Endangered Species Law & Policy

On August 27, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) announced the finalization of regulations governing implementation of various aspects of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Among those regulations were rules setting forth how the Services and other federal agencies were to consult on potential impacts of federal activities on ESA-listed species and designated critical habitat.  The new rules were to go into effect on September 26, 2019.  Today, the Services announced that the effective date for the interagency consultation regulations would be delayed until October 28, 2019, in order to allow the Services additional time to train their staff and coordinate with affected federal agencies on the new requirements.  Nossaman’s previous reporting on the revised ESA regulations can be found here.