NATV News

Interior Department Announces New Biden-Harris Appointees

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced additional Biden-Harris administration appointees who will join agency leadership to help advance the clean energy economy, steward America’s public lands and waters, pursue environmental justice and honor our nation-to-nation relationship with Tribes.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Availability of $725 Million from Investing in America Agenda to Clean Up Legacy Pollution

Funding will create good-paying jobs, catalyze economic revitalization in legacy coal communities

June 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced that nearly $725 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is available to 22 states and the Navajo Nation to create good-paying jobs and catalyze economic opportunity by reclaiming abandoned coal mine lands. The law provides a total of $11.3 billion in abandoned mine land (AML) funding over 15 years, which will help communities clean up dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining. This funding is expected to enable reclamation of the majority of current inventoried abandoned mine lands in this country.

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Biden-Harris Administration Advances Clean Energy Transmission Projects in Nevada

Greenlink transmission lines would bring 8 GW of clean energy to Nevada communities

May 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced today that it is taking the next steps toward permitting two proposed transmission projects, which will facilitate increased renewable energy development and delivery in Nevada.

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Secretary Haaland Appoints New Members to the National Park System Advisory Board

WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland appointed 15 new members to the National Park System Advisory Board today. First authorized in 1935, the Board advises the Secretary and the Director of the National Park Service (NPS) on matters relating to the Service's work.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces $62.5 Million Through Investing in America Agenda for Endangered Species Recovery Planning

WALL, S.D. — Today, on Endangered Species Day, the Department of the Interior announced a $62.5 million investment from the Inflation Reduction Act to help plan for endangered species recovery efforts that will be implemented over the next several years to benefit more than 300 species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)

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Assistant Secretary Estenoz Highlights Locally Led River Restoration Work Funded by the President’s Investing in America Agenda in Michigan

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz visited Michigan this week to highlight President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. She toured several sites funded by the America the Beautiful Challenge for locally led river restoration and fish barrier removal work. She also joined the Great Lakes Fishery Commission for briefings and site visits throughout the Great Lakes region to discuss cooperative fishery management.

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Biden-Harris Administration Advances SunZia Southwest Transmission Project

Once completed, project will carry up to 4500MW of clean energy throughout Southwest

May 18, 2023

WASHINGTON – 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.

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Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee Convenes First In-Person Meeting

WASHINGTON — 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.

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Interior Department, National Endowment for the Humanities Partner to Preserve Federal Indian Boarding School Oral History and Records

$4 million will support the digitization of records and creation of a permanent oral history 

April 26, 2023

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced a new inter-agency partnership to expand the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative through the collection of oral histories and digitization of records documenting the experiences of survivors and descendants of federal Indian boarding school policies. NEH has committed $4 million to support the digitization of records from the United States’ system of 408 federal Indian boarding schools and the creation of a permanent oral history collection, documenting the experiences of the generations of Indigenous students who passed through the federal boarding school system.

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In New Jersey, Secretary Haaland Highlights Efforts to Tell a More Complete Story of America, Advancements in Oil Spill Response

Leonardo, N.J. — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today visited New Jersey to tour the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, which is playing an important role in the effort to tell a more complete story of America. Secretary Haaland also toured the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility (Ohmsett), where new technologies and training are helping the United States and the international community better plan for and respond to oil spills. With enthusiasm growing around a clean energy economy, BSEE is also using Ohmsett to advance new renewable energy science and technologies, such as marine kinetic energy.

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Interior Department Announces Next Steps to Protect the Stability and Sustainability of Colorado River Basin

Outlines alternatives and tools needed to manage drought in the Basin and strengthen water security in the West 

April 11, 2023

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — To address the continued potential for low run-off conditions and unprecedented water shortages in the Colorado River Basin, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) today released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to potentially revise the current interim operating guidelines for the near-term operation of Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams. Today's release comes on the heels of historic investments the Biden-Harris administration announced last week as part of an all-of-government effort to make the Colorado River Basin and all the communities that rely on it more resilient to climate change and the ongoing drought in the West.

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