We have a moral duty to leave America’s natural resources in better condition for future generations. Our commitment to protecting the environment not only ensures economic growth but also enhances our quality of life. Through the implementation of effective policies, we can both promote development and safeguard our precious natural resources.
Federal agencies play a critical role in balancing economic development, infrastructure, and national security goals with environmental objectives. By utilizing strategies that prioritize the avoidance and reduction of harmful impacts on natural resources, we can achieve positive environmental outcomes while also supporting economic growth and providing essential services to the public.
However, these agencies often face challenges when it comes to using federal resources for restoration before regulatory approval. To address this, we need to encourage private investment in restoration and foster public-private partnerships. By creating a regulatory environment that promotes clarity, consistency, and collaboration, we can attract private investments and expertise to successfully achieve our restoration and conservation goals.
A key step in increasing private investment is ensuring that federal policies are clear, uniform across agencies, and consistently implemented. By sharing and adopting a common set of best practices, the federal government can create an environment that allows us to build the economy while protecting and restoring healthy ecosystems for current and future generations. Performance contracts and other innovative financing mechanisms can also play a significant role in financing measurable environmental benefits while meeting stringent government standards.
In line with these principles, I, as the President of the United States, hereby direct the following actions:
Section 1: Policy
- Federal agencies, including the Departments of Defense, the Interior, and Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall adopt a clear and consistent approach to avoiding and minimizing harmful effects on natural resources caused by land or water-disturbing activities.
- These agencies shall also ensure that any remaining harmful effects are effectively addressed while considering existing mission and legal authorities.
- Large-scale planning and analysis should inform the identification of areas suitable for development, areas with high natural resource values for protection and restoration, and areas with irreplaceable natural resources.
- Agencies should foster advance compensation, including mitigation bank-based approaches, to provide resource gains before harmful impacts occur and reduce long-term risks to the environment and project timelines.
- Policies should operate similarly across agencies and be consistently implemented within them.
Section 2: Definitions
- Definitions are established for key terms such as “agencies,” “advance compensation,” “durability,” “irreplaceable natural resources,” “large-scale plan,” and “mitigation.”
Section 3: Establishing Federal Principles for Mitigation
- Agencies should utilize available large-scale plans and analysis to identify potential impacts on natural resources and guide decision-making for mitigation, especially the avoidance of irreplaceable natural resources.
- Agencies’ mitigation policies should aim for a net benefit goal or at least a no net loss goal for important, scarce, or sensitive natural resources, using avoidance as the preferred means of achieving these goals.
- Advance compensation mechanisms should be preferred when possible, and agencies should set clear environmental performance standards for these mechanisms.
- Natural resource trustee agencies should evaluate the appropriateness of restoration banking or advance restoration projects as part of their guidance.
- Agencies should prioritize public transparency in the implementation of mitigation policies and develop tools to measure, monitor, and evaluate their effectiveness.
- Agencies should consider the long-term sustainability and ecological relevance of proposed mitigation measures.
Section 4: Federal Action to Strengthen Mitigation Policies and Support Private Investment in Restoration
- The Department of Agriculture, through the U.S. Forest Service, shall develop and implement additional guidance on avoiding, minimizing, and compensating for impacts to natural resources within the National Forest System.
- The Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management, shall finalize a mitigation policy for activities impacting public lands and resources.
- The Department of the Interior, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, shall finalize a revised mitigation policy that applies to all its authorities and trust responsibilities.
- Each Federal natural resource trustee agency shall develop guidance for evaluating restoration banking or advance restoration projects as components of restoration plans.
- The Department of the Interior shall develop program guidance for the use of mitigation projects and measures on lands administered by bureaus or offices of the Department.
Section 5: General Provisions
- This memorandum complements existing laws and policies.
- It shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
- This memorandum is intended for internal guidance and is inapplicable to the litigation or settlement of natural resource damage claims.
- The provisions of this memorandum do not apply to military testing, training, and readiness activities.
- It does not impair or affect the authority granted by law to federal agencies or the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
- It does not create any right or benefit enforceable against the United States or its entities.
- The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
This memorandum underscores our commitment to protect and restore our nation’s natural resources while promoting economic growth. By fostering private investment, advancing mitigation strategies, and implementing uniform policies, we can achieve a sustainable future for both our economy and our environment.
Investment in natural resource conservation is a key aspect of our brand’s mission. To learn more about our investment opportunities, visit investment and join us in making a positive impact on our environment. Together, we can build a better future for all.
