The Nickel Report

On November 21, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service published four proposed rules to amend the Endangered Species Act implementing regulations. Generally, the Services propose to reinstate language from the first Trump Administration’s 2019 regulations in provisions concerning interagency section 7 consultation, criteria for listing species and designating critical habitat, protections for threatened species, and exclusions from critical habitat designation.

On May 1, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published the final Phase 2 rule overhauling the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations. The final rule, titled the “Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule” (Phase 2 Rule), will apply to all actions starting the NEPA processes beginning after July 1, 2024, and the agencies have discretion to apply to NEPA reviews that are currently underway.