Filling the gaps from CEQA reform
Legal Planet
JULY 7, 2025
Here is one key example, drawn from an article I wrote a few years ago about reforming the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), one of the strongest of its kind in the country.
Endangered Species Act Related Topics 
EPA Releases Proposed Guidance for Antimicrobial Pesticides that Require Endangered Species Act Reviews
Nanotech
DECEMBER 6, 2024
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released, and is seeking public comment on, its proposed guidance for antimicrobial pesticide registrants intended to improve the efficiency of Endangered Species Act (ESA) considerations for new active ingredients, new uses, and registration review actions for antimicrobial pesticides.
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The California ESA and habitat protection
Legal Planet
APRIL 24, 2025
Following up on my prior post about the proposed changes to the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations that protect against habitat modification, what might California do to protect the species within its border?
What is a species?
Legal Planet
JANUARY 28, 2025
This article in the NY Times covers a recent scientific article that concludes that the snail darter, a fish species in the Tennessee River basin that was previously listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), is not a species after all. Why is this the topic for a NY Times article?
Thoughts on AB 131
Legal Planet
JUNE 28, 2025
1531 et seq.) But this is only a fraction of lands that require protection for endangered and sensitive species. That will still likely be underinclusive – ideally, the provision would not apply for habitat for listed and candidate species for protection under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.
Bill 5 is an Attack on Civil Liberties, Indigenous Rights, Environment
Enviromental Defense
MAY 12, 2025
If passed, Bill 5 would: Allow the premier and cabinet to designate special economic zones in which trusted proponents would be given the authority to undertake projects without regard to provincial and municipal laws; Exempt developments from archeological assessments if the Ontario government is of the opinion that an exemption could potentially (..)
Polling Shows GTA Voters Would Punish Federal Liberals if They Fail to Designate 413 for Impact Assessment and Protect Habitat and Waterways
Enviromental Defense
DECEMBER 12, 2024
For its part, the Ontario government has recently cancelled Environmental Assessment Act coverage of the Highway 413 project and previously gutted the provincial Endangered Species Act. Premier Ford has publicly dismissed the need for considering the environmental impacts of the Highway.
NALC news release: Butterfly effect? NALC webinar will discuss impacts of listing monarch butterfly under Endangered Species Act
National Law Center
FEBRUARY 10, 2025
“When a species is listed, it can impact how agricultural producers are able to operate.” NALC webinar will discuss impacts of listing monarch butterfly under Endangered Species Act appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center. ” Brigit Rollins, NALC Staff Attorney By.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recommends Downlisting Golden-cheeked Warbler
Endangered Species Law
JANUARY 7, 2025
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced that, following the completion of the Service’s 5-year status review (5-year Review) of the golden-cheeked warbler ( Setophaga chrysopharia ) (GCWA), the agency is recommending the species be downlisted from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Agencies Move to Rescind “Harm” Definition under Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Law
APRIL 17, 2025
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, Services) published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to rescind the Services’ respective definitions of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Proposed Rule).
NEPA as an environmental back-stop
Legal Planet
MARCH 28, 2025
For instance, a highway may only directly cause habitat destruction in the footprint of the highway itself, but by enabling more drivers to go to more places more quickly, the highway will enable subsequent development that might have a much larger environmental impact. NEPA requires consideration of those effects.
Fire and Permitting Reform
Legal Planet
JANUARY 11, 2025
These were the parts of the legislation that sought to narrow the application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and litigation to projects to reduce fire risk on federal lands.
US Fish And Wildlife & Service Seeks Public Comment On Proposed Listing Of Eastern Hellbender As Endangered
PA Environment Daily
DECEMBER 17, 2024
Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to list the eastern hellbender as an endangered species throughout its range under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Issues 90-Day Finding on Golden-cheeked Warbler Delisting Petition
Endangered Species Law
JANUARY 17, 2025
The decision comes on the heels of the agency’s recent recommendation to downlist the GCWA from endangered to threatened. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) will publish a positive 90-day finding on a 2016 petition (Petition) to delist the golden-cheeked warbler ( Setophaga chrysoparia ) (GCWA).
Federal Circuit Diverts ESA Takings Challenge
Endangered Species Law
APRIL 9, 2025
” The federal Endangered Species Act deals with a different type of “taking.” ” Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act generally prohibits any person from “taking” any species of fish or wildlife listed as endangered. 16 U.S.C § 1538.
