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By Jesse TaylorThat's what I've been missing in the whole "accountable government" part of conservatism...that government actually shouldn't be accountable for itself. Makes perfect sense now!The Bush Administration is seeking to gut the Endangered Species Act by letting agencies determine for themselves whether or not projects violate said Act rather than submitting projects for qualified independent review.
The new rules, which will be subject to a 30-day per comment period, would use administrative powers to make broad changes in the law that Congress has resisted for years. Under current law, agencies must subject any plans that potentially affect endangered animals and plants to an independent review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service. Under the proposed new rules, dam and highway construction and other federal projects could proceed without delay if the agency in charge decides they would not harm vulnerable species.The main problem? The people who know how to do the proper reviews are in the agency that won't be doing the reviews any more. The agencies that would be tasked with doing the reviews themselves, for the most part, can't:
