Law360, New York (May 21, 2014, 6:58 PM EDT) -- On May 12, 2014, federal regulators announced proposals to issue new rules concerning critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act, with the intent of clarifying three key areas of uncertainty. As proposed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, collectively referred to as "the Services," will issue a rule revising the process and criteria for designating the critical habitat of species listed under the ESA, a rule to define "destruction or adverse modification" of such critical habitat, and a draft policy regarding exclusions from critical habitat designation. The new rules, as proposed, will affect a broad swath of government and business activity and will engender controversy, debate and, likely, litigation....