A federal court has thrown out key Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be vacated as of Dec. 20, 2024. The United States District Court for the District of...more
Tomorrow, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will publish its final rule updating regulations implementing section 10 of the Endangered Species Act (Section 10), which addresses the agency’s issuance of incidental...more
On February 12, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS” or “Service”) issued a long-awaited final rule revising its eagle permit program under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 668-668d) (“BGEPA”)....more
Recently, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a concerned citizen against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and National Marine Fisheries...more
On February 9, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published proposed revisions to its regulations governing incidental take and enhancement of survival permitting under Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 10....more
On September 14, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the “Service”) published a proposed rule to list the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus, “TCB”) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). This action,...more
On Oct. 4, 2021, the Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) issued a final rule, effective Dec. 3, 2021, restoring the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”) to prohibit the incidental take of migratory birds. The interpretation and...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked its January 7, 2021, rule defining the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as it applies to conduct that results in the injury or death of protected migratory birds. Revocation of...more
After a brief hiatus, incidental take of migratory birds will again be a federal crime beginning December 3, 2021. Less than 10 months after instituting a final rule declaring that incidental take of birds is not subject to...more
On June 17, 2020, a federal court in Colorado vacated an incidental take permit (ITP) issued to the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) authorizing take of the endangered American burying beetle (ABB) that could occur in...more
Many projects require federal incidental take authority due to impacts on species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). Depending upon the species, this federal take authority is obtained either from the...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule on January 30, 2020, that narrowly interprets the protections afforded by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The new rule would provide that the MBTA prohibits only the...more
We are fortunate to live on Cape Cod, where the abundant marine life is a consistent source of joy. We watch osprey and terns diving for fish, and crabs scuttling along the beach. The local radio station announces when the...more
On May 3, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) published a proposed rule to downlist the American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) from endangered to threatened....more
The Center for Biological Diversity and Tennessee Riverkeeper (collectively “CBD”) sent an August 14th Sixty-Day Notice of Intent to Sue Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, U.S.A. (“Toyota-Mazda”) and the City of Huntsville, Alabama,...more
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) issued an August 14th Federal Register Notice asking for public comment on federally listed American burying-beetle incidental take permit applications. See 83 Fed. Reg....more
On July 19, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, and collectively with FWS, the Services) announced several proposed changes to the regulations implementing the...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) published three proposed rules last week that would revise the regulations implementing portions of the...more
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Principal Deputy Director Greg Sheehan recently issued a guidance memorandum to USFWS’ Regional Directors to clarify the appropriate trigger for an incidental take permit (ITP) under the...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a guidance memorandum addressing when an incidental take permit may be needed under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act for projects that modify habitat of federally...more
On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Memorandum titled “Guidance on the recent M-Opinion affecting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act” (the “Memorandum”), giving field advice to its enforcement...more
On Monday, April 2, 2018, multiple news outlets reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) submitted a proposal to change its existing policy regarding the prohibition on “take” for species listed as threatened...more
This article is a follow-up to our January 29, 2018 article which discussed the United States Solicitor’s December 22, 2017 Memorandum Opinion, M-37050 (the “M-Opinion”). To provide a quick recap of that article, the...more
On April 2, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed downlisting the Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis), locally known as the “nene,” from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)....more
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) issued a December 5th Federal Register Notice asking for public comment on federally listed American burying-beetle incidental take permit applications. See 82 Fed. Reg....more