NMFS issued a rule under the Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibiting the take of humpback whales within 200 nautical miles of the islands of Hawaii. 

FWS proposed to list the coal darter as a threatened species under the ESA, with a rule issued under §4(d) of the Act to provide for the conservation of the species. 

FWS announced findings that the following 10 species are not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened under the ESA: Hupp’s Hill cave beetle, Hubbard’s cave beetle, overlooked cave beetle, Shenandoah cave beetle, Little Kennedy cave beetle, Holsinger’s cave beetle, Hubricht’s cave beetle, silken cave beetle, Pinaleño talussnail, and San Xavier talussnail. 

FWS proposed to list the West Virginia spring salamander as an endangered species and to designate critical habitat under the ESA.

In re: Mallinckrodt PLC, No. 20-12522 (D. Del. Dec. 4, 2023). A proposed settlement agreement grants the United States an allowed unsecured claim against a settling CERCLA defendant on behalf of DOI in the amount of $56,880,784, and for EPA in the amount of $499,216, for past costs and future liability as a potential liable party at the Sangamo Electric Dump/Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Site. 

United States v. Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-00303 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 7, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling RCRA defendant that allegedly violated various hazardous waste management requirements at five of its facilities must comply with extensive measures to assure its facilities do not manage used parts washing solvent that is subject to regulation as hazardous waste and pay civil penalties totaling $1,162,500.

United States v. TCI Pacific Communications LLC, No. 23-4218 (C.D. Ill. Dec. 5, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must pay a total of $368,831.16 in EPA’s response costs and perform remedial work with respect to Operable Unit 4 of the DePue/New Jersey Zinc/Mobil Chemical Corp. Superfund Site in DePue, Illinois. 

United States v. Wyeth Holdings LLC, No. 2:23-cv-22922 (D.N.J. Dec. 6, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant that allegedly released hazardous substances at or from the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Somerset County, New Jersey, causing injury to floodplains, riparian areas, and wetlands adjacent to the site and the biota supported by these habitats, must undertake and fund the “Duke Farms Forested Floodplain Restoration Project,” which will restore 112 areas of former farmland located upstream of the site on the Raritan River to a natural habitat, as well as pay for assessment and oversight costs.

NMFS announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list spring-run Chinook salmon on the Washington Coast as endangered or threatened under the ESA, and to designate critical habitat for the species. 

FWS proposed to list the northern distinct population segment (DPS) and the southern DPS of the western spadefoot as threatened DPSs under the ESA, with a rule issued under §4(d) of the Act.