The California Endangered Species Act: take of species proposed for listing: renewable electrical generation facilities

The law expands California’s endangered-species permitting to species proposed for listing while retaining mitigation, funding, and no-jeopardy safeguards. It avoids requiring a new approval solely because a covered species becomes a candidate, threatened, or endangered species.

What the law does ​

• Allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue incidental-take permits for species proposed for listing.
• Requires permitted take to be incidental to a lawful activity, minimized and fully mitigated, adequately funded and monitored, and supported by sufficient impact information.
• Bars a permit that would jeopardize the species’ continued existence.
• Allows a renewable electrical generation facility to continue authorized incidental take after a covered proposed species becomes candidate, threatened, or endangered, if the take remains compliant with the permit requirements.
• Requires the department to post by January 31, 2033, a table covering 2027–2032 projects permitted for take of proposed species and whether those species advanced to candidacy or listing.

Who it affects ​

• Renewable electrical generation facilities with incidental-take permits.
• Project applicants seeking authorization to incidentally take proposed, candidate, threatened, or endangered species.
• Species proposed for listing and later protected under the California Endangered Species Act.
• The Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Context ​

California’s policy aims to expand clean electricity while conserving protected species and their habitats.