States Challenge Critical Habitat Rules Under Endangered Species Act

On November 29, eighteen states filed suit in the Southern District of Alabama challenging a rule recently finalized by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (the “Services”), the two agencies charged with the implementation of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). The suit concerns the Services’ revision of the definitions of “critical habitat” and “adverse modification” in their regulations implementing the ESA. The states argue the revised definitions are inconsistent with the ESA, as the new rules expand the Services’...