The Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries today unveiled what some bill as

the most significant changes to Endangered Species Act regulations in several

decades.

Consultations with other agencies would be streamlined. There would be a tighter

definition of "foreseeable future," crucial in ESA decisions. Critical habitats could
shrink, and threatened species would no longer automatically receive the same
protections as endangered species.

Taken together, the proposed rule changes would more closely align the two
agencies that share responsibility for the ESA and address some common
complaints aired by critics of the 1973 law.

First, though, the reform ideas will ignite a debate that's likely to grow heated.

"One thing we [have] heard over and over again was that ESA implementation was
not consistent and often times very confusing to navigate," Fish and Wildlife Service
Principal Deputy Director Greg Sheehan said in a statement.