On August 12, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) (collectively “Services”) jointly announced three rules that significantly revamp regulations implementing the federal Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). With the last comprehensive revisions to ESA regulations occurring in 1986, the Trump Administration’s trio of new rules herald a new era for the ESA with a species-specific protections approach for “threatened” species, renewed clarification on species listing/delisting and the designation of critical habitat, and updated definitions and procedures for the interagency consultation process.
