Act regulations prohibits the agency from relying on health \u201cco-benefits\u201d while drafting new air quality rules. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler argued that the agency relied on this co-benefit approach too much in previous administrations. The EPA\u2019s scientific advisory board condemned this approach, writing in a report that the agency should include \u201cexplicit, consistent text throughout the report on the importance of accounting for all benefits associated with a regulation or policy, regardless of whether any given benefit was the intended target of the regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n Interior:<\/strong>\u00a0The Alaska Region of the National Park Service\u00a0repealed<\/a>\u00a0a ban on certain hunting practices such as hunting caribou from motorboats and baiting bears during hibernation on national preserves in Alaska. State officials argued that the prohibition, finalized by the Obama administration in 2015, was inconsistent with state wildlife regulations. The\u00a0final rule<\/a>\u00a0is effective July 9, 2020.<\/p>\n Similarly, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge\u00a0proposed<\/a>\u00a0amending its refuge-specific regulations to allow bear-baiting and state-regulated trapping without a federal permit, citing concerns raised by the state.<\/p>\n USFWS:<\/strong>\u00a0A\u00a0draft environmental impact statement<\/a>\u00a0examining the agency\u2019s proposal to apply the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to only intentional killing of birds finds that finalizing the rule would likely increase bird mortalities and negatively impact bird populations. In 2017, the Interior Department\u2019s top lawyer issued a memo \u2018clarifying\u2019 that the law only applies to the intentional killing of birds. In February 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule formalizing this policy (see ESA Policy News, February 11, 2020<\/a>). The draft environmental impact statement claims that finalizing this rule is necessary to provide \u2018regulatory certainty\u2019 to industry.<\/p>\n The House Natural Resources Committee advanced Rep. Alan Lowenthal\u2019s (D-CA) Migratory Bird Protection Act (H.R. 5552<\/a>) which requires USFWS to create a permitting program for the incidental take of migratory birds during commercial activities. The draft environmental impact statement considers a permitting program, but determines that further analyzing that option \u201cgoes beyond the current purpose and need of simply providing regulatory certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> IPBES also issued a\u00a0call<\/a>\u00a0for indigenous and local communities to contribute to three on-going assessments about the sustainable use of wild species, diverse conceptualizations of multiple values of nature and invasive alien species.<\/p>\n The Republic of Serbia\u00a0formally joined<\/a>\u00a0the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) June 4. Serbia is the 137th<\/sup>\u00a0IPBES member.<\/p>\n <\/a> BIO\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that the number of proposals submitted to the directorate decreased after it switched to no-deadlines for most programs in fiscal year (FY) 2019. This corresponded with an increase in BIO\u2019s funding rate from 21% in FY 2018 to 28.1% in FY 2019. ESA previously reported that the funding rate for the Division of Environmental Biology increased from 23.4% in 2018 to 25.2% in 2019. BIO and the BIO Advisory Committee found that the demographics of P.I.s submitting proposals has not changed significantly since the switch to no-deadlines. There was a slight shift to shorter periods between submission and funding decisions in FY 2019 as compared to FY2018. BIO notes that the 2019 government shutdown may have impacted the timing of funding decisions. They will continue to track these metrics into the future.<\/p>\n Wetlands:<\/strong>\u00a0The Society of Wetland Scientists, the World Wetland Network, the Cobra Collective, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature are crowdsourcing information for a global assessment of the state of the world\u2019s wetlands. The English version of the survey is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n USGS<\/strong>: The Ecosystems Mission Area launched a new quarterly newsletter\u00a0EcoNews<\/a>\u00a0and a monthly webinar series\u00a0Friday\u2019s Findings<\/a>.<\/p>\n NASEM:<\/strong>\u00a0The Committee on Seismology and Geodynamics will hold a webinar with scientists who are documenting global changes to the environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic through remote sensing July 17. Register\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a> View more letters and testimony from ESA<\/strong>\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> Opportunities for Public Comment and Nominations:<\/strong><\/p>\n Visit this page on ESA\u2019s website for updates on opportunities from the Federal Register<\/a>,\u00a0including upcoming meetings and regulations open for public comment.<\/p>\n ESA\u2019s policy activities work to infuse ecological knowledge into national policy decisions through activities such as policy statements, Capitol Hill briefings, Congressional Visits Days, and coalition involvement. Policy News Updates are bi-monthly summaries of major environmental and science policy news. They are produced by the Public Affairs Office of the Ecological Society of America.<\/p>\n Send questions or comments to\u00a0 Alison Mize, director of public affairs,\u00a0Alison@esa.org<\/a>\u00a0or Nicole Zimmerman, public affairs manager,\u00a0Nicole@esa.org<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduce bills to reform NEPA permitting.<\/p>\n
