Legal – Section 7 Training

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Field Observations:

The Section 7 Training Blog

Legal

The Service Issues Guidance(?) on the Use of “Harm”

So given Congress's interest in setting up procedures regarding incidental take of listed fish and wildlife with their 1982 amendments to the ESA and the 1986 regulations further codifying that concept, I'm having trouble aligning that background with this internal guidance...

Harm as it Relates to the Effects of the Action Analysis

As you might imagine I've received several contacts regarding the Services' proposal in April 2025 to drop the regulatory definition of harm from the regulations ... What some of the contacts were concerned about was whether removing the definition of harm would somehow eliminate or alter the action agency’s ability to use impacts to habitat in an Effect of the Action Analysis.

The Current Administration’s Broader Approach to Emergency Consultation

Shortly after the energy emergency declaration, a document was released in April 2025 titled “ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR INFORMAL SECTION 7 CONSULTATION” describing alternative procedures set out by the Acting Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service (Paul Souza)... the idea by the administration is to use these procedures to reduce perceived delays in the consultation timeline.

Services Propose to Rescind the Regulatory Definition of Harm

the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (together, Services) propose to remove the regulatory definition of harm from the implementing regulations for the Endangered Species Act (Act) (FR/Vol. 90, No. 73/Thursday, April 17, 2025).So, what might this mean for practitioners of Section 7 consultation under 7(a)(2) of the Act?