Today, the Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Commerce entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to evaluate and improve consultations for agricultural crop protection products under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement:  

“The administration is taking a positive step to rationalize an irrational permitting regime. For too long, cumbersome interagency consultations have been an utter disaster for American farmers, family forest operations and businesses, imposing untenable regulatory burdens with little benefit to species. We will be working in partnership with federal agencies to provide even greater statutory authority so that agencies can do their jobs and both species and the economy are protected.”

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