NMFS announced its 12-month finding on a petition to revise the critical habitat designation for the North Pacific right whale under the ESA.

The National Park Service announced its decision to request that the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia prepare a draft nomination for inclusion on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage List.

EPA Region 1 announced the availability of the draft NPDES non-contact cooling water general permit for discharges to certain waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state of New Hampshire.

NMFS proposed to extend the current regionwide moratorium on the harvest of gold corals in the U.S. Pacific Islands through June 30, 2028, in order to prevent overfishing and stimulate research on the species.

FWS announced findings that delisting the southern sea otter is not warranted at this time, and that listing the Cascades frog, plains spotted skunk, sicklefin chub, sturgeon chub, Tennessee cave salamander, and Yazoo crayfish as endangered or threatened species under the ESA is not warranted at this time.

FWS proposed to list the Miami cave crayfish as a threatened species under the ESA, with a rule issued under §4(d) of the Act.

FWS proposed updated planning policies for the National Wildlife Refuge System to incorporate landscape conservation plans and consideration of climate change and other anthropogenic forces in refuge management.

FWS proposed to list the Quitobaquito tryonia as an endangered species under the ESA, and to designate approximately 6,095 square feet in Arizona as critical habitat for the species.

United States v. Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., No. 4:23-cv-03317 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 6, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CWA defendant that discharged pollutants without obtaining coverage under an NPDES general permit and exceeded effluent limitations prescribed by the general permit must develop and implement a compliance system to ensure future compliance with the CWA and the general permit, and pay a $507,000 civil penalty.

EPA and the Department of the Army amended the provisions of the agencies’ definition of “waters of the United States” that are invalid under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the CWA in Sackett v. EPA.