\nBattelle Memorial Institute will continue to manage NEON in the interim.<\/p>\n
\nBipartisan Senate Committee advances the nomination of Sethuraman \u201cPanch\u201d Panchanathan to lead the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n
\nPresident Trump signed an order opening up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument to fishing.<\/p>\n
\nIPBES is looking for reviewers of a new draft scoping report.<\/p>\n
\nNSF\u2019s Biological Sciences Directorate reports that the number of proposals submitted to the directorate decreased after it switched to no-deadlines<\/p>\n
\nView an up-to-date list of ESA\u2019s media coverage.<\/p>\n
\nFederal Register opportunities.<\/p>\nPresident Trump Signs Executive Order Directing Agencies to Use Emergency Provisions of Environmental Laws to Speed COVID-19 Economic Recovery
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\nPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use the emergency authorities of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws to accelerate the country\u2019s economic recovery from the coronavirus. The order also directs the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Defense to use all relevant emergency authorities to expedite work on infrastructure, energy, environmental, and natural resources projects on federal lands. Project developers will likely be hesitant to start work under this order, as environmental groups will likely challenge actions in the courts.<\/p>\nCOVID-19\u00a0Delays Competition for NEON Management<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nThe National Science Foundation announced that it is further extending the deadline for the submission of full proposals for the competition for management and operations of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) until September 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a note to the scientific community, Assistant Director of the Biological Science Directorate Joanne Tornow said that in-person visits to NEON sites are necessary for proposing organizations to understand the full extent and intensity of operations on each site. These site visits are currently not feasible due to the pandemic. Battelle Memorial Institute will continue to manage NEON in the interim and NSF anticipates no adverse impact to NEON operations as a result of the deadline extension. NSF changed NEON\u2019s management from NEON, Inc. to Battelle in 2016.<\/p>\nCongress<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nNominations:\u00a0<\/strong>The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to advance the Sethuraman \u201cPanch\u201d Panchanathan nomination to lead the National Science Foundation to the full Senate without holding a confirmation hearing for Panchanathan. President Donald Trump nominated Panchanathan in December 2019. Former NSF Director France Cordova\u2019s six-year term leading the agency ended in March 2020. Panchanathan is an Arizona State University computer scientist and a former member of the National Science Board.<\/p>\nExecutive Branch<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nWhite House:<\/strong>\u00a0President Trump\u00a0signed<\/a>\u00a0an order opening up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument off the coast of New England to fishing. Under the order, the New England Fishery Management Council will regulate fishing in the area. Former President Barack Obama designated the national monument in 2016. The Conservation Law Foundation has promised to challenge the order in courts, arguing the Antiquities Act allows presidents to designate national monuments, but it does not allow the president to modify existing monuments.<\/p>\nInternational<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nIPBES:<\/strong>\u00a0The draft scoping report for the international body\u2019s thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health in the context of climate change is now open for external review through July 31. This review aims to increase the policy relevance of this scoping report by engaging governments and stakeholders early in the process of defining the policy questions that this assessment will address. Interested reviewers can register to access the document\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\nScientific Community<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nNSF:<\/strong>\u00a0The Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) will hold two online informational sessions for investigators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to share information about NSF programs supporting HBCU researchers, including the HBCU Excellence in Research program. NSF established the HBCU Excellence in Research program in response to a 2018 request from the Senate Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. The program aims to establish stronger connections between researchers at HBCUs and NSF\u2019s research programs. Register for the July 1 or July 14 sessions\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat We\u2019re Reading<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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ESA In the News<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nESA regularly issues press releases to the media about journal articles and other Society news. Press coverage is kept up-to-date on our \u201cIn the News\u201d page.\u00a0Check out news stories here<\/a>.<\/p>\nESA Correspondence to Policymakers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Opportunities to get involved<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nVirtual public meetings and conference calls:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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