Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Act Compensatory Mitigation Policy

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce we are withdrawing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Compensatory Mitigation Policy, published December 27, 2016 (ESA-CMP). In our document of November 6, 2017 we requested additional public comments regarding the policy's overall mitigation planning goal of net conservation gain. We are now withdrawing this policy. The Service does not have authority to require "net conservation gain" under the ESA, and the policy is inconsistent with current Executive branch policy. Except as otherwise specified, all policies or guidance documents that were superseded by ESA-CMP are reinstated.