U.S. federal agencies again will have to consult with government wildlife experts before taking actions that could impact threatened or endangered species.

The Obama administration said Tuesday it was overturning a rule change made in the final weeks of the Bush presidency.

Officials at the Interior and Commerce departments said they have reimposed the consultation requirement that assured the government's top biologists involved in species protection will have a say in federal action that could harm plants, animals and fish that are at risk of extinction.

Such consultation had been required for more than two decades until the Bush administration made it optional in rules issued last December, just weeks before the change in administrations.

Environmentalists argued that the change severely reduced the protection afforded under the federal Endangered Species Act.

"By rolling back this eleventh-hour regulation, we are ensuring that threatened and endangered species continue to receive the full protection of the law" and that top science will be the foundation of the decision-making, said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

"Our decision affirms the administration's commitment to using sound science to promote conservation and protect the environment," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke added.

Agencies in the two departments share responsibility for managing and enforcing the Endangered Species Act and combat climate change. The Interior Department earlier had declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice, a change attributed to global warming.

Salazar and Lock said the two departments will jointly decide if any changes are needed to improve the interagency consultation procedures.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which is part of the Interior Department, has jurisdiction over plants and animals, while NOAA, part of the Commerce Department, deals with fish species that are at risk of extinction.