Department of the Interior

Secretary Order 3401 (Comprehensive Analysis and Temporary Halt on all Activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Relating to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program)

Secretary Order 3401, issued on June 1, 2021, establishes a temporary moratorium on all activities of the Federal Government relating to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as mandated by President Biden's Executive Order 13990 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis). Secretary Order 3401 also announces that DOI will conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the Program.

Secretary Order 3398 (Revocation of Secretary’s Orders Inconsistent with Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis)

Secretary Order 3398, issued on April 16, 2021, implements the review of DOI's actions directed by President Biden's Executive Order 13990 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis). Secretarial Order 3398 revoked the following orders as inconsistent with EO 13990:

• SO 3348 – “Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium” (March 29, 2017);
• SO 3349 – “American Energy Independence” (March 29, 2017);
• SO 3350 – “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy” (May 1, 2017);
• SO 3351 – “Strengthening the Department of the Interior's Energy Portfolio” (May 1, 2017);
• SO 3352 – “National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska” (May 31, 2017);
• SO 3354 – “Supporting and Improving the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Federal Solid Mineral Leasing Program” (July 6, 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’” (August 31, 2017);
• SO 3358 – “Executive Committee for Expedited Permitting” (October 25, 2017);
• SO 3360 – “Rescinding Authorities Inconsistent with Secretary's Order 3349, “American Energy Independence’” (December 22, 2017);
• SO 3380 – “Public Notice of the Costs Associated with Developing Department of the Interior Publications and Similar Documents” (March 10, 2020);
• SO 3385 – “Enforcement Priorities” (September 14, 2020); and
• SO 3389 – “Coordinating and Clarifying National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Reviews” (December 22, 2020).

Secretary Order 3399 (Department-Wide Approach to the Climate Crisis and Restoring Transparency and Integrity to the Decision-Making Process)

Secretary Order 3399, issued on April 16, 2021, establishes a Departmental Climate Task Force, that is tasked with "develop[ing] a strategy to reduce climate pollution; improve and increase adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate change; address current and historic environmental injustice; protect public health; and conserve Department-managed lands." Secretary Order 3399 also contains instructions for using the National Environmental Policy Act to "support the Department’s policy to listen to science; to improve public health and protect the environment; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; and to prioritize environmental justice."

Secretarial Order 3377 (Contractibility of Federal Functions for Oil and Gas Development on Indian Lands)

Secretarial Order 3377, issued on December 16, 2017, was passed to further the aims of President Trump's Executive Order 13783 (Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth) and Executive Order 13868 (Promoting Energy  Infrastructure and Economic Growth). The order was designed to encourage the development of oil and gas resources on Tribal lands with minimal federal oversight.

Secretarial Order 3360 (Rescinding Authorities Inconsistent with Secretary's Order 3349, "American Energy Independence")

Secretarial Order 3360, issued on December 22, 2017, rescinds the DOI’s climate and mitigation policies, including the Departmental Manual on Climate Change Policy, Departmental Manual on Landscape-Scale Mitigation Policy, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mitigation Manual, and BLM Mitigation Handbook. The order also directs BLM to review the Draft Regional Mitigation Strategy for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and begin revisions to ensure it is consistent with the administration’s energy dominance goals.

Secretarial Order 3351 (Strengthening the Department of the Interior's Energy Portfolio)

Secretarial Order No. 3351, issued on May 1, 2017, establishes a new position (Counselor to the Secretary for Energy Policy) to help implement policies related to energy development, whose duties include:

• “Developing and coordinating strategies, policies, and practices that promote responsible development of all types of energy on public lands managed and administered by the Department. “
• “Identifying regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy exploration development, production, transportation; and developing strategies to eliminate or minimize these burdens.”
• “Promoting efficient and effective processing of energy-related authorizations, permits, regulations, and agreements.”

Secretarial Order 3350 (America-First Offshore Energy Strategy)

Secretarial Order No. 3350, issued on May 1, 2017, implements President Trump’s Executive Order 13795 (Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy). It directs the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to develop a new five-year plan for oil and gas exploration in offshore waters and reconsider a number of regulations governing those activities.

