Following a letter from U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and 11 of her colleagues, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced it is delaying the effective date of the final rule to reclassify the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act to March 31.
The letter expressed concerns to FWS Director Martha Williams about the impact of issuing a final rule listing the northern long-eared bat (NLEB) as endangered on current and future infrastructure projects across the country.
“Many infrastructure projects will require federal agencies and project sponsors to consult with the Service on potential impacts to NLEB and their habitat, even though these projects and developments have little contributing impact to the decline of the species, and most mitigation measures will do little to nothing to combat WNS [white-nose syndrome],” the senators wrote.
“We are deeply concerned that the up-listing of the NLEB, when combined with the current back logs, will impede the historic investment Congress made in the IIJA if flexibility and efficiency are not addressed by the Service prior to the final rule going into effect on Jan. 30, 2023,” the senators continued.
Senators who signed on to Capito’s letter include, Sens. John Boozman (R-Ark.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
At a May 2022 hearing with FWS Director Williams, Capito expressed her concerns about the agency’s decision to up-list the NLEB from threatened to endangered, saying, “in the listing re-designation, the Service admits that bat populations are declining due to effects separate and apart from development of infrastructure like roads and transmission lines.”
