Center for Biological Diversity v. Raimondo

Center for Biological Diversity and federal defendants entered into a stipulated settlement agreement that obligates the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to publish a final determination by December 1, 2024 concerning designation of critical habitat for seven threatened species of Indo-Pacific coral found in U.S. waters. The agreement resolved CBD’s 2023 lawsuit to compel designation of critical habitat for 12 coral species, which CBD’s complaint alleged face “existential threats of climate change and ocean acidification.” NMFS finalized critical habitat designations for five species of Caribbean coral in August 2023, which the parties agreed mooted CBD’s claim regarding those species.

Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia claiming that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to designate critical habitat for 12 Florida, Caribbean, and Indo/Pacific coral species that have been listed as threatened. The complaint alleged that the corals face both the “existential threats of climate change and ocean acidification” and also localized threats. The complaint asserted that best available science demonstrates that these threats will continue “without immediate action … and will likely cause a precipitous decline” in the corals. Center for Biological Diversity asked the court to order NMFS to designate critical habitat for 12 listed coral species “by a reasonable date certain.”