OIA Press Releases (2020 to Present)

Northern Mariana Islands to Receive $5 Million in CIP Funding to Continue Rehabilitation at Saipan Power Plant and Improve Fuel Waste Management System

02/21/2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 21, 2017) – Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Nikolao Pula has approved $5 million in fiscal year 2017 CIP funding for the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for the repair of fuel storage tanks at the CUC which fail to meet required standards of the American Petroleum Institute.

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United States Transmits $7.5 Million In Compact Grant Funding to the Republic of Palau

02/03/2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 3, 2017) – The Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Nikolao Pula has authorized grant payments totaling $7,542,690 to the Republic of Palau.  Continuing appropriations provided by the U.S. Congress thus far for fiscal year 2017 will support operational activities for the Palau government.  Since the financial provisions of the Compact of Free Association expired in 2009, an annual amount of $13,147,000 has been extended to Palau beginning in 2010. 

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U.S. and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Special Representatives Transmit 902 Consultations Report to Congress

01/17/2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 17, 2017) – U.S. Special Representative Esther Kia’aina and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Special Representative, Governor Ralph Torres, transmitted the 902 Consultations Report to Congressional leaders today.  The report is the culmination of eight months of official consultations, informal discussions, and site visits to locations in the CNMI, a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific region.

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Department of the Interior bison seal set against green mountainous background.

U.S. and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Special Representatives Transmit 902 Consultations Report to Congress

01/17/2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 6, 2016) – In all-day meetings at the White House today, Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina, Special Representative for the United States, began the first in a series of official consultations with Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Governor  Ralph DLG. Torres, the Special Representative for the CNMI.  Known as 902 Consultations, the discussions are authorized by Section 902 of the Covenant to Establish the CNMI in Political Union with the United States of America, which provides that the Government of the United States and the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands will consult regularly on all matters affecting the relationship between them, not less frequently than every ten years.

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Assistant Secretary Kia’aina and Territorial Governors Establish Coordinating Committee to Prevent, Eradicate, and Control Invasive Species in the U.S. Territories

12/15/2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 15, 2016) – Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina today met with Governors’ representatives from the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the first meeting of the U.S. Territories Invasive Species Coordinating Committee  (USTISCC).

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Department of the Interior bison seal set against green mountainous background.

Interior Assistant Secretary Discusses Health Care Coverage Options with Representatives from the Freely Associated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau Living in Hawaii and U.S. Mainland

11/10/2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2016) – Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina today held an outreach meeting with government representatives from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Republic of Palau, and community leaders from across the U.S. mainland to discuss health care coverage options and encourage citizens of the Freely Associated States (FAS) who live in the 50 U.S. States to enroll in health insurance plans available under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

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Department of the Interior Provides Funds to Strengthen Capacity for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-Only Transitional Worker Program

09/01/2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 1, 2016) – Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Esther Kia’aina today approved a $200,000 grant for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to create a team of labor certification technicians and a statistician at the Department of Labor to help collect, compile, and analyze crucial data on the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker (CW) Program, which is set to expire on December 31, 2019. 

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