"The Trump administration’s decision to use the US Supreme Court’s unraveling of Chevron deference to delete the word “harm” from the Endangered Species Act is likely to expose the government to swift legal challenges seeking to restore environmental protections for endangered habitats.
Environmental groups are expected to immediately sue to halt the rescission of the definition of “harm,” which until now protected imperiled wildlife habitat from destruction. Now, private landowners may be able to destroy an endangered species’ nest, den, or other habitat without a permit and likely without consequences.
The repeal, announced Friday, is scheduled to appear in the Federal Register Tuesday and will take effect in mid-September.
The decision is part of the administration’s systematic dismantling of environmental regulations and endangered species protections, which have helped recover the imperiled whooping crane and so far prevented the marbled murrelet seabird and northern spotted owl from going extinct. But the ESA is reviled by the timber industry, oil and gas producers, and some other developers for hamstringing large-scale logging and pipeline construction."
Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment July 14, 2026.
