News & Alerts
April 16, 2021 INTERIOR SECRETARY HAALAND ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDERS 3398 AND 3399 AFFECTING CLIMATE AND ENERGY POLICYpdf
On April 16, 2021, Department of Interior Secretary Haaland issued Executive Orders 3389 and 3399, to implement the review of the DOI actions directed by Executive Order (EO) 13990 (“Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis”) issued by President Biden on January 20, 2021, and to address climate and environmental justice concerns, among other purposes.
Order No. 3398 revokes a number of previous DOI Secretarial Orders now deemed inconsistent with or considered to present obstacles to the policy set forth in EO 13990 of “protecting public health and the environment and restoring science to tackle the climate crisis.” Those previous orders include SO 3349, “American Energy Independence” issued March 29, 2017; SO 3351, “Strengthening the Department of the Interior’s Energy Portfolio” issued May 1, 2017; SO 3355, “Streamlining National Environmental Policy Reviews and Implementation of Executive Order 13807, ‘Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects’” issued August 31, 2017; SO 3380, “Public Notice of the Costs Associated with Developing Department of the Interior Publications and Similar Documents” issued March 10, 2020; and SO 3389, “Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Reviews” issued December 22, 2020, among several others. Secretary Haaland directs the DOI to further “review and revise as necessary all policies and instructions that implemented the above revoked SOs or that are otherwise inconsistent with the policies set forth in EO 13990,” and to submit within 60 days of the effective date of Order No. 3398 a list of any policies, guidance documents, rules, or regulations “that may warrant further action to be consistent with this Order and EO 13990.”
Order No. 3399 arises under the directives in both EO 13990 and EO 14008 (“Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” issued January 27, 2021) and means to “prioritize action on climate change” by creating a Departmental Climate Task Force, whose directives include strategizing DOI decision making rationales “to listen to science” as it quantifies the social costs of greenhouse gases, including nitrous oxide and methane. The Climate Task Force will include the DOI Secretary as chair, the Deputy Secretary and the Counselor to the Secretary who will serve as cochairs, and each Assistant Secretary who will serve as a member. “At the discretion of the cochairs, the Climate Task Force may draw on separate Bureau/Office and Assistant Secretary representation, as appropriate, to concentrate on the climate crisis.”
Both orders are effective immediately and will remain in effect until amended, superseded or revoked. Order No. 3398 and Order No. 3399 is available can be read in their entirety on the attached pdf.