Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Biden-Harris administration officials and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for violating the Endangered Species Act and listing seven freshwater mussel species as threatened or endangered.
In June, the Service added the Guadalupe Fatmucket, Texas Fatmucket, Guadalupe Orb, Texas Pimpleback, Balcones Spike, False Spike, and Texas Fawnsfoot mussel species to ESA lists.
The new listing triggered restrictions over certain areas due to their “critical habitat” designation. The suit argues the listing is unlawful.
“The critical habitat designation for the Central Texas Mussels also contains numerous deficiencies. The Service violated the ESA by failing to make the designation on the basis of the best available scientific data and to consider the full economic impacts that such a designation will impose,” reads the suit.
Additionally, the suit says that the Service violated the ESA and its own policies by failing to recognize Texas’ efforts to protect the Central Texas mussels. According to the filing, the Service did not conduct an environmental analysis.
The ESA protects endangered species by prohibiting any person from taking, harassing, or harming designated species.
The suit argues that rule language is vague about what may or may not occur in a “take” of the mussels.
“Depending on the needs of an individual species, the ‘take’ prohibition can mean an outright prohibition or significant limitation on certain activities in spaces that contain habitat for the species,” reads the filing. “For example, farming, oil and natural gas drilling, flood control management, grazing livestock, or other activities may be prohibited if they modify existing habitat or ‘harass’ the species in some way.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration is, once again, weaponizing environmental law to target the State of Texas,” stated Attorney General Paxton. “We are suing to block their latest attempt to undermine the Texas economy and unlawfully interfere with State-led efforts to protect our wildlife and natural resources.”
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