On April 17, 2025, NOAA and the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking to repeal their previous regulatory definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 90 Fed. Reg. 16,102 (Apr. 17, 2025). The ESA prohibits the "take" of endangered species. Current regulation defines "harm in the definition of 'take' in the Act means an act which actually kills or injures wildlife. Such an act may include significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding or sheltering.” The proposed rule seeks to rescind this definition and limit the meaning of "take" to cover killing and capturing endangered species. This would eliminate habitat modifications and other harmful activities from the prohibitions of the ESA.