Federal wildlife officials on Thursday proposed rescinding a key rule that defines habitat destruction as a form of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act, a move that could narrow the law's reach in protecting threatened species.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposed rule that would eliminate the regulatory definition of "harm," which currently includes actions that modify or degrade the habitat of endangered or threatened species. That definition has allowed federal agencies to treat certain land use and development activities as violations of the law — even if animals are not directly injured.

Under the proposal, "take" — a legal term under the act that includes actions such as hunting, killing or harassing protected species — would no longer extend to habitat-based impacts. Officials said the change would better align with the original text of the law and recent court rulings, including the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.

That decision overturned the long-standing Chevron deference, requiring agencies to follow the single best interpretation of a statute rather than one that favors their policy goals.

The proposed rollback also echoes a position taken by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who in a 1995 dissent argued that the Endangered Species Act was never intended to apply to habitat alterations unless those changes directly led to harm.

If adopted, the rule change would apply only to future actions and would not affect existing permits or agreements.

Public comments are being accepted through Monday, May 19, at: https://tinyurl.com/y8aneuyv. Comments can also be mailed to the address listed in the Federal Register notice under Docket No. FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0034.