For Immediate Release: January 28, 2003

Contact: , American Bird Conservancy, 202/234-7181 ext. 207

Bush Administration Assault on Endangered Species Act
Action Would Remove Critical Review for Pesticides

Conservationists have expressed outrage at the Bush Administration's planned assault on one of the nation's most important environmental laws, the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed rule would allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exempt itself from the need to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, "the services") regarding the effects its decisions on pesticides have on endangered species.

Currently, under Section 7 of the ESA, all pesticide decisions made by the EPA are subject to review by the services where endangered species may be impacted. By circumventing this requirement, the EPA will be free to make decisions affecting America's rarest species without input from the very people charged with their protection.

Members of the newly-formed National Pesticide Coalition will convene an emergency session on Friday Jan 31, to discuss their opposition to the proposal. A 45-day comment period has been opened during which time the coalition will organize a coordinated effort to have the proposed rule struck down. The coalition comprises 15 nationally-recognized groups, all concerned with the detrimental effects of pesticides on wildlife, the environment, and public health. The complete list of organizations is included below.

"What is most disturbing is that these new rules were written after months of discussion with industry representatives but no input at all from the conservation community," said Dr. Patti Bright, Director of the Pesticides and Birds Campaign of American Bird Conservancy, and a representative of the National Pesticides Coalition. "It is appalling to think that essentially industry is controlling pesticide regulation and endangered species protection at the EPA. The fox is in charge of the hen house."

"The Bush Administration's proposed changes to the ESA's implementing regulations would significantly weaken protections for our nation's most imperiled wildlife, and establish an extremely dangerous precedent," said Mike Senatore, Wildlife Council for Defenders of Wildlife, a Coalition member. "Particularly alarming are proposed changes that would severely weaken the vital role of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in ensuring that endangered and threatened species are adequately protected from the harmful impacts of pesticides. These changes, if adopted, would also clearly set the stage for a complete rewriting of federal endangered species regulations by this Administration for the benefit of industry."

Pesticides kill millions of birds annually, as well as many other species, including endangered mammals. American Bird Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Florida Wildlife Federation are currently involved in litigation with the EPA over the use of the pesticide fenthion, which has killed numerous birds, including an endangered species (Piping Plover), in Florida. Another widely used pesticide coming up for EPA re-registration review, brodifacoum, (the active ingredient of the rodenticide D-Con) has killed a number of Endangered San Joaquin Kit Foxes in California, as well as Golden Eagles. This same pesticide has been responsible for the vast majority of the more than 48,000 recent rodenticide poisoning cases of children under six years old reported to poison control centers across the nation.

The proposed ruling, published in the Federal Register on January 24, would give EPA the ability to register and re-register pesticides solely based on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), a law never designed to take the place of the ESA or specifically protect endangered species. By taking critical review away from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the rule would undermine the ESA, and jeopardize our nation's wildlife heritage.

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American Bird Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) organization aimed at conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas.

National Pesticide Coalition Members:
American Bird Conservancy, Dr. Patti Bright, DVM, Director, Pesticides and Birds Campaign, (540) 253-5780, pbright@abcbirds.org, www.abcbirds.org
Defenders of Wildlife, Mike Senatore, Wildlife Counsel, (202) 682.9400 x108, msenatore@defenders.org
Sierra Club, Bart.Semcer, Associate Washington DC Representative, (202) 675-6696, Bart.Semcer@sierraclub.org. 
Or Jessica F. Frohman, Sierra Club National Conservation Organizer, 202.548.4595, jessica.frohman@sierraclub.org, www.sierraclub.org.
National Wildlife Federation, John Kostyack, Senior Counsel and Manager, Species Restoration Program, (202) 797-6879, kostyack@nwf.org, www.nwf.org
Farm Worker Justice Fund, Shelley Davis, Co-Executive Director, (202) 783 2628 x 202
http://www.fwjustice.org/ 
Earth Justice, NW Office, Patti Goldman, Managing attorney, (206) 343-7340 ext. 32, 
pgoldman@earthjustice.org, http://www.earthjustice.org
Natural Resources Defense Council
World Wildlife Fund 
Beyond Pesticides
Rachel Carson Council, Inc.
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides
Washington Toxics Coalition
Environmental Defense
National Audubon Society
US Public Interest Research Group