Two departments holding separate parts inside one title of the code
A final rule published on 14 July 2026 and signed by the Fish and Wildlife Service of Interior and the National Marine Fisheries Service of Commerce, amending separate parts inside the same title 50.
Document overview (primary data)
- Document typeRule
- AgencyDepartment of the Interior
- Citation91 FR 43300
Key points
- A final rule published on 14 July 2026 and signed by services in the Interior and Commerce departments.
- The text lands in 50 CFR Parts 17 and 222 — different parts within the same title.
- It carries two identifiers, 1018-BI38 and 0648-BN93, and three docket numbers.
- It rescinds the regulatory definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act.
1Different departments, the same title
The previous article had five agencies sharing one part and one identifier. This rule sits between the two extremes. The two services that sign it belong to different departments, but their text goes into the same title of the code: 50.
2Responsibility divided between land and sea
How responsibility divides is written into the placement itself. The part the National Marine Fisheries Service amends, Part 222, is headed general endangered and threatened marine species, while Part 17, amended by the Fish and Wildlife Service, is the general species part. One statute therefore produces text in two places.
A shared title says the statute is one. Separate parts say the administration is two. Both facts appear inside a single document.
3What was rescinded
What is rescinded is the regulatory definition of the word harm under the Endangered Species Act — not statutory text, but the portion of regulation that defined the term. Three docket numbers are attached, a trace of two services running their procedures in parallel.
The next article takes up three bureaus of one department amending one part under three identifiers.
Why it matters
Where regulatory text sits reveals how responsibility for a statute is divided. Any tracking system should expect several administrators to occupy one title of the code.
FAQ
Why do two services administer the same statute?
Why the same title but different parts?
Was the statute itself rescinded?
Sources (primary)
Source: Federal Register (federal documents, public domain). Links go to the official site.