Migratory Bird Rule Likely Shelved Until After November Election

A new rule imposing penalties for migratory bird killings associated with energy development, construction, and poaching is unlikely to be proposed by the Interior Department before the end of the current presidential term, legal experts say.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in 2021 that the rulemaking for implementing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was a priority, but a proposal that was scheduled to be finalized this spring was recently withdrawn from Office of Management and Budget review.

Without the rule, developers are unsure how the MBTA will be enforced, and prosecutions have been too rare to counter the ...