A rule change means companies will not be held liable for killing migratory birds as long as their actions were not intentionally designed to do so.
The Trump administration gutted protections for migratory birds on Tuesday, delivering a parting gift to the oil and gas industry, which has long sought to be shielded from liability for killing birds unintentionally in oil spills, toxic waste ponds and other environmental disasters. The final rule comes less than a month before President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. takes office. While Mr. Biden has not explicitly pledged to repeal the measure, his choice for interior secretary, Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico, is widely expected to do so. Repealing the measure won’t be a simple or quick process, however. Conservationists and oil industry executives alike said that was what the Trump administration intended when issuing the new regulation over the objections of many scientists, who have asserted in public comments on the regulation that it would lead to many more bird deaths. “This rule simply reaffirms the original meaning and intent of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by making it clear that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not prosecute landowners, industry and other individuals for accidentally killing a migratory bird,” David Bernhardt, the Interior secretary, said in a statement. Under the measure, which changes the way the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act is implemented, the federal government will no longer fine or prosecute companies whose actions cause the death of birds, as long as killing birds was not the underlying intent of the action.
