News

Today, the Department of the Interior released draft guidance for eligible states and the Navajo Nation on how to apply for the first $725 million in funding available for reclaiming abandoned mine lands (AML) as part of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited Montana last week, where she met with several Tribes across the state to discuss the Department’s commitment to strengthening Indian Country and highlight how funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes historic investments in rural and Indigenous communities.

During testimony before the U.S Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland confirmed that, despite delays in implementation from the previous Administration, the Interior Department will release the Proposed Program - the next step in the five-year offshore energy planning process - by June 30, 2022, which is the expiration of the current program. A Proposed Program is not a decision to issue specific leases or to authorize any drilling or development.

The Department of the Interior today announced $29 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to invest in Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Irrigation, Power, and Safety of Dams programs.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau visited Texas this week to highlight investments through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program that will enable urban communities to create new outdoor recreation spaces, reinvigorate existing parks, and form connections between people and the outdoors in economically underserved communities.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited Kansas this weekend to highlight the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to strengthening and empowering Indian Country, including increasing access to voter registration for Indigenous peoples.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland joined President Biden as he signed the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act into law today, providing for inclusion of additional related sites in the National Park System to reflect a more complete story of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in public schools in 1954.

The Biden-Harris administration today announced that 125 ecosystem restoration projects in over 20 states, Tribes and territories will receive nearly $68.4 million in fiscal year 2022 funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

 The Department of the Interior today announced results from its wind energy auction in the Carolina Long Bay area, the second major offshore wind lease sale this year and a significant milestone towards achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland today released Volume 1 of the investigative report called for as part of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, a comprehensive effort to address the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding school policies.