NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week outlined four proposed rules that would return Endangered Species Act regulations to the framework used in 2019 and 2020, according to a news release.

The announcement said the changes follow President Donald Trump’s direction to strengthen energy independence, improve regulatory certainty and ensure federal agencies stay within the bounds of the law.

The agencies said in the release that the proposals would roll back Biden administration regulations finalized in 2024 that broadened federal oversight and added complexity. The plan implements Executive Orders 14154 and 14219 along with Secretary’s Order 3418. Per the release, those directives require agencies to remove regulatory hurdles that slow responsible resource development while maintaining essential conservation measures.

Two of the four proposals were issued jointly with NOAA Fisheries. Together, the rules are designed to reflect decades of agency practice and court precedent, including the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which struck down the Chevron deference standard and instructed agencies to adhere strictly to statutory language.

THE PROPOSED RULES INCLUDE:

• Listing and critical habitat (50 CFR part 424): The agencies want to reinstate the 2019 regulatory text governing how species are listed or delisted and how critical habitat is identified. The release said the plan restores the two-step process for designating unoccupied habitat, clarifies the definition of “foreseeable future” and reinstates flexibility to decide when designating critical habitat is not prudent. Decisions would continue to rely on the best scientific and commercial data with transparent consideration of economic impacts.

• Interagency cooperation (50 CFR part 402): The proposal would return consultation procedures to the 2019 framework. It reinstates definitions of “effects of the action” and “environmental baseline,” removes 2024 offset provisions and restores section 7 procedures tied to the statute. The plan responds directly to the Loper Bright ruling.

• Threatened species protections (50 CFR part 17; section 4(d)): The Fish and Wildlife Service proposes eliminating the blanket 4(d) rule and requiring species-specific protections. The agency said this approach matches the best reading of the law under Loper Bright and ensures protections are necessary and advisable for each threatened species without imposing extra limits on others. The policy would align the service with NOAA Fisheries’ long-standing species-by-species method.

• Critical habitat exclusions (50 CFR part 17; section 4(b)(2)): The release said the Fish and Wildlife Service seeks to reinstate its 2020 rule that guides how economic, national security and related impacts are weighed when considering whether to exclude areas from critical habitat. The framework is meant to offer clarity for landowners and project developers while preserving the agency’s authority to prevent extinction risks.

The administration said the 2024 rules had revived provisions previously found inconsistent with the ESA. The new proposals would replace them with standards built on years of implementation experience and established legal precedent.

The rules will be published in the Federal Register and were available for public inspection on Nov. 19 at www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/current.

A 30-day comment period begins today, Nov. 21. Comments may be submitted at www.regulations.gov by searching the following docket numbers: FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0039, FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0044, FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0029 and FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0048.