Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland

During the final weeks of the Biden administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reached agreements that set schedules for review of the status of species to determine whether listing them as endangered or threatened is warranted. The plaintiffs in these cases identified climate change as one of the threats facing these species. In a lawsuit that originally sought to compel FWS to complete listing and critical habitat actions for 274 species, Center for Biological Diversity and FWS reached a settlement agreement pursuant to which FWS will submit 12-month findings regarding whether listing is warranted for 76 species to the Federal Register by the end of Fiscal Year 2029 in accordance with a schedule that requires a certain number of findings each year. The 76 species are those that remain after previous settlements, listing and critical habitat actions, and withdrawn petitions.

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The federal district court for the District of Columbia approved a stipulated settlement agreement that resolved Center for Biological Diversity’s claims with respect to 55 species that were the subject of a 2020 lawsuit that sought to compel Endangered Species Act actions for a total of 274 species. For 33 species, the agreement set a schedule for 12-month findings as to whether listing as endangered or threatened was warranted. For 22 species (18 for which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had completed listing and critical habitat actions and four for which listing petitions had been withdrawn), plaintiffs’ claims were dismissed with prejudice.

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