A district court denied NMFS’ motion to stay a lawsuit concerning the effects of lobster fishing on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The agency requested a stay pending its promulgation of two conservation measures—a new biological opinion for the American lobster fishery and a regulat...
A district court enjoined a NMFS rule that opened two areas of previously protected North Atlantic right whale habitat off the New England coast to gillnet fishing. An environmental group argued that the Sustainable Fisheries Division (SFD) of NMFS failed to consult with the agency’s Protected Res...
The U.S. Department of the Interior and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently finalized comprehensive changes in how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is implemented. These changes address the species listing process, critical habitat designations, protections for threatened species, and the §7 consultation process.
Federal dams have been the focus of major disputes involving application of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), especially its §7 prohibitions on federal actions causing jeopardy to protected species. Operating agencies and project beneficiaries have sought to keep the ESA from restricting dam operations, including by arguing that such operations are non-discretionary and thus exempt. In proposing new ESA implementing rules, the Trump Administration suggested, but did not formally propose, that ongoing federal actions should be considered part of the “environmental baseline” for §7 purposes.