Dive Brief:
- The $1 trillion omnibus spending package — known as the CRomnibus — being ushered through Congress contains hundreds of riders, and among them are provisions that would delay potential protections for the sage grouse.
- A provision not included, however, is one to defund the EPA's implementation of the Clean Power Plan. Bloomberg reports Democrats were able to block GOP efforts to halt EPA regulations on carbon emissions and federal waterways.
- The bird's habitat is often around western drilling areas, and territory used by western co-ops and transmission developers. The spending bill would delay the Department of Interior's decision on the sage grouses' protected status until late next year.
Dive Insight:
Congress could consider the 1,600-page spending bill today (Dec. 11), and environmental groups say they are disappointed to see the sage grouse's protected status a target of Republican action.
The bill would delay potential protection under the Endangered Species Act, and activists say it is a second blow after the House passed a defense authorization bill they believe could undermine recovery for sage-grouse. That bill, advocates say, effectively waives conservation measures for livestock grazing across large tracts of grouse habitat on public lands.
As Utility Dive has reported, western electric co-ops have argued against the bird's protections in the past, saying it impedes their business and hurts local economies. Grouse protections are a common stumbling block listed by power companies in the approval process for new transmission projects and maintenance.
Environmentalists can take heart, though, that GOP attempts to block important EPA regulations failed. Republican leadership had pledged to do whatever it takes to stop the Clean Power Plan, a set of regulations Obama administration officials call the "crown jewel" of the White House's environmental legacy.