Environmental Law & Policy Alert – Update from Somach Simmons & Dunn

July 28, 2026

Federal Resource Agencies Rescind Longstanding Regulatory Definition of “Harm” Under the Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (the “Services”) recently finalized a significant Endangered Species Act (ESA) rule that rescinds the regulatory definition of “harm” (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule, published on July 14, 2026, becomes effective September 14, 2026. 
For more than 40 years, federal regulations defined “harm” to include significant habitat modification that actually kills or injures listed wildlife by impairing essential behavioral patterns such as breeding, feeding, or sheltering … Read More

Written by Ryan J. Mitchell