Coalition Joins Comments on Endangered Species Act Regulatory Revisions

August 21, 2023

Re: Comments on Endangered Species Act Regulatory Revisions – Dockets FWS–HQ– ES–2021–0104; FWS–HQ–ES–2021–0107; FWS–HQ–ES–2023–0018

The Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”) submits the following comments on revisions proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”), collectively “the Services,” to the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) implementing regulations. The Services’ proposed revisions respond to rollbacks of the ESA regulations that took effect in 2019 under the Trump administration.¹Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations Pertaining to Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants, 88 Fed. Reg. 40,742 (June 22, 2023) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 17) [hereinafter “2023 Proposed Rules on Take”]; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revision of Regulations for Interagency Cooperation, 88 Fed. Reg. 40,753 (June 22, 2023) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 402) [hereinafter “2023 Proposed Section 7 Rules”]; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat, 88 Fed. Reg. 40,764 (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 424) [hereinafter “2023 Proposed Rules on Listing Species and Designating Critical Habitat”]. We submit these comments on behalf of a broad coalition of more than 40 organizations working to protect the natural resources of the South, including in the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

We are in the midst of a mass extinction event that is primarily fueled by human-caused habitat loss and degradation and compounded by the effects of climate change. The current extinction rate is estimated as roughly 1,000 times higher than the background extinction rate, and future rates are likely to be 10,000 times higher with the effects of climate change.²Jurriaan M. De Vos et al., Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction, 29 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 452 (Apr. 2015). Here in the South, we already have more than 260 different animals and plants on the federal list of threatened and endangered species, with hundreds more awaiting listing. The ESA remains the best tool for extending to species necessary protections, with an impressive 99% success rate at preventing extinction.³Noah Greenwald et al., Extinction and the U.S. Endangered Species Act, PEERJ e6803 (Apr. 2019). In order to stave off the worst impacts of the current extinction crisis, we need restored and improved ESA rules, and we need them fast.

Click here to read the complete submission letter.

• 1
  Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations Pertaining to Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants, 88 Fed. Reg. 40,742 (June 22, 2023) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 17) [hereinafter “2023 Proposed Rules on Take”]; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revision of Regulations for Interagency Cooperation, 88 Fed. Reg. 40,753 (June 22, 2023) (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 402) [hereinafter “2023 Proposed Section 7 Rules”]; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat, 88 Fed. Reg. 40,764 (to be codified at 50 C.F.R. pt. 424) [hereinafter “2023 Proposed Rules on Listing Species and Designating Critical Habitat”].
• 2
  Jurriaan M. De Vos et al., Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction, 29 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 452 (Apr. 2015).
• 3
  Noah Greenwald et al., Extinction and the U.S. Endangered Species Act, PEERJ e6803 (Apr. 2019).