This Week at Interior October 21, 2022

Transcript:

Hey, I’m Corey Miller, at the Lexington Field Office of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and you’re watching This Week at Interior. 

This Week at Interior 

Interior commemorated “Legacy Pollution Week” to honor the work that's been done, and the opportunities ahead, as we implement a historic $16 billion investment to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells and abandoned mine land sites, while protecting thousands of communities from toxins and waste. Department leaders traveled to Kentucky, Louisiana and Illinois to meet with labor leaders and highlight new investments in these programs. While in Kentucky, Secretary Haaland announced a $74 million award from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the state to reclaim abandoned mine lands this year. The Department also announced nearly $10 million for new projects this week to address polluted ecosystems and reclaim abandoned mine land sites across the country.  

President Biden signed the Blackwell School National Historic Site Act this week. It designates the Blackwell School site in Marfa, Texas, as part of the National Park System. The designation will permanently protect the site for future generations and help tell the story of Texas school districts that established separate elementary schools for Mexican American children through the practice of de facto segregation.  

Interior this week announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an offshore wind lease sale on December 6th for areas off central and northern California. It's the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s west coast and the first-ever U.S. sale to support potential commercial-scale floating offshore wind energy development. 

Interior made more history this week, announcing that for the first time ever, the Department will require formal consultation with the Native Hawaiian Community. Secretary Haaland said the “new and unprecedented consultation policy will help support Native Hawaiian sovereignty and self-determination as we continue to uphold the right of the Native Hawaiian Community to self-government." 

$210 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help bring clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the West. The Bureau of Reclamation this week announced new funding for water storage and conveyance projects in five states. The projects are expected to develop over 1.7 million acre-feet of additional water storage capacity, enough water to support 6.8 million people for a year. 

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service this week announced more than $100 million in grants and matching partner funds to 16 states and Guam to support land acquisition and conservation planning projects. Those projects span more than 13,000 acres of habitat for 162 listed and at-risk species on non-federal lands. 

Millions of people across the country and around the world this week were practicing how to drop, cover and hold on during the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills. Nearly half of all Americans are exposed to potentially damaging earthquakes where they live and work. It’s important for everyone, everywhere to know how to protect themselves during an earthquake. 

The National Park Service this week announced details for the 100th lighting of the National Christmas Tree. The lighting ceremony will take place on November 30th. The lottery for the free tickets to the event opens at 10am on October 25th and closes at 10am on November 1st. The National Christmas Tree area opens to the public on December 2nd, and the Lighting Ceremony will be broadcast on December 11th. Find out more on recreation.gov. 

And our social media Picture of the Week, this gorgeous sunrise from the top of Acadia National Park's Cadillac Mountain in Maine. It's the highest point along the North Atlantic seacoast, and from October through March, the first place where the sun appears each morning in the continental United States. 

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That's This Week, at Interior.

This Week: Interior commemorates “Legacy Pollution Week” as we implement a historic $16 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to clean up abandoned mine land sites and orphaned oil and gas wells; a small Texas school is helping to tell the story of the struggle for equal rights for Mexican Americans; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s west coast; a new and unprecedented consultation policy will help support Native Hawaiian sovereignty and self-determination; $210 million will help bring clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the West; more than $100 million in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants and matching partner funds is heading to 16 states and Guam for land acquisition and conservation planning projects; millions of people across the country and around the world practice how to drop, cover and hold on during Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills; the National Park Service announces details for the 100th lighting of the National Christmas Tree; and we'll show you where the sun rises first in our social media Picture of the Week!