CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A change in construction development rules in New Hampshire puts endangered species at a greater risk of facing harm, according to environmental groups.
The state’s Department of Environmental Services changed its construction permit rule in December after it deemed a state Supreme Court interpretation of the previous rule to be unrealistic. For years, the rule mandated that development projects “not result in adverse impacts” to a list of more than 50 animals deemed threatened or endangered by the state, New Hampshire Public Radio reported Tuesday.
Advocates say the change, which the agency wants to make permanent, softens protections for the New England cottontail, golden eagle, frosted elfin butterfly and other animals along with some that are subject to separate federal protections.
The agency put the new rule into place after the court was asked in November to review a legal challenge to mitigation plans for two protected turtle species and one kind of snake on the site of a proposed gravel mine in Milford.
Local advocates said the developer hadn’t demonstrated they could avoid all adverse impacts to the animals, and that under state rules, the project could not proceed. In its order, the court agreed, New Hampshire Public Radio reported.
The agency and the construction industry’s pushback led to the new rule, which states that a project’s design must “not jeopardize the continued existence” of a protected species, or destroy critical habitat.
The wording raises serious concerns for advocates who say it implies projects would be allowed to move forward as long as they didn’t cause extinctions of species.
The Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rule asked the agency to repeal the rule last month but Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Robert Scott declined that request Friday.
He said the new interpretation of the rule, left unaddressed, would impose “delays and additional costs” on 25 pending projects, and would have done the same for more than a third of past projects.
Nonprofits have asked the agency to take more public input from stakeholders outside of the construction agency before they finalize any new rules.
A final draft of the permanent replacement rule is expected in March, for approval to follow in May or June.
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