Endangered Species Committee Exempts Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities from ESA Requirements

Content

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Endangered Species Committee held a public meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington, DC, to address the Secretary
of War's finding that it is necessary for reasons of national security to exempt Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities (defined
below) from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. By unanimous vote, the Committee exempted under section 7(h) of
the Endangered Species Act the Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities, which include the avoidance or minimization measures
described in the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) 2025 biological opinion and in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
(FWS) 2018 and 2025 consultation decisions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A notice in the March 16, 2026
Federal Register
, 91 FR 12672, advised that the Secretary of the Interior, who is also the Chairman of the Endangered Species Committee, had
called a meeting of the Endangered Species Committee for Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington, DC, with the meeting open
to the public through livestreaming.

Decision

On March 13, 2026, the Chairman of the Endangered Species Committee received from the Secretary of War a March 13, 2026 Letter
regarding the Endangered Species Act. The Secretary of War notified the Chairman that he found it necessary for reasons of
national security that the Endangered Species Committee grant an exemption from the Endangered Species Act's requirements
for the agency action reviewed in NMFS's 2025 biological opinion and in FWS's 2018 and 2025 consultation decisions. That agency
action is defined in the Secretary of War's National Security Findings (paragraphs 90 and 103) and covers all oil and gas
exploration, development, and production activities associated with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) and the
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Program. (1) The agency action is referred to here as “Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities.” The Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities
include both the oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities, as well as the avoidance or minimization
measures that are described in the agency action analyzed in NMFS's 2025 biological opinion and in FWS's 2018 and 2025 consultation
decisions.

Section 7(j) of the Endangered Species Act provides: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Committee shall
grant an exemption for any agency action if the Secretary of [War] finds that such exemption is necessary for reasons of national
security.” 16 U.S.C. 1536(j). The Secretary of War, after making this finding, requested that the Chairman convene a meeting
of the Endangered Species Committee as soon as practicable to grant an exemption to safeguard and protect the national security.
The Chairman then called a meeting for March 31, 2026, and the Committee convened that day.

Based on the Secretary of War's National Security Findings, the Committee grants pursuant to section 7(h) an exemption from
the requirements of the Endangered Species Act for Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities. 16 U.S.C. 1536(h). With this exemption,
the federal agencies implementing the Gulf of America Oil and Gas Activities are not required to comply with the section 7(a)(2)
procedural consultation and substantive “jeopardy” and “adverse modification” mandates when they authorize, fund, or carry
out covered agency actions. 16 U.S.C. 1536(h). Further, any action that would ordinarily be considered a take shall not be
prohibited under the Endangered Species Act. 16 U.S.C. 1536(o)(1). This exemption applies to the full scope of the Gulf of
America Oil and Gas Activities, and for the duration of those actions. Because the covered agency action includes robust avoidance
or minimization measures, those measures shall continue to be implemented under this Order.

The Committee recognizes that the Endangered Species Act sets out a process for the Committee to consider an application for
an exemption and standards for the Committee to apply when considering an application. 16 U.S.C. 1536(g), (h)(1). The Committee
concludes that these other provisions of Section 7, including the application requirements and standards, do not apply when
the Secretary of War finds that an exemption is necessary for reasons of national security. When the Secretary of War makes
such a finding, the statute and regulations require the Committee to grant an exemption “[n]otwithstanding any other provision
of this chapter.” 16 U.S.C. 1536(j); 50 CFR 453.03(d). “[A]ny other provision” includes the application requirements and standards,
and all other provisions in the Endangered Species Act.

The Endangered Species Act also states: “If the Committee determines under subsection (h) that an exemption should be granted
with respect to any agency action, the Committee shall issue an order granting the exemption and specifying the mitigation
and enhancement measures established pursuant to subsection (h) which shall be carried out and paid for by the exemption applicant
in implementing the agency action.” 16 U.S.C. 1536(l)(1). The Order need not specify any such mitigation and enhancement measures here because the application and other related
requirements do not apply. The mitigation-and-enhancement requirement contemplates an application and an “exemption applicant,”
which are not present in this situation where the Secretary of War determines that an exemption is necessary for reasons of
national security. But even if the requirement applied, it would be satisfied here based on mitigation measures included in
the Secretary of War's findings. Specifically, the agency action that is the subject of the Secretary of War's findings includes
the avoidance or minimization measures described in NMFS's 2025 biological

  opinion and in FWS's 2018 and 2025 consultation documents.

The Committee understands that any person may obtain judicial review of this decision, which is made under 16 U.S.C. 1536(h),
“in the United States Court of Appeals for . . . any circuit wherein the agency action concerned will be, or is being, carried
out.” 16 U.S.C. 1536(n). Here, the agency action is being carried out in the federal waters of the Gulf of America and state
waters and lands, including coastal areas, ports, airspaces, and waterways, which means that a person may obtain judicial
review exclusively in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth or Eleventh Circuits. If this decision is challenged in litigation,
the Committee designates attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice to appear for and represent the Committee. 16 U.S.C.
1536(n).

Order

On the basis of the decision and findings stated above, the Committee grants an exemption for Gulf of America Oil and Gas
Activities, which include the avoidance or minimization measures described in NMFS's 2025 biological opinion and in FWS's
2018 and 2025 consultation decisions.

This decision and order are effective immediately.

Dated: March 31, 2026. Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior. Dan Driscoll, Secretary of the Army. Lee Zeldin, Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency. Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture. Pierre Yared, Acting Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. Neil Jacobs, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Administrator. [FR Doc. 2026-06458 Filed 4-2-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4334-63-P

Footnotes

(1) The Secretary of War attached his National Security Findings to the March 13 Letter that he sent to the Chairman.

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