US Panel Could Scrap Endangered Species Protections for Gulf of Mexico

The Trump administration is weighing a broad exemption from protections for endangered species for oil and gas drillers operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

The move is aligned with President Donald Trump's goals to unwind what he says are burdensome regulations for businesses and to increase domestic production of fossil fuels.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum called a meeting of the Endangered Species Committee for March 31 to consider an exemption from the Nixon-era law for Gulf oil and gas activities, according to a notice published on Monday in the Federal Register.

The committee, nicknamed the "God Squad," has the power to grant exemptions to the Endangered Species Act, but has convened only a handful of times since its creation in 1978.

In an executive order last year, Trump ordered the committee to meet at least quarterly.

The committee has six federal members: the Secretaries of Interior, Agriculture and the Army, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Endangered and threatened species in the Gulf of Mexico include whales, sea turtles and corals.

The endangered Rice's whale has been the subject of litigation over oil and gas exploration in the Gulf. A federal environmental analysis last year found that vessel strikes related to oil and gas drilling are likely to threaten the whale's existence.

The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for details on what would be considered at the meeting.

(Reuters - Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Bill Berkrot)