Trump Rule Would Upend Endangered Species Status Quo

Manatt Energy and Environment Partner  wrote an article for Law360 on a recent proposed rule that would upend the traditional regulatory understanding of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), including how it would impact both species protection and larger-scale conservation efforts.

Smith explained that the new rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service would make only direct, intentional acts against identifiable members of a species illegal under the ESA, marking a significant shift from the established regulatory practice that traditionally prohibited indirect impacts, such as habitat modification. “An ESA regime that includes express prohibitions relative only to direct and intentional threats to identifiable members of a protected species is far from a new notion. But it is a tectonic shift away from established regulatory practice under the ESA for 50 years,” Smith wrote.

Read the full Law360 article .