Endangered Species Law & Policy

On December 6, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which lists the regulatory and deregulatory actions the various federal administrative agencies—including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)—plan to take in the near future. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs publishes an updated Unified Agenda twice a year, in the spring and fall. There are numerous entries in the Unified Agenda addressing future action by the Service to list species as threatened or endangered, to propose species listings, and to propose or finalize critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Many of these anticipated actions will affect landowners and project proponents in the State of Texas. Following is a list of potential ESA-related actions by the Service that may be of particular interest to project proponents in Texas. For the full list of anticipated Service actions, please refer to the Unified Agenda.

• Final rule listing tricolored bat (anticipated September 2024)
• Final rule listing dunes sagebrush lizard (anticipated July 2024)
• Final rule listing the Texas kangaroo rat (anticipated August 2024)
• Final rule to designate critical habitat for the Louisiana pine snake (anticipated December 2023)
• Final rule to list six species of Central Texas mussels and designate critical habitat (anticipated December 2023)
• Proposed rule to list the monarch butterfly (anticipated September 2024)
• Proposed rule to list the little brown bat and designate critical habitat (anticipated September 2024)
• Proposed rule to list certain species of invertebrates within the Edwards Aquifer (anticipated November 2023)
• Proposed rule to list the Texas screwstern and designate critical habitat (anticipated September 2024)
• Proposed rule to list the spot-tailed earless lizard and designate critical habitat (anticipated May 2024)