The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is requesting public comment on a proposed Conservation Benefit Agreement (CBA) for native bumble bee species. The agreement is specific to energy and transportation rights-of-way lands and includes the 48 contiguous United States. If approved, an enhancement of survival permit will be issued and cooperating non-federal property owners enrolled in the agreement will implement the conditions of the agreement and receive formal assurances that they will not need to change on-going management activities if covered at-risk species become listed in the future. 

This proposed Conservation Benefit Agreement will publish in the Federal Register on January 23, 2026. A 30-day comment period will open on January 23and will close on February 23, 2026. Information about how to submit comments can be found on regulations.gov by searching for docket number FWS-R3-ES-2025-0245.  

In general, the permit is intended to incentivize voluntary conservation for non-federal property owners or managers by authorizing take of covered species that may result from implementing an approved Conservation Benefit Agreement (formerly Safe Harbor Agreement or Candidate Conservation Agreement) and providing assurances that our agency will not in the future require an increased commitment or impose additional restrictions on the permittee's current management and use of land, water, or financial resources. As a result, a property owner may continue approved ongoing activities and implement beneficial conservation measures without concern that their activities may be curtailed by increasing populations or distribution of a listed species or a species that may become listed in the future. Therefore, property owners managing or improving habitat that could be used by a species that is listed or could be listed, or establishing new populations of such species, have an incentive to continue their activities without fear of being subjected to increased regulatory burdens in the future.

Covered species can include species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and/or non-listed at-risk species. The agreement is between cooperating non-federal property owners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Other species may be added through an amendment process as conservation needs arise or if additional species are petitioned or proposed for listing. Currently eleven species are included in the agreement.

• Rusty patched bumble bee (Endangered)
• Franklin bumble bee (Endangered)
• American bumble bee (Under Review)
• Variable cuckoo bumble bee (Under Review)
• Western bumble bee (Under Review)
• Suckley cuckoo bumble bee (Under Review)
• Crotch bumble bee (Unlisted)
• Southern plains bumble bee (Petitioned)
• Morrison bumble bee (Petitioned)
• Yellow banded bumble bee (Unlisted)
• Ashton’s cuckoo bumble bee (Unlisted)

The proposed Nationwide Conservation Benefit Agreement for Bumble Bees on Energy and Transportation Lands is a conservation program between cooperating non-federal property owners and managers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If approved, the applicant of the agreement will be issued an enhancement of survival permit and will issue certificates of inclusion to enrolled energy and transportation partners. Each certificate of inclusion within the agreement must provide a net conservation benefit that contributes to the recovery or conservation of the covered species included in the agreement. The proposed bumble bee agreement describes how enrollees will maintain, improve and create bumble bee habitat, as well as conduct on-going operations, maintenance and modernization activities on enrolled lands. In return, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not require any additional or different management activities by the participants should any covered species become listed. The proposed agreement will allow energy and transportation partners to provide conservation seamlessly throughout their properties, where there may be a mix of non-federal and federal land. On federal lands, assurances will not be granted and reinitiation of consultation would occur if an at-risk species became listed under the ESA. In addition, at the end of the agreement period, participants may choose to return the enrolled property to the baseline conditions that existed at the beginning of the agreement, if the agreement included that provision prior to permit issuance.

More information about Conservation Benefit Agreements

This proposed Nationwide Conservation Benefit Agreement for Bumble Bees on Energy and Transportation Lands will be enacted via a certificate of inclusion. Partners who enroll in the agreement through a certificate of inclusion will create, enhance and maintain habitat for native bumble bees, as well as continue their general operations, vegetation management and maintenance and modernization activities within existing rights-of-ways. Conservation Benefit Agreements are a required component of an application for an enhancement of survival permit and describe conservation actions and management activities that will occur throughout the life of the agreement and associated permit.

