Interior Department, Fish and Wildlife Service, Commerce Department, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively referred to as the Services or we) are proposing to rescind the regulatory definition of "harm" in our Endangered Species Act (ESA or the Act) regulations. The existing regulatory definition of "harm," which includes habitat modification, runs contrary to the best meaning of the statutory term "take." We are undertaking this change to adhere to the single, best meaning of the ESA.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 222 [Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0034; FXES11110900000-256 FF09E23000; 250411-0064] RIN 1018-BI38; 0648-BN93 AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; request for comments. SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively referred to as the Services or we) are proposing to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” in our Endangered Species Act (ESA or the Act) regulations. The existing regulatory definition of “harm,” which includes habitat modification, runs contrary to the best meaning of the statutory term “take.” We are undertaking this change to adhere to the single, best meaning of the ESA. DATES: Comments must be received by May 19, 2025. ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0034. You may submit comments by one of the following methods: (1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov . In the Search box, enter FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0034, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click on the Search button. On the resulting page, in the panel on the left side of the screen, under the D…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Citation: 90 FR 16102
