^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

FWS Seeks Comment on Draft ESA Policy Regarding Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeks public comment on FWS' draft policy on crediting voluntary conservation actions taken for species prior to their listing under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed policy seeks to give landowners, government agencies, and others incentives to carry out voluntary conservation actions for nonlisted species by allowing the benefits to the species from a voluntary conservation action undertaken prior to listing under the ESA to be used -- either by the person who undertook such action or by a third party -- to mitigate or to serve as a compensatory measure for the detrimental effects of another action undertaken after listing. FWS will accept comments from all interested parties until September 22, 2014.