Secretary Jewell Issues Executive Order on Conservation and Development Planning

We are in the midst of an unprecedented Government-wide focus on infrastructure permitting and development in the United States. In a May 2013 Memorandum, President Obama directed all Federal agencies to modernize their infrastructure review and permitting regulations, policies, and procedures to reduce the time required by the Federal Government to make decisions about infrastructure projects, while improving environmental and community outcomes. Each Federal agency has been charged with identifying improvements to mitigation policies to provide project developers with added predictability, facilitate landscape-scale mitigation based on conservation plans and regional environmental assessments, facilitate interagency mitigation plans where appropriate, and ensure accountability and long-term effectiveness of mitigation activities.

Development of all types – whether for renewable or conventional energy development, transmission, mineral extraction, or other purposes- has impacts on the Nation’s landscapes and natural and cultural resources. The Department of the Interior has significant review and permitting responsibilities over infrastructure development projects both on and off public lands. In executing those duties, the Department seeks to avoid potential environmental impacts from projects through steps such as advanced landscape-level planning that identifies areas suitable for development because of low or relatively low natural and cultural resource conflicts. Where impacts cannot be avoided altogether, the Department must work to ensure that projects minimize impacts to the extent practicable. Finally, for impacts that cannot be avoided or effectively minimized, the Department should seek ways to offset or compensate for those impacts to ensure the continued resilience and viability of our natural resources over time.

Additionally, land and resource managers across the Nation are recognizing the dramatic effects that climate change is having on our Nation’s water, land, plant, animal, and cultural resources, aswellastriballandsandresources. Inlightoftheseeffects,theDepartmentmustchangethe way it manages the resources for which it is the steward. Secretary’s Order 3289, dated September 2009 and amended in February 2010, directed the Department’s senior leadership to execute a coordinated Department-wide strategy to increase scientific understanding and development of effective adaptive management tools to address the impacts of climate change on our natural and cultural resources. The Order also directed the Department’s bureaus and offices to work together, and with other Federal, state, tribal, and local governments, and private landowner partners, to develop landscape-level strategies for understanding and responding to climate change impacts. In response to Secretary’s Order 3289, the Department has already developed climate adaptation policies, plans, and strategies and will continue to further develop important climate adaptation tools. As the Department continues to review development projects and identify associated mitigation, it must consider the effects of climate change and incorporate landscape-level strategies to address these impacts into any mitigation framework.

b. To facilitate the initial development of the mitigation strategy, the Task Force will first conduct a comprehensive review of the mitigation aspects of existing land and water management practices and procedures, permitting, and environmental review authorities, regulations, and guidance, including but not limited to the National Environmental Policy Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.

(1) As part of this review, the Task Force will assess the role of existing Department-wide and partnership programs, such as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, in facilitating improvements in mitigation practices.

(2) The Task Force will also seek input from regulatory agencies and partners outside of the Department with experience implementing mitigation programs in infrastructure projects and land management decisions, such as state agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, and Department of Transportation.

c. Based on this review, the Task Force will identify any new policies or practices, revisions to existing policies or practices, or regulatory or other changes that could be implementedtoincorporatelandscape-scaleplanningintomitigation-relateddecisions. Aspart of this process, the Task Force will assess the extent to which steps can be taken to harmonize the existing mitigation policies, practices, and regulatory and statutory requirements of the Department’s individual bureaus to minimize any redundancy and maximize efficiency in the review and permitting process. The Task Force will also determine what steps can and should be taken to ensure that mitigation opportunities are identified as early in the permitting process as possible, such as at the scoping or pre-application stage, to maximize predictability and transparency in the review and permitting process.

d. The Task Force will draft a strategy for developing additional policies and practices or any regulatory or other changes, including a timeline for implementation with designated agency leads.

e. Within 90 days of the effective date of this Order, the Task Force will provide a report to the Secretary summarizing the above evaluation and the strategy for implementing improvements in the Department’s mitigation practices and policies.

Sec. 5 Implementation. The Deputy Secretary is responsible for implementation of all aspects of this Order, in coordination with the Department’s Energy and Climate Change Task Force. This responsibility may be delegated as appropriate. This Order does not alter or affect any existing duty or authority of individual bureaus.

Sec. 6 Effect of the Order. This Order is intended to improve the internal management of the Department. This Order and any resulting report or recommendation are not intended to, and do not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person. To the extent there is any inconsistency between the provisions of this Order and any Federal laws or regulations, the laws or regulations will control.

Sec. 7 Effective Date. This Order is effective immediately and will remain in effect until its provisions are converted to the Departmental Manual or until it is amended, superseded, or revoked, whichever occurs first.