View Rule

Court decisions rendered over the last decade regarding the adequacy of incidental take statements have prompted us, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to clarify our regulations concerning two aspects of issuance of incidental take statements during section 7 consultation under the Endangered Species Act. The regulatory changes specifically address the use of surrogates to express the limit of exempted take and the circumstances under which inclusion of an incidental take statement with a biological opinion on a programmatic action is appropriate.