Principal Parker Moore (Washington, DC) was quoted in a January 15 article in Law360 titled “FWS May Back Off Controversial Endangered Listing for Bat.” The article discusses the outlook for environmental legislation and regulation in 2015. The article discusses the pending Endangered Species Act listing of the northern long-eared bat.

Noting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may consider listing the northern long-eared bat as a “threatened” rather than an “endangered” species and, concurrently, may issue a proposed special 4(d) rule that would authorize certain activities that impact the bat to occur, Parker said the 4(d) proposal is an “important step,” and shows an endangered listing might not be inevitable.

“But the 4(d) falls far short of where it should be. It covers only a very narrow suite of activities that all but excludes every single major industry activity that drives the economy,” he said.

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