Participants who enroll in the proposed Nationwide Conservation Benefit Agreement for Bumble Bees on Energy and Transportation Lands via a certificate of inclusion voluntarily agree to provide habitat for covered bumble bee species on energy and transportation rights-of-ways nationwide. This agreement allows partners to implement conservation measures for listed bees on non-federal and federal lands. The agreement also allows partners the most flexibility to strategically place habitat when considering both the conservation needs of the species and constraints that may limit their ability to apply conservation measures in a given area. 

Conservation measures address the key threat to listed bumble bees, habitat loss, on energy and transportation lands. Resulting conservation actions should sustain and expand high-quality habitats that provide diverse foraging and nesting sites, while also reducing threats posed by habitat degradation, pesticides, diseases and climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change . The agreement will guide conservation across millions of acres of land that includes rights-of-ways for roads, railroads, and electric and gas utilities in the lower 48 states.

No. A Conservation Benefit Agreement (CBA) is a voluntary agreement involving private or other non-federal property owners where the actions in the agreement contribute to the conservation or recovery of the agreement’s covered species.

In exchange for actions that contribute to the conservation of species, the “enhancement of survival” permit issued along with the agreement allows for take of listed species to occur as a result of implementation of conservation measures, and covered on-going general operations, right-of-way maintenance and facility modernization activities on enrolled lands. In return, participants manage their rights-of-ways to provide habitat for native bumble bees. The habitat that they would provide or protect more than offsets the potential take that may occur from their activities, so the result is a net benefit for the covered bumble bee species. In addition, at the end of the agreement period, participants may choose to return the enrolled property to the baseline conditions that existed at the beginning of the Conservation Benefit Agreement, if the agreement included that provision prior to permit issuance. 

By signing onto the agreement, voluntary partners agree to identified conservation measures for at-risk species, reducing any additional burden on signatories should one of the covered species be listed in the future. Because the agreement already covers a given species, if listed, the need to identify new state-specific or project-by-project conservation actions required by section 7 and section 10 of the ESA is minimized. For example, if bumble bees in the agreement are listed as endangered or threatened in the future, our agency would grant permission for “incidental take” to partners enrolled in the agreement since signatories have already agreed to conservation measures benefiting the newly listed species. Incidental take includes unintentional harming, harassing or killing of a listed species and is prohibited under the ESA unless a permit is issued.  

The agreement also helps participants reduce or remove threats to listed bumble bees caused by ongoing operations, maintenance and modernization activities on rights-of-ways. Conservation measures in the agreement are expected to create, maintain and enhance native bee habitat and increase knowledge of bumble bee ecology.

For species are listed under the ESA, both incidental and purposeful take is covered under the enhancement of survival permit, associated with conservation actions that are of the nature of improving the condition of the species or the amount or quality of its habitat to provide a net conservation benefit to the covered species (e.g., beneficial actions that address threats to the covered species, establish new wild populations, or otherwise benefit the covered species). The anticipated conservation outcome of implementing a conservation agreement will result in a net conservation benefit that persists through the permit term. In this agreement, take coverage is extended on enrolled lands where certificate of inclusion holders are applying conservation measures and other approved on-going activities, is authorized. The proposed Conservation Benefit Agreement (CBA) includes take coverage for neighboring landowners within 650-feet of enrolled acres. Take on certain adjacent lands as described above is authorized provided that: owners of such adjacent lands are carrying out measures identified in the CBA; their incidental take results from these conservation measures or other activities, including general operations; and the activity does not result in take of other listed species, destroy or adversely modify critical habitat nor affect historic properties. Incidental take includes unintentional harming, harassing or killing of a listed species and is prohibited under the ESA unless a permit is issued.

The agreement was spearheaded by the Rights-of-Way Habitat Working Group and facilitated by the University of Illinois-Chicago. The Rights-of-Way Habitat Working Group developed the proposed agreement in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of their application for an enhancement of survival permit. This proposed agreement is a collaborative effort between our agency and representatives of more than 45 companies and agencies in the energy and transportation sectors who collectively manage several millions of acres of rights-of-ways and associated lands across the lower 48 states. Partners include non-federal companies and agencies that manage lands used for electric power generation, transmission and distribution; oil and gas transport; and transportation.

