FWS and NMFS finalized revisions to portions of their regulations that implement §4 of the ESA, concerning procedures and criteria used for listing, reclassifying, and delisting species on the lists of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants and designating critical habitat.
FWS and NMFS finalized revisions to portions of their regulations that implement §7 of the ESA concerning interagency cooperation procedures.
Concerned by methane’s potent climate-altering emissions, a growing number of states and municipalities have embraced the phaseout of natural gas as a tool to mitigate climate change. But in April 2023, the California Restaurant Association successfully petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn the city of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas infrastructure in new buildings. The three-judge panel found the ban preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and in January 2024, the Ninth Circuit denied Berkeley’s petition for rehearing.
FWS proposed to remove the Roanoke logperch from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife due to recovery.
FWS revised the rule for the African elephant promulgated under §4(d) of the ESA in order to increase protection for the species, clarify the existing enhancement requirement, and incorporate a Party’s designation under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora National Legislation Project into various decisionmaking processes regarding imports.
EPA entered into a proposed consent decree in Sierra Club v. EPA, No. 3:24-cv-00130 (S.D.W. Va.), concerning allegations that the Agency failed to perform a mandatory duty under the CWA to establish TMDLs for certain waters located in the Lower Guyandotte River Watershed in West Virginia that are impaired due to ionic toxicity.
EPA finalized facility response plan requirements for worst case discharges of CWA hazardous substances for onshore non-transportation-related facilities that could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the environment by discharging a CWA hazardous substance into or on the navigable waters, adjoining shorelines, or exclusive economic zone.
FWS withdrew the September 7, 2021, proposed rule to list the pyramid pigtoe as a threatened species under the ESA.
FWS proposed to list the pygmy three-toed sloth as a threatened species under the ESA, with a rule issued under §4(d) of the Act.
NOAA seeks public input to identify coastal and marine spatial data or other critical information to inform marine spatial analyses in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.