Secretarial Order 3349 (American Energy Independence)

Secretarial Order 3349, issued on March 29, 2017, implements the directive from President Trump’s Executive Order 13783 (Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth) to “immediately review existing regulations that potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources and appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.” The order calls for a reexamination of the mitigation and climate change policies and guidance that the Department of Interior issued during the Obama Administration, as well as all regulations related to U.S. oil and natural gas development.

Secretarial Order 3348 (Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium)

Secretarial Order 3348, issued on March 29, 2017, revokes Secretarial Order 3338, thus terminating the moratorium on federal coal leasing as well as the programmatic environmental review of the federal coal leasing program. The order states that “the public interest is not served by halting the federal coal program for an extended time, nor is a PEIS required to consider potential improvements to the program.”

Litigation: On August 15, 2022, a federal court reinstated the moratorium on federal coal leasing, stating that the Trump Administration DOI had failed to fully assess the environmental effects of allowing more coal mining. (For more information about the moratorium on federal coal leasing and the surrounding litigation, see Bureau of Land Management).

Secretarial Order 3338 (Discretionary Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to Modernize the Federal Coal Program / Moratorium on Federal Coal Leasing)

Secretarial Order 3338, issued on January 15, 2016, directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to prepare a discretionary Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that analyzes potential leasing and management reforms to the current Federal coal program, in order to help determine if the program should be modernized in a manner that gives proper consideration to the impact of that development on important stewardship values, while also ensuring a fair return to the American public. One key issue to be addressed in the PEIS was the effect of the coal leasing program on greenhouse gas emissions, including emissions from the production and consumption of federal coal, and how the leasing program should be updated to account for those impacts. BLM commenced the environmental review process in early 2016, and published a scoping document in January 2017 which outlines the key issues that will be considered in the PEIS.

DOI also announced a moratorium on federal coal leasing during the environmental review and modernization process.

• Secretarial Order 3338 (Jan. 15, 2016)
• Press release (Jan. 15, 2016)
• Fact sheet – Modernizing the Federal Coal  Program (Jan. 16, 2016)
• E-Planning Docket

Secretarial Order 3338 was revoked under the first Trump Administration, pursuant to Executive Order 13783 (Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth). (See "Secretarial Order 3348" under "First Trump Administration (2017-2021) above). For more information about the moratorium on federal coal leasing and the surrounding litigation, see Bureau of Land Management.

Secretarial Order 3289 (Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on America’s Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources) (2009/2010)

Secretarial Order 3289, first issued on September 14, 2009 and later amended on February 22, 2010, established a Department-wide approach for applying scientific tools to increase understanding of climate change and to coordinate an effective response to its impacts on the land, water, ocean, fish, and wildlife, and cultural heritage resources that the Department manages. It called upon BLM and other agencies within the Department to consider and analyze potential climate change impacts when undertaking long-range planning exercises, and to develop landscape-level strategies for understanding and responding to climate change impacts.  It created a “Climate Change Response Council” to oversee these efforts. It also called for the creation of a Landscape Conservation Cooperation Network which connects federal, state, local and tribal governments and other stakeholders to manage landscape conservation efforts across jurisdictional boundaries.

The order was amended in February 2010 to integrate climate change mitigation considerations (primary renewable energy development goals) into the planning directives outlined in the order. The “Climate Change Response Council” was renamed the “Energy and Climate Change Council”.

• Secretarial Order 3289 (Sept. 14, 2009)
• Secretarial Order 3289, Amendment No. 1 (Feb. 22, 2010)

History and Predecessors to Secretarial Order No. 3289

Secretarial Order 3289 replaced Secretarial Order 3226, Amendment No. 1, issued on January 16, 2009 under the Bush Administration, and reinstated the provisions of Secretarial Order 3226, issued on January 19, 2001 under the Clinton Administration. 

Secretarial Order 3226 (Evaluating Climate Change Impacts in Management Planning), issued on January 19, 2001 under the Clinton Administration, directed all agencies within the Department to ” consider and analyze potential climate change impacts when undertaking long-range planning exercises, when setting priorities for scientific research and investigations, when developing multi-year management plans, and/or when making major decisions regarding the potential utilization of resources under the Department’