Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Interim Listing Priority Guidance

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) adopts interim guidance for assigning relative priorities to listing actions conducted under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (Act). Congress enacted a moratorium on final listings and critical habitat designations in April 1995 which, combined with severe funding constraints, essentially shut down the Service's listing program beginning in October 1995. During this shutdown, a large backlog of listing actions, particularly unresolved proposed listings, is accruing. When the moratorium is lifted and adequate funding is restored to operate a listing program, the Service will need to act expeditiously to resolve the status of outstanding proposed listings. This guidance supplements, but does not replace, the current listing priority guidelines, which are silent on the matter of prioritizing among different types of listing activities. While the backlog exists, and in order to focus conservation benefits on those species in greatest need, the Service believes that processing the outstanding proposed listings should receive higher priority than other actions authorized by section 4 (such as petition findings, new proposed listings, and critical habitat determinations).