By MATTHEW BROWN (Associated Press) BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration proposed new rules for protecting imperiled plants and animals on Wednesday as officials moved to reverse changes under former President Donald Trump that weakened the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it would reinstate a decades-old regulation that mandates blanket protections for species newly classified as threatened. That provision was dropped three years ago as part of a suite of changes to the application of the species law that was encouraged by industry even as extinctions accelerate globally due to habitat loss and other pressures. Under Wednesday’s proposal, officials also would no longer consider economic impacts when deciding if animals and plants need protection.