FWS Restores 'Blanket Rule' Import/Export Restrictions for Threatened Species

The Fish and Wildlife Service will once again automatically apply import and export restrictions to species it designates as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, reinstating its “blanket rule” protections in a final rule released April 2.

The agency had ended the longstanding policy in 2019 (see 1908120020). Under the blanket rule, FWS automatically applied most endangered species protections, including restrictions on imports and exports, to threatened species, unless it issued a 4(d) rule setting specific protections for the species. Since ending the policy, the agency has had to issue species-specific 4(d) rules to set import and export restrictions.

In practice, the FWS has been issuing 4(d) rules restricting imports and exports for all its rules listing species as threatened since the blanket rule was eliminated.

Reinstating the blanket rule means FWS “will not need to develop any additional regulatory text to codify a species-specific 4(d) rule,” resulting in a “less confusion, less duplication of regulatory text in the Code of Federal Regulations, a lower risk of error in transposing regulatory text, and reduced administrative costs associated with developing and publishing a rule in the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations,” the agency said.

The final rule takes effect May 6.