Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Press Release

Attorney General Fights Midnight Regulation Jeopardizing Endangered Species And Habitats

January 16, 2009

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today joined a lawsuit challenging a Bush administration midnight regulation that eviscerates protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.

In a last-minute regulatory move, the Bush administration has relieved all federally approved project developers of their responsibility to consider potential harm that their projects might pose to endangered species and habitats.

Blumenthal and seven other states joined a California lawsuit today challenging this late-term move in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The rule was effective Dec. 16, 2008.

"Any project that requires federal approval -- roads, bridges and massive utility projects such as the doomed Broadwater liquefied natural gas facility -- would be free to disregard dangers to sensitive species and habitats," Blumenthal said.

"The outgoing Bush administration is leaving a trail of legal destruction -- unconscionably upending environmental and endangered species protections. Connecticut and a coalition of states will fight to ensure that this last-term environmental swipe is short lived. We are going to court, in this case and others, to stop a series of Bush administration midnight regulations that strike hard-fought protections for the environment, patients, women's health and consumers."

The following states are also joining California: Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island.