Policy Regarding Implementation of Section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act

We, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, (jointly, the “Services”) announce our final policy on exclusions from critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. This non-binding policy provides the Services' position on how we consider partnerships and conservation plans, conservation plans permitted under section 10 of the Act, Tribal lands, national-security and homeland-security impacts and military lands, Federal lands, and economic impacts in the exclusion process. This policy complements our implementing regulations regarding impact analyses of critical habitat designations and is intended to clarify expectations regarding critical habitat and provide for a more predictable and transparent critical-habitat-exclusion process.