The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will pause its “blanket 4(d) rule” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) until the agency formally rescinds the rule.
The rule allows the agency to apply broad endangered species protections to species that are threatened but not listed as endangered. In 2019, the first Trump administration tossed the blanket rule, which was then reinstated by the Biden administration in 2024.
Once the rule is rescinded, USFWS will issue species-specific regulations for each threatened species.
The decision comes following a lawsuit by the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF). The groups said the blanket rule ignores science and undermines habitat restoration and species conservation.
“The Rule restricts state management of wildlife and habitat, prohibits habitat maintenance and restoration without a costly permit, and reduces incentives for habitat restoration and other recovery efforts,” the groups wrote in the suit. “The Blanket Rule does so without any consideration of science, each threatened species’ unique conservation needs, or incentives for recovery.”
In an Aug. 8 court filing, Elizabeth Maclin, acting deputy assistant director for the USFWS ecological services program, said the agency has already been reviewing the removal of blanket protections.
“FWS is reconsidering the 2024 revisions to the Section 4(d) Blanket Rules and has already drafted a proposed rule to rescind the blanket rule option for newly listed threatened species,” Maclin wrote in her declaration.
The agency sent the draft to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review on June 27.
Declaration
Several executive orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year prompted USFWS to review a number of ESA regulations, including the Section 4(d) blanket rules, Maclin said. In addition, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued a secretarial order to suspend, revise or rescind the blanket rules. Upon the orders, USFWS immediately began a review process.
To consider the policies and priorities addressed in the orders, USWS decided that its 2024 revisions to Part 17 of the ESA, which addresses endangered and threatened wildlife and plants, needs further analysis through rulemaking.
The agency set a timeline for reconsidering the blanket rules, including the development of a proposed rule. With the draft submitted to OMB on June 27, the 90-day interagency review period will end in late September. USFWS anticipates a proposed rule will be transmitted to the Federal Register by Oct. 31. If OMB completes its review process earlier than 90 days, the agency will send the proposed rule to the Federal Register earlier.
USFWS will allow at least 30 days for a public comment period on the proposed rule. The agency will then consider and respond to input and prepare a draft final rule. USFWS anticipates sending the draft final rule to OMB by Aug. 1, 2026, and then to the Federal Register by Oct. 31, 2026, or earlier if the OMB review process concludes sooner.
During the rulemaking period, when the agency proposes or finalizes listing a species as threatened, it will address a species-specific 4(d) rule instead of applying the blanket 4(d) rule.
“FWS expressly retained this ‘option to promulgate species-specific section 4(d) rules’ in the 2024 Blanket Rule, 89 Fed. Reg. at 23919, and it commits to exercise that discretion now,” Maclin said.
Lawsuit
PERC, RMEF and USFWS jointly requested a stay of the pending litigation to give the agency time to rescind the rule. The groups filed suit last December to challenge the blanket rule. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy stayed the lawsuit on Aug. 19.
“This is a meaningful step toward restoring the original intent of the Endangered Species Act by ensuring that regulations are informed by science and motivate recovery efforts,” said Jonathan Wood, vice president of law and policy at PERC. “Pausing the blanket 4(d) rule and tailoring regulations to species’ needs is a more effective, incentive-based approach to implementing the Endangered Species Act.”
RMEF said it is encouraged by conservation progress for elk and other wildlife, and that it will continue advocating for science-driven, species-specific conservation policies.
Environmental groups have historically opposed the removal of the blanket rule. Defenders of Wildlife intervened in PERC and RMEF’s lawsuit earlier this year.
“This rule is well-rooted in the law and sound principles of conservation biology,” said Mike Senatore, senior vice president of conservation programs for Defenders of Wildlife. “Defenders stood behind the previous administration’s reinstatement of this rule, and we will stand behind it now.” — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
