News

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz visited Michigan this week to highlight President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. 

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced a Record of Decision for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, which, when completed, will transport up to 4,500 megawatts of primarily renewable energy from New Mexico to markets in Arizona and California.

The Department of the Interior this week convened the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC), marking the first time the group has met in-person. The two-day meeting follows the bi-annual online sessions that have occurred following the establishment of the STAC last year.

The Department of the Interior today released a Solicitor’s Opinion (Opinion) to outline approaches that applicants may take to site waste rock and tailings facilities on federal lands under the General Mining Act of 1872 (Mining Law) to enhance permitting certainty and consistency for mining operators. The Department also announced completion of a Court-remanded analysis for the Thacker Pass mine approval in Nevada, consistent with the Opinion.

During remarks at the Department of the Interior’s Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop in Hawaii today, Assistant Secretary for International and Insular Affairs Carmen G. Cantor and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory announced $12 million in key investments from the Inflation Reduction Act for climate change planning, mitigation, adaptation and resilience for the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Departments of Interior and Agriculture today announced a proposed $2.8 billion in funding for fiscal year 2024 authorized by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) to improve infrastructure, recreation facilities, public lands access and land and water conservation.

During remarks at the Corridors, Connectivity and Crossings Conference in Tucson, Arizona, this week, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau announced nearly $4 million in grants along with $9.2 million in matching contributions for 13 projects in nine states that will help secure key migration paths and restore critical wildlife habitats.

Secretary Haaland traveled to New Mexico this week to highlight President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which is supporting efforts to make Western and Tribal communities more resilient to drought and climate change, addressing environmental justice, and empowering first responders.

Secretary Deb Haaland and Congressman Gabe Vasquez announced a $12.6 million investment from the President’s Investing in America agenda to support the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland and his team wrapped up a weeklong tour of Alaska today where he highlighted investments being made through the President’s Investing in America agenda to advance Tribal climate resilience and combat the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples.