This Week at Interior June 3, 2022

Transcript:

This Week, at Interior 

Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo were in Utah this week, joining federal, state, and Tribal leaders to execute the Navajo-Utah Water Rights Settlement Agreement. The agreement was approved by Congress in 2020, and it's funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It affirms the Navajo Nation’s right to use 81,500 acre-feet of water per year from the San Juan River. 

The Secretary then traveled to Nevada, where she announced significant policy and organizational updates to advance clean energy production on public lands and meet the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of a net-zero economy by 2050. The Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Laura Daniel-Davis hosted a clean energy roundtable where they announced that the Department will begin implementation of a new policy to reduce rents and fees charged for wind and solar projects on public lands and is establishing Renewable Energy Coordination Offices in Bureau of Land Management offices throughout the west.  

Interior this week announced a $33 million investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to put people to work plugging, remediating and reclaiming orphaned oil and gas wells in national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and on other public lands. Four bureaus within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture will address 277 high-priority polluting wells that pose threats to human health and safety, the climate and wildlife. 

It was the first of its kind, a nation-wide symposium hosted by Interior focused on environmental justice. The three-day series of virtual and interactive events also focused on the intersections of equity, climate, clean energy, and sustainability; it highlighted programs, practices, and research that will help Interior develop its vision for the next decade. 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week announced next steps for offshore wind lease sales in two regions on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore California. This is the first-ever offshore wind lease sale proposed on America’s west coast, and part of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. 

The Bureau of Land Management has issued the final approval for construction of the 416-mile Energy Gateway South Transmission Line in Wyoming. The project will support more than 1300 construction jobs and help integrate up to 2,000 megawatts of new renewable energy resources into the grid while also ensuring reliability of existing generation resources. 

In honor of Great Outdoors Month, Interior this week announced $279 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia for outdoor recreation and conservation projects. The Biden-Harris administration’s America the Beautiful initiative supports locally led outdoor recreation and conservation projects to protect and enhance our nation’s public lands and waters.  

Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz, and National Park Service Director Chuck Sams, visited both the Antietam and Monocacy National Battlefields, and the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Maryland this week. The visit was timed to mark the end of Historic Preservation Month. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced nearly five million dollars in grants for 28 projects in 18 countries across the Americas, under the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Those grants will be matched by nearly $17 million in matching partner funds to further bird and habitat conservation. 

For the second year in a row a Progress Pride flag has been raised to fly above Interior to mark Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Plus Pride Month. President Biden proclaimed June as a month to reaffirm our commitment to do more to support LGBTQI+ rights at home and abroad, as we celebrate the milestones on the march to full equality. 

And our social media Picture of the Week comes from the Nation's Capital, where the Lincoln Memorial turned 100 years old. Dedicated in 1922 in honor of the 16th President, the Lincoln Memorial has taken on additional significance as a centerpiece, and center stage, in the struggle for equality. 

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That's This Week, at Interior. 

This Week: Interior leaders join federal, state and Tribal officials to execute the Navajo-Utah Water Rights Settlement Agreement; in Nevada Secretary Haaland announces significant clean energy advancements toward the administration's goal of a net-zero economy by 2050; a $33 million investment through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will put people to work plugging, remediating and reclaiming orphaned oil and gas wells on America's public lands; Interior hosts a first of its kind, nationwide symposium on environmental justice; BOEM announces the next steps for wind lease sales offshore California; there's final approval for construction of a 416-mile power transmission line in Wyoming; Interior announces $279 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia for outdoor recreation and conservation projects; Interior officials mark Historic Preservation Month with a visit to Antietam and Monocacy National Battlefields, and the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Maryland; USFWS announces more than $20 million to further bird and habitat conservation; for the second year in a row a Progress Pride flag is flying above Interior to mark LGBTQI+ Pride Month; and happy 100th birthday to the Lincoln Memorial in our social media Picture of the Week!