Today, the Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) announces additional, necessary revisions to regulations under the Endangered Species Act. These actions advance President Donald J. Trump's directives to strengthen American energy independence, improve regulatory predictability, and ensure federal actions align with the best reading of the law.
"We are following the original intent of the law, looking at the facts on the ground and listening to local voices when making decisions under the Endangered Species Act," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. "Multi-generational families on America's working lands care deeply about wildlife, clean air, clean water, and healthy habitat. Along with states, they are the front lines of making recovery possible for endangered species."
Using Gold Standard Science and common sense, the Service is returning to the best implementation of the Endangered Species Act that was successfully established under the first Trump administration. Specifically, the Service has finalized the following changes to its regulations that administer Sections 4(d) and 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act:
- Threatened species protections (Section 4(d)): Eliminates the burdensome "blanket rule" option under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act for "threatened" species created in the final months of the Biden administration. The blanket rule created a default for all "threatened" species that incorrectly treated them as "endangered," unless an exception was made with a specific 4(d) rule. Moving forward, a "threatened" species will be appropriately treated as "threatened," not "endangered," and the Service may tailor a customized 4(d) rule to better suit each species.
- Critical habitat exclusions (Section 4(b)(2)): Revises the "critical habitat" designation process to follow the law and consider the economic, national security and other relevant impacts following the designation of any particular area as "critical habitat." The revision also allows an area to be excluded from a "critical habitat" designation if that exclusion will not cause the extinction of the species.
"For too long, the Endangered Species Act has been weaponized to stop almost any new project in America, driving up costs for families, weakening our competitiveness, and undermining our national security," continued Secretary Burgum. "At the same time, results have fallen short. Nearly 97 percent of species ever placed on the list remain there today. Success should be measured by species recovery and delisting, not by adding more species to the list."
These commonsense reforms will enhance transparency, clarity, predictability and efficiency in administering the Endangered Species Act while remaining consistent with the statute's purposes.
"President Trump believes the people closest to the challenges are closest to the solutions," concluded Burgum. "His trust in the American people is the foundation of these reforms, which will lower costs for Americans and lead to more species successfully coming off the Endangered Species List-two things all Americans can celebrate."
The regulatory revisions also take into account site-specific and species-specific characteristics in order to relieve the financial burdens that are imposed upon citizens' daily lives around the nation as the result of one-size-fits-all decisions that are all too often made in Washington, D.C.
"In the 21st century, the Service will embrace a data-driven approach to tailor regulatory protections for America's precious natural resources while recognizing the importance of the American people's ability to prosper in the land of the free," said Service director Brian Nesvik. "These revised regulations provide an opportunity for the Service and it's biologists to cultivate a more cooperative relationship with the American people we serve."
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