Joint Emergency Petition to Interior Secretary Zinke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director Requesting Extension of Effective Date for Final Rule Designating Rusty Patched Bumble Bee as Endangered

Joint Emergency Petition to Interior Secretary Zinke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director Requesting Extension of Effective Date for Final Rule Designating Rusty Patched Bumble Bee as Endangered

Dear Secretary Zinke and Acting Director Kurth: Pursuant to the Right to Petition Government Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Section 553(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act, the American Petroleum Institute, CropLife America, Independent Petroleum Association of America, National Association of Home Builders, National Cotton Council, and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association hereby submit this petition, on an emergency basis, to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Petitioners ask the Department and the Service to extend the current March 21, 2017 effective date of the final rule listing the rusty patched bumble bee as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., until January 11, 2018.