Administration Revises Endangered Species Act Regulations to Strengthen Certainty, Reduce Burdens and Uphold Law

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced four proposed rules to restore Endangered Species Act regulations to their proven 2019 and 2020 framework.

The proposals, two of which were issued in coordination with NOAA Fisheries would revise Biden administration regulations finalized in 2024 that expanded federal reach, created unnecessary complexity and departed from the statute’s clear language. These actions implement Executive Orders 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” and 14219, “Department of Government Efficiency,” along with Secretary’s Order 3418, which direct agencies to remove regulatory barriers that hinder responsible resource development and economic growth while maintaining core conservation commitments.

The four proposed rules are:

• Listing and critical habitat (50 CFR part 424)

The agencies jointly propose to restore the 2019 regulatory text governing listing, delisting and critical habitat determinations. The proposal ensures decisions are based on the best scientific and commercial data available while allowing transparent consideration of economic impacts. It reestablishes the longstanding two-step process for designating unoccupied habitat, restores clarity to the definition of “foreseeable future” and reinstates flexibility to determine when designating critical habitat is not prudent.

• Interagency cooperation (50 CFR part 402)

The agencies jointly propose to return to the 2019 consultation framework by reinstating definitions of “effects of the action” and “environmental baseline,” removing the 2024 “offset” provisions and restoring section 7 procedures consistent with the statutory text.

Read the full article here: Administration revises Endangered Species Act regulations to strengthen certainty, reduce burdens and uphold law