The Trump administration is reportedly directing US Fish and Wildlife Service staff to reinterpret the Endangered Species Act (ESA) so that actions causing accidental deaths of endangered animals are prohibited only when they are intended to target them. The approach could significantly weaken habitat protections and allow preventable deaths, alarming conservationists who say incidental harm is a major cause of endangered-species losses.

An internal memo dated 14 September follows an earlier rule removing habitat destruction from the ESA’s definition of harm. The administration’s position draws on Justice Antonin Scalia’s 1995 dissent, while arguing that a later Supreme Court decision overturning the Chevron doctrine undermined the legal basis for the earlier interpretation; previously, businesses had to assess habitat risks, avoid harm or obtain permits and fund conservation measures.