Regulatory Alerts

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed the dune sagebrush lizard (DSL) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This final rule and “endangered” listing status will be in effect June 20, 2024. The USFWS did not designate critical habitat at this time but indicated a proposed rule to designate critical habitat is forthcoming within the next year. The USFWS identified habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation particularly from oil and gas exploration and frac sand mining as the primary threats to the DSL.

Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) allows the U.S.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) issued final rules that change federal interagency consultations under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Key among these rule changes is a new compensatory mitigation provision that allows the Services to prescribe compensatory mitigation or offsets deemed “reasonable and prudent” for minimizing the impact of incidental take on listed wildlife. Other changes loosen interpretation of the “reasonably certain to occur” standard for identifying effects of an action subject to analysis.