On July 19, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service proposed revisions to regulations governing sections 4 and 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The public has until Sept. 24, 2018 to comment on the proposed rules.  

According to the press release, the three related proposed rules include: 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service propose to revise portions of regulations that implement section 4 of the ESA. The proposed revisions to the regulations clarify, interpret and implement portions of the ESA regarding the procedures and criteria used for listing or removing species from the lists of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants and designating critical habitat. 
Further, the FWS proposes to revise the regulations extending most of the prohibitions for activities involving endangered species to threatened species. For species already listed as a threatened species, the proposed regulations would not alter the applicable prohibitions. The proposed regulations would require the FWS, pursuant to section 4(d) of the ESA, to determine what, if any, protective regulations are appropriate for species that the FWS in the future determines to be threatened. 
Finally, the Services propose to amend portions of regulations that implement section 7 of the ESA. The Services are proposing these changes to improve and clarify the interagency consultation processes and make them more efficient and consistent. 

More information on the proposals is available on the FWS website. 

Feedback Requested: ABC National would like to hear from ABC member companies on the proposed revisions to the ESA. Please contact Karen Livingston, ABC senior director of policy, to provide feedback.