The Energy Resources Center at the University of Illinois Chicago will hold the enhancement of survival permit in its role as the facilitator of the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group. The university is the permit holder for the Nationwide Monarch Candidate Conservation Agreement for Monarch Butterfly on Energy and Transportation Lands which was issued in 2020. To date, over 80 energy and transportation partners have enrolled and received certificates of inclusion from 47 of the 48 states with over 1.2 million acres adopted for conservation. This group led the development of the proposed bumble bee agreement building on the success of the monarch candidate conservation agreement. The working group formed in 2015 as a forum for industry to collaborate and share ideas on habitat conservation on working landscapes, particularly within transportation and utility rights-of-ways. 

Today, more than 200 transportation, energy, government and non-profit organizations across the U.S. and Canada are engaged in the working group. The university is a third-party that will administer the proposed agreement and associated certificates of inclusion. Permit coverage will extend to non-federal landowners who enroll in the agreement through a certificate of inclusion and who comply with the requirements stated in the agreement and their respective certificates. 

Together, the working group supports pollinators and other wildlife, creates healthier ecosystems and enhances safe, reliable transportation and energy systems.

In addition to conservation measures, the proposed agreement covers on-going activities associated with general operations and management, vegetation management, maintenance and limited modernization activities within energy and transportation lands and the potential effects those activities have on listed bumble bee species. These activities include things like periodic grading and vegetation clearing, structural maintenance and repairs, as well as the repair, replacement and modification of above- and below-ground infrastructure. Use of insecticides is not considered a covered activity under the agreement. The proposed agreement does not include construction and land-disturbing activities that occur in undeveloped areas or pose significant environmental, socioeconomic, historical or cultural impacts. Examples include interstate highways, pipelines, transmission lines, new rail routes, or similar activities.

Not all right-of-way lands owned or leased by participants are included in the agreement. Instead, participants will identify the lands they plan to include. Additionally, landowners and enrollees do not have to conduct every conservation measure on all enrolled lands to have a net conservation benefit for native bumble bees. To maintain a net conservation benefit, each partner must use selected conservation measures to create and maintain a proportion of their enrolled lands as native bee habitat each year. The pollinator habitat provided will be reported and monitored throughout the life of the agreement. 

Each partner will need to follow their individual certificates of inclusion and the conservation measures included within those certificates. Some examples of conservation actions are: a minimum of five percent of enrolled acres must be habitat set asides; avoidance of known or observed nest sites; targeted herbicide treatments; establishing and using local seed mixes containing a diversity of native wildflowers; brush removal that sustains native floral resources; implement best management practices to limit the spread of invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species ; control invasive species for conservation purposes; and using conservation mowing to enhance floral resources and habitat.

Partners enrolling in this proposed agreement under a certificate of inclusion will be asked to commit to an initial implementation period for a minimum of five-years. Participation in the agreement is ultimately voluntary, and partners can terminate their participation at any time. Termination means the partner would no longer have authorization to take the listed bumble bees covered in this agreement.

The proposed agreement would be in effect for 35 years following its approval and signing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the programmatic administrator, unless terminated or revoked before that time. The “enhancement of survival” permit that authorizes take is effective for covered listed species and would become effective on the date of a final rule listing for proposed covered species. The permit would expire when the agreement expires or is otherwise suspended or terminated. The permit and agreement may be extended beyond the specified terms prior to permit expiration through the permit renewal process and with agreement of the parties.

The enrollment period would begin after the agreement has been approved by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the enhancement of survival permit is issued. Enrollment would extend through the duration of the permit. During this time, the University of Illinois Chicago may enroll eligible applicants into the agreement by issuing certificates of inclusion. Within one year of each certificate issuance, partner-specific implementation plans will be completed. Partners participating in the agreement are allowed to amend certificates of inclusion to add, remove or modify lands included in their enrolled lands commitments at any point during their enrollment.