Judge Lets Trump’s Endangered Species Rules Stand During Rewrite

A California federal judge on Wednesday let stand Trump-era Endangered Species Act rules while the Interior Department revises them, sparking environmental groups’ ire.

Judge Jon Tigar of the US District Court for the Northern District of California granted the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s request for remand without vacatur two sets of rules implementing the ESA.

Those include the ESA Section 4 rules, which govern how the agency identifies imperiled plants and animals and designates critical habitat for those species, and Section 7 rules for how federal agencies must consult with Fish and Wildlife and the National Marine Fisheries Service ...