Endangered Species Law & Policy

As reported earlier today by Emily Yehle of Greenwire, if the U.S. Government fails to avoid a government shutdown before tomorrow, a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior are planning to "pull the plug on their online presence."  (E&ENewsPM, Sept. 30, 2013).  You may ask, what other impacts will there be as a result of the impending government shutdown?  While, according to the Department of the Interior's website (pdf), as a general matter "Service employees will not continue to work" on court ordered deadlines for endangered species during the shutdown.  The Service does provide itself a bit of wiggle room, however, stating that "[i]n the limited circumstances where a court-ordered deadline is imminent, unless and until an extension is granted, Service employees on a case-by-case basis may be required to continue to work on these matters."  As for section 7 consultations and the National Environmental Policy Act, the website states that "Service employees would not be conducting any consultations, NEPA or other work of this nature until the governments reopens."