What US Endangered Species Act: Listing, Section 7 Consultation, Prohibited Takings and Penalties requires
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), codified at 16 U.S.C. Chapter 35 (sections 1531-1544), is the principal US statute for the conservation of threatened and endangered species and the ecosystems on which they depend, administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS, Department of the Interior) and, for most marine species, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA). Section 1531 states the findings, purposes and policy; section 1532 supplies the definitions, including the broad definition of 'take' (to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect). Section 1533 governs the listing of species as endangered or threatened on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available and the designation of critical habitat, and requires recovery plans. Section 1536 (Section 7) requires every federal agency, in consultation with the Secretary, to ensure that any action it authorizes, funds or carries out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. Section 1538 (Section 9) sets the prohibited acts: with respect to endangered species of fish or wildlife it is unlawful to import or export the species, to take it within the United States or its territorial sea or upon the high seas, to possess, sell, deliver, carry, transport or ship a species taken unlawfully, to deliver, receive, carry, transport or ship it in interstate or foreign commerce in the course of a commercial activity, to sell or offer it for sale in interstate or foreign commerce, or to violate any protective regulation. Section 1539 (Section 10) provides exceptions, including incidental take permits supported by an approved habitat conservation plan. Section 1540 sets the penalties and enforcement: civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation for knowing violations of the principal prohibitions (with lower tiers of $12,000 and $500), and criminal penalties of up to a $50,000 fine and one year's imprisonment for knowing violations of those principal prohibitions, together with forfeiture and citizen-suit provisions.
Pillar: Water & Environmental Resources · Authority: US Congress / Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service · Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated:
Primary source: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2022-title16/html/USCODE-2022-title16-chap35.htm
SHA-256 integrity: ce5e6d05f1b64f3e509432a1c3268c4f2af16edf9264ad8682f836ab1f919ba7
Primary Citations — 8 traced to source
- Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. 1531 - congressional findings, purposes and policy of species and ecosystem conservation.
- Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1532 - definitions, including the definition of 'take' (harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect).
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