Today, the Biden Fish and Wildlife Service publicly announced its intent to repeal and revise Endangered Species Act regulations promulgated during the Trump administration. The administration plans to move forward with new rulemakings, although timing remains unclear. As long as the Trump rules remain in place, they dramatically weaken our bedrock environmental law. 

Today’s announcement on the future of the Endangered Species Act regulations comes in response to three lawsuits filed in 2019 and 2021 by Earthjustice. 

“We are currently in the midst of an unprecedented global extinction crisis, and endangered species have no time to waste,” said Earthjustice. “We are grateful the Biden administration is moving to protect the most imperiled species by reversing the Trump-era rules, but time is of the essence. Each day that goes by is another day that puts our imperiled species and their habitats in danger.”

Background

Unless a court rules or a federal agency admits to legal violations, withdrawals or revisions to existing federal rules must go through a public rulemaking process that usually includes a proposed rule, comment period, public hearings, and a final rule. This process can last from months to years. 

Earthjustice filed numerous lawsuits during the Trump administration defending the Endangered Species Act including:

• 2019 initial rollback revisions 
• 2020 critical habitat case
• 2021 habitat definition case 

Find out more about our work to defend individual species and biodiversity.