March 31 (Reuters) - A federal panel will meet on Tuesday to consider exempting oil and gas drillers operating in the Gulf of Mexico from a decades-old law meant to protect endangered species including whales, birds and sea turtles.
The meeting of the Endangered Species Committee for the first time in more than 30 years is the latest effort by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to unwind regulations it says hold back domestic energy production.
The committee, nicknamed the "God Squad" because it has the power to grant exemptions to the Endangered Species Act, has convened only a handful of times since its creation in 1978. In an executive order last year, Trump ordered the committee to meet at least quarterly.
The meeting, called by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, will be broadcast online starting at 9:30 a.m. local time (1430 GMT).
In court papers filed last week in a lawsuit brought by an environmental group, the administration said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requested the meeting, citing undisclosed national security concerns.
The ESA allows for exemptions if the Defense Secretary finds it is needed for national security reasons, a provision that has never been tested.
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Steve Mashuda, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice who focuses on ocean litigation, said the oil and gas industry itself had never sought an exemption.
"That's largely because it's not needed," Mashuda said. "There's no evidence that the Endangered Species Act is constraining oil and gas activities in the Gulf in any way."
Oil and gas industry groups did not comment.
The endangered Rice's whale has been the subject of litigation over oil and gas exploration in the Gulf in recent years. A federal environmental analysis last year found that vessel strikes related to oil and gas drilling are likely to threaten the whale's existence.
Neither the Interior Department nor the Defense Department responded to requests for comment. Trump has ordered the Defense Department to rename itself the Department of War, a change that will require action by Congress.
As Interior secretary, Burgum is a permanent member of the panel. Other permanent federal members include the secretaries of Agriculture and the Army, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and the administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(Reporting by Nichola GroomEditing by Bill Berkrot)
