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This proposed rule, a joint FWS and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) effort, would amend the regulations implementing section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). In 2019, FWS and NMFS finalized revisions to 50 CFR part 402, which pertains to interagency cooperation under the ESA. Among other things, the 2019 final rule amended 50 CFR 402.16 to address issues arising under the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. U.S. Forest Service, 789 F.3d 1075 (9th Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 293 (2016). The final rule clarified that initiation of consultation shall not be required for land management plans prepared pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 1712 or 16 U.S.C. 1604, upon listing of a new species or designation of new critical habitat, in certain specific circumstances, provided that any authorized actions that may affect the newly listed species or designated critical habitat will be addressed through a separate action-specific consultation. Now, the FWS and NMFS have proposed to create a similar exception for reinitiation of consultation on the basis of new information (see 50 CFR 402.16(a)(2)).