Endangered Species Act Listing Program U S Fish

Endangered Species Act Listing Program U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Listing Workplan FY 17 -23

2 Years… • New prioritization system for 12 -month findings • National Listing Workplan • Revised Petition Regulations

What is the National Listing Workplan? Establishes FWS’s long-term schedule for undertaking various listing actions including petition findings, listing determinations and critical habitat designations. It is based, in part, on the newly established prioritization methodology for 12 -month findings.

Where we are now Pending workload as of October 2016 (after completion of MDL settlement commitments) • 30 candidates • 555 12 -month findings

Listing Workplan Goals • Provides predictability to partners on what we are doing and when • Is flexible to address new species when needed • Reflects our biological priorities and aligns/mobilizes conservation delivery • Is balanced between the types of actions (petition findings, proposed rules, final rules) • Distributes workload across FWS Field Offices • Seeks efficiencies by batching actions when possible and combining warranted findings with proposed listing and CH rules

Prioritization Methodology for 12 -month findings: • Provides a logical, transparent basis for how FWS will prioritize unresolved 12 -month findings • Applied to outstanding 12 -month findings to inform the National Listing Workplan • Finalized July 27, 2016

12 -month finding prioritization system • Bin 1: Critically Imperiled – Species that appear to be critically imperiled and in need of immediate action. • Bin 2: Strong Data Available on Species’ Status – Species for which we have existing strong scientific data supporting a clear decision on status. • Bin 3: New Science Underway to Inform Key Uncertainties • Bin 4: Conservation Efforts in Development or Underway • Bin 5: Limited Data Currently Available – Species for which there is little information on status and threats available to inform a petition finding.

State Involvement • States hold much of the information needed to inform FWS proper placement into bins • Via coordination to inform “binning , ” workplan should reflect State priorities as well as our own • Flexibility to incorporate new information relevant to prioritization when it becomes available

Binning Outcomes for 12 month findings Bin # 1 – Critically imperiled 2 – Strong science 3 – New science underway 4 – Existing conservation efforts 9 69 151 59 5 – Little known 237 TOTAL* 525 * Does not total 555; already agreed upon dates or settlements pending were not binned.

National Listing Workplan Details • Includes all 30 remaining candidates, most within the first 3 years • Includes 320 of the 555 outstanding 12 month findings. Of those not included in workplan: – Most of these are Bin 5 – little known – Some bin 3 s and 4 s where FO capacity is limiting in R 4 • 11 FWS discretionary status reviews

Actions by Type and Year Action Type 12 M finding Discretionary Status Review PLPCH (candidates) FY 17 FY 18 41 1 4 Court remedy Total 36 46 12 1 49 FY 19 FY 20 FY 21 FY 22 FY 23 Total 44 75 46 37 4 1 11 2 59 78 47 38 41 320 3 11 1 30 45 362

New Actions by Region by Year Fiscal Year R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 R 5 R 6 R 7 FY 17 2 3 1 14 2 5 FY 18 2 11 1 20 5 6 FY 19 3 11 6 21 7 4 FY 20 3 11 3 19 22 FY 21 4 10 1 12 FY 22 3 9 1 FY 23 3 11 Total 20 66 R 8 1 Total 18 46 4 49 6 59 5 15 78 6 3 11 47 13 6 5 1 38 5 12 7 2 5 45 18 111 55 30 60 362 1 2

National Listing Workplan • Where warranted, propose listing simultaneous with making a 12 -month finding to streamline process • Propose critical habitat simultaneous with proposed listings, if prudent and determinable • Final rulemakings planned to adhere to statutory time frames

Updating the Workplan • Balance the opposing objectives of predictability and flexibility. • Adjustments may be made to incorporate new work and information. • We aim to always provide the public with a projection of our workload for a minimum of five years into the future. .

Updating the Workplan, cont. • Species with new “substantial” 90 -day findings will be assigned a bin number (in coordination with States and others with relevant information). • Critically imperiled species (bin 1) will be incorporated into the workplan as soon as possible. • Remaining species will be incorporated into the workplan according to their prioritization number if feasible, or added to the back end if not.

Within-Year Timing • “FY 17” does not mean Sept 2017 – need to avoid the end of year crunch • FWS plans to divide workload into quarters to spread throughout year • Not warranted findings take less time (no rulemaking, no CH)

Where to find the workplan: https: //www. fws. gov/endangered/improving_esa/ listing_workplan_actions. html The Good News…

Revised Petition Regulations • Proposed in May 2015 – Substantial comments received • Re-proposed in April 2016 • Finalized September 27, 2016; effective October 27, 2016. • 81 Federal Register 66462

Objectives: • Improve the quality of petitions we receive; • Create a role for State involvement; • Provide greater clarity to the public about the petition process; • Maximize our efficiency in reviewing and processing petitions.

State Involvement • Petitioners required to provided advance notice to States (≥ 30 days before submitting to FWS/NMFS) • States can inform our 90 -day finding by submitting information • Removed requirement to use information in our files on the date petition received • Allows us to use “readily available information” in making our finding, including State databases.