Thursday, April 15, 2010Last Update: 4:06 PM PT

     WASHINGTON (CN) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has added 48 species endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i to the endangered species list, and has designated 26,500 acres as critical habitat. This marks the first time all endangered species in an ecosystem not already on the Endangered Species List have been given protection by the Federal Government at once. The agency believes this will improve recovery of species because threats may be addressed collectively.
     Kaua'i is the first of the Hawaiian Islands to have its imperiled species designated as a group because it has the highest number of rare species endemic to one island.
     The list of species includes 45 plants, 2 birds, and 1 picture-wing fly.
     The birds are honeycreepers that live only on Kaua'i. One is called 'akeke'e, which means active, nimble or quick in Hawaiian, and the other is called 'akikiki, which is thought to be named after the sound of its call.
     The agency's action is in part a response to a 2004 petition and two lawsuits from the Center for Biological Diversity. At least 31 of the species have been on the agency's candidate list for 20 years, displaced by higher priority listings.
     "By highlighting species that share ecosystems and common threats, we can more effectively focus conservation management efforts to address these threats and restore ecosystem function," said U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in the agency announcement of the Kaua'i listings.
     The listed species are spread over six major ecosystems on the island but face similar threats, including feral goats and pigs indiscriminately eating plants and destroying food and nesting sources for the birds, and unscrupulous horticultural collectors who take native plants for replanting in home gardens.
     While many environmental groups gave the Obama administration high marks for overturning many eleventh hour Bush administration decisions not to extend ESA protections to candidate species, the pace of moving those species from the candidate list to being actually protected by the act has been the worst since the Reagan administration, according to the Center for Biodiversity.
     The agency says that 251 highly endangered species remain on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's ESA candidate list where they receive no protection. Species the agency has determined are threatened or endangered are placed on the candidate list pending agency money being available after protective status has been granted to higher listing priorities.

     WASHINGTON (CN) - Contractors may not supply the government with weapons containing cancer causing hexavalent chromium, under a Defense Department proposed rule.
     Although the Defense Department notes "serious human health and environmental risks" related to the use of the chemical compound, it allows use of weapon systems, subsystems, components and other items containing the toxic anti-corrosive, if grandfathered in as legacy systems or their parts, or if authorized by a military general or equivalent and the Component Corrosion Control and Prevention Executive.
     The department also says the government should consider alternatives to hexavalent chromium during system modifications, follow-on procurements of legacy systems and maintenance procedure updates.
     A new contract clause is to be used in solicitations and contracts for supplies, maintenance and repair services, and construction.
     Click the document icon for this regulation and others.

     WASHINGTON (CN) - State home facilities serving veterans must meet current industry-wide standards regarding life safety and fire safety, under a proposed Department of Veterans Affairs rule.
     Standards for the agency's approval of community residential care facilities, contract facilities for outpatient and residential treatment services for veterans with alcohol or drug dependence or abuse disabilities, and state homes also would be updated, under a different proposal. The standards would include those for fire safety and heating and cooling systems.
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     WASHINGTON (CN) - The Department of Transportation extends by 60 days, until June 29, the date by which major airlines must post flight delay information on their Web sites.
     Flight delay posting is required by a provision of the Transportation Department rule entitled "Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections," issued December 30, to protect consumers from flights so continually late that the department considers their advertisement fraudulent.
     The rule requires the airlines to publish: the percentage of arrivals that were within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival time; the percentage of arrivals that were more than 30 minutes late (including special highlighting if the flight was late more than 50 percent of the time); and the percentage of flight cancellations if 5 percent or more of the flight's operations were canceled in the month covered.
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     WASHINGTON (CN) - Pilots may be able to get special dispensation to take Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa or Lexapro, the Federal Aviation Administration has announced.
     The agency will consider special-issuance medical certificates for first-, second-, and third-class airman being treated for depression with one of the four selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
     In issuing its policy, the FAA noted that the four medications "help restore the balance of serotonin, a naturally occurring chemical substance found in the brain."
     One reason for the lift of the ban is so pilots report their diagnoses and treatment and can be monitored.
     Pilots have six months to report antidepressant use, and will not be subject to penalties, but will not be allowed to fly until the FAA is satisfied that they have been successfully treated, without side-effects that could affect flight safety, for a year.