New York Attorney General Letitia James is challenging new federal endangered species rules that she says could reduce protections for sea turtles that feed off the coast of Long Island.
James and a coalition of 20 other attorneys general filed two lawsuits Wednesday challenging three Trump administration rules that change protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.
The Attorney General’s Office specifically cited four species of sea turtles found in New York and said the changes could mean fewer safeguards for turtles feeding off Long Island, along with piping plovers nesting in coastal refuges and recovering sturgeon populations.
One of the challenged rules eliminates a longstanding interpretation of “harm” that treated damage or destruction of a protected species’ habitat as prohibited under the Endangered Species Act. Under the new rule, the state attorneys general said habitat destruction would generally not qualify unless it involved a direct, intentional act against an individual animal.
A second rule ends automatic federal protections for newly listed threatened species unless the government creates a separate species-specific rule.
The coalition is also challenging a rule governing critical habitat designations. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the change requires federal regulators to consider excluding an area from protection when businesses argue that designation would cause economic harm.
James and the other attorneys general argue the rules violate the Endangered Species Act, Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act. They are asking the court to vacate the rules and restore the previous protections.
“America’s endangered species have survived because generations of Americans chose to protect them and the habitats they depend on,” James said.
Attorneys general from 19 other states and the District of Columbia joined James in one or both lawsuits.
