When a species is proposed for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service must to the maximum extent prudent and determinable propose and designate critical habitat. This dataset, last updated in April 2017, is a compilation of the proposed critical habitat areas from NOAA and USFWS listed species in coastal areas. To become officially designated as critical habitat, an area is published as a proposed Federal regulation in the Federal Register. After a period of public review, the comments are adjudicated and the final boundaries of the critical habitat area are published in the Federal Register. When areas are officially designated, they move into the Coastal Critical Habitat Designations layer on MarineCadastre.gov. Because MarineCadastre.gov updates data on a pre-defined cycle, it is possible that proposed layers have been adopted or removed prior to being reflected in this layer. It is important to keep in mind that maps published before May 31, 2012 were only for illustrative purposes and the Federal Register text descriptions should be used for authoritative purposes. For designations published after May 31, 2012, the maps (and any clarifying textual descriptions) are the definitive source for critical habitat boundaries. See metadata for online linkages to reference full listings of proposed and final critical habitat areas.