ESA Regulations: Listing And Critical Habitat

On November 21, 2025, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, the Services) published several proposed rules to revise their regulations implementing certain provisions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). To a substantial extent, the Services are proposing to return to the regulations put in place by the first Trump administration in its prior rulemakings and thereby undo the changes put in place by the Biden administration in its prior rulemakings. This is one in a series of blog posts that will briefly describe each proposed rule. The notice states the Services will accept comments on the proposed rules until December 22, 2025. A number of stakeholders have asked the Services to extend the comment deadline. As of this time, the Services have not done so.