Washington (CNN) A 2017 Trump administration policy change has severely limited any penalties groups might face for bird deaths across the United States, according to a new report published Tuesday by The New York Times.

The change, part of a series of actions by the Trump administration that have rolled back environmental protections, has had the effect of further endangering bird populations in the United States, which have plummeted by 29% since 1970, a study published by the journal Science in September found.

The memo from the Office of the Solicitor of the US Department of Interior made a change to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918, allowing for the incidental taking or killing of migratory birds, as long as that was not the intent of the action. That enables companies to move eggs, nest or birds themselves, as long as there is another reason for doing it, such as construction or day-to-day business and not the intentional taking or killing of birds.

The MBTA still enforces penalties for the taking or killing of migratory birds, their nests, or their eggs if that is the intent of an action.

The memo, however, argues that the scope of incidental taking was "virtually unlimited" prior to the new interpretation.