Court Overturns Service Decision that Listing Joshua Tree is Not Warranted
Endangered Species Law
JULY 18, 2025
Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) to reevaluate its decision not to list two species of Joshua tree— Yucca brevifolia (western Joshua tree) and Yucca jaegeriana (eastern Joshua tree)—as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Legal protections for wildlife in jeopardy as House hosts oversight meeting
Environmental News Bits
MARCH 3, 2025
House Committee on Natural Resources took aim Wednesday at the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), arguing both landmark statutes are ambiguous and reach beyond federal authority. Read the full story at Inside Climate News. Republican members of the U.S.
ESA Legislative Update
Endangered Species Law
JULY 24, 2025
House of Representatives is considering a number of bills regarding wildlife, including bills to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) in the U.S.
District Court Vacates Lesser Prairie-Chicken 4(d) Rule
Endangered Species Law
APRIL 4, 2025
District Court for the Western District of Texas (District Court) vacated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) special 4(d) rule for the northern distinct population segment (DPS) of the lesser prairie-chicken (LEPC). The 4(d) rule had prohibited, in most circumstances, “take” of the species’ northern DPS.
Proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act face an uncertain future
Environmental News Bits
JULY 24, 2025
More than 375,000 people commented on the federal proposal to wipe the meaning of ‘harm’ from the longstanding act meant to protect America’s plants and animals. Read the full story at Investigate Midwest.
Supreme Court Clarifies Scope of NEPA Review
National Law Center
JULY 29, 2025
Truth in Labeling Law(suits) Research Fellows Rusty Rumley Solar Smarts Samantha Capaldo Samantha Mikolajczyk Bankruptcy Biofuels Biosecurity Biotechnology Carbon Checkoff Programs Climate Change Commercial Transactions Commodity Programs Conservation Programs Cooperatives Cottage Foods Country of Origin Labeling Crop Insurance Disaster Assistance (..)
Protecting the Lesser Prairie-Chicken on Private Land in a Shifting Regulatory Environment
Acoel
JUNE 17, 2025
The focus is whether the declining bird should be listed and protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, and what conservation measures should be required of developers that impact the species’ habitat. The outcome of the debate will have implications for many other imperiled species. In 2022, the U.S.
Six Sleeper Proposals in Project 2025
Legal Planet
OCTOBER 24, 2024
Project 2025 portrays the Fish & Wildlife Service as “the work of the Fish and Wildlife Service is the product of ‘species cartels’ afflicted with group think, confirmation bias, and a common desire to preserve the prestige, power, and appropriations of the agency that pays or employs them.”
On the Chopping Block: Trump Administration Moves to Rescind ESA Regulations Protecting Imperiled Species
Vermont Law
MAY 14, 2025
On the Chopping Block: Trump Administration Moves to Rescind ESA Regulations Protecting Imperiled Species By Delcianna J. Supreme Court heralded the Endangered Species Act (ESA or Act) as the most comprehensive legislation for the preservation of endangered species enacted by any nation.
FWS and NMFS Propose to Eliminate Habitat Loss From the Definition of “Harm” Under the ESA: Is This the “Best Meaning” of the ESA?
Acoel
MAY 2, 2025
Jaffe Earlier this week, my colleagues Adam Kahn and Kevin Chen posted about the proposed rule issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service that would rescind the definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act to exclude adverse impacts on habitat.
Major Shift Proposed for Endangered Species Act Interpretation: Redefining “Harm”
Acoel
APRIL 30, 2025
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a proposed rule to rescind the regulatory definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The post Major Shift Proposed for Endangered Species Act Interpretation: Redefining Harm appeared first on ACOEL.
Precedent, the Trump Administration, and Endangered Species
Legal Planet
APRIL 21, 2025
The Trump Administration is about to embark on overruling a key regulation protecting endangered species. That regulation, which the Supreme Court upheld in the Sweet Home case (1995), protects members of endangered species from being killed or injured indirectly via destruction of their habitat.
Crisis at DOJ’s Environment & Natural Resources Division
Legal Planet
FEBRUARY 4, 2025
And in the first Trump administration, ENRD defended the constitutionality of the Endangered Species Act. In the Obama and Biden administrations, ENRD routinely defended oil and gas leasing and development decisions.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Review Status of 38 Southwest Species
Endangered Species Law
NOVEMBER 15, 2024
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced it had opened status reviews for 38 species of plants, wildlife, and fish endemic to Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona (Southwest Species).
The Urgent Need to Address Fire Risk
Legal Planet
JANUARY 10, 2025
What didnt receive unanimous support, and what was contentious, were proposals to change the way that environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), regulations under other federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and litigation would apply to management projects in firesheds.
Emergency!
