Glossary
The words this site uses, in plain terms. The same words explain themselves on every page when you point at them or tap them.
- Endangered Species Act
- The federal law from 1973 that protects listed animals and plants.
- petition
- A written request, from anyone, asking the agency to list or delist a species.
- 90-day finding
- The agency's first answer to a petition, saying whether it is worth a full review.
- 12-month finding
- The agency's answer after a full review: should the species be listed or not?
- annual re-finding
- The yearly check on a species found warranted but precluded.
- warranted but precluded
- Listing is justified, but work on other species comes first. The agency checks again each year.
- proposed rule
- A draft decision. It is published so anyone can comment before it becomes final.
- final rule
- The decision that puts a listing or a habitat rule into effect.
- endangered
- In danger of dying out in all or much of the places where it lives.
- threatened
- Likely to become endangered soon.
- candidate
- A species that should be listed, but must wait while other work comes first.
- critical habitat
- Places the agency marks as needed for the species to recover.
- comment period
- The weeks when anyone can send the agency their view on a proposal.
- docket
- The public online folder that holds a rule's papers and comments.
- statutory date
- The date the law sets for a step.
- Federal Register
- The U.S. government's daily paper of rules and notices.
- National Listing Workplan
- The agency's public plan of listing work, year by year.
- fiscal year
- The federal budget year. It runs from October 1 to September 30.
- court-ordered date
- A date for a step set by a court, as the workplan lists it.
- six-month extension notice
- A notice that moves a final decision back by up to six months when the science is in real doubt.