Legal Planet
MARCH 8, 2025
This article notes that the Army Corps of Engineers is going to try to use emergency designations to reduce or eliminate environmental requirements (environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA)) for hundreds of projects that it is reviewing permits for.
What Does “Best Available Science” Mean?
Union of Concerned Scientists
JANUARY 15, 2025
Science is dynamic and constantly evolving, meaning that the best available science builds on this on-going cycle of scientific inquiry as well as data and evidence from a range of sources.
Political Stunts Worsen Western Water Woes
Union of Concerned Scientists
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
A related Executive Order directed federal water projects to ignore legal protections like the endangered species act and water quality standards in order to pump more water South. No one benefited not farmers, not fish, not cities. The political theater didnt stop there.
Federal Water Tap, February 17: House Republicans Move to Overturn Rules on Lead in Drinking Water
Circle of Blue
FEBRUARY 17, 2025
The groups priorities extend from public lands management and wildfire prevention to reforms of the Endangered Species Act and federal environmental reviews that would allow for more mining, drilling, and building. By traditional energy, Lummis means fossil fuels.
The Feed: Vol. 3, Issue 14
National Law Center
JULY 24, 2025
The Ag & Food Law Update > Search Site Navigation About the Center Professional Staff Partners Research by Topic Center Publications Webinar Series State Compilations Farm Bill Resources Ag Law Bibliography Ag Law Glossary Ag Law Reporter General Resources 24 Jul The Feed: Vol.
What’s the harm?
Legal Planet
APRIL 23, 2025
The administration has proposed revoking the definition of harm in the regulations implementing Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Section 9 is the section of the ESA that prohibits taking a member of a listed species. Ill post about how California might respond soon.)
Ontario Plans to Sell 60% of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park Beachfront for Development
Enviromental Defense
JULY 28, 2025
Background Ecological values in the The Wasaga Beach Provincial Park lands to be lost include: Known piping plover habitat, which is listed as endangered under both the federal Species at Risk Act and the provincial Endangered Species Act.
California Dreaming Is Becoming a Reality: Solar Canals May Mean Having More Water As Well As More Solar Energy
Acoel
APRIL 2, 2025
Because the water canals are unlikely to be habitat for species, installing solar panels over them instead of open land also should avoid Endangered Species Act issues and other wildlife conflicts. This project reduced evaporation from the canal by 50% and generated 1.3
Federal Court Finds Swampbuster Constitutional
National Law Center
JUNE 10, 2025
Truth in Labeling Law(suits) Research Fellows Rusty Rumley Solar Smarts Samantha Capaldo Samantha Mikolajczyk Bankruptcy Biofuels Biosecurity Biotechnology Carbon Checkoff Programs Commodity Programs Conservation Programs Cooperatives Cottage Foods Country of Origin Labeling Crop Insurance Disaster Assistance Programs Environmental Law Equine Activity (..)
Listing Trump’s Environment and Energy Executive Orders
Legal Planet
JULY 31, 2025
EO 14173: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (repealing Clinton’s foundational environmental justice executive order EO 14162: Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements d (withdrawing from Paris Agreement) EO 14156 Declaring a National Energy Emergency (declaring an energy emergency, in part because (..)
Changing Crucial Definition In Endangered Species Act Undermines Purpose Of Klamath Dam Removal
Circle of Blue
JULY 8, 2025
The return of salmon to the upper Klamath River represents a victory for nature, an exhibition of the century-long transition in how Americans view the environment, and a signal achievement of the 1973 Endangered Species Act. They’re sacrificing our species and the sovereignty of tribal nations for the sake of private interests.
Interior Clears a Path for Fossil Fuel Development without Environmental Review
Law Columbia
APRIL 24, 2025
Interior cites three sources of emergency authority to support its new procedures, including existing regulations issued under (1) the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), (2) the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and (3) the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
NALC news release: Legal experts to explore Western water markets during NALC webinar
National Law Center
JULY 8, 2025
Truth in Labeling Law(suits) Research Fellows Rusty Rumley Solar Smarts Samantha Capaldo Samantha Mikolajczyk Bankruptcy Biofuels Biosecurity Biotechnology Carbon Checkoff Programs Commodity Programs Conservation Programs Cooperatives Cottage Foods Country of Origin Labeling Crop Insurance Disaster Assistance Programs Environmental Law Equine Activity (..)
EPA Releases Vulnerable Species Action Plan
National Law Center
OCTOBER 10, 2024
On September 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its Vulnerable Species Action Plan (“VSAP”), the finalized version of its. The post EPA Releases Vulnerable Species Action Plan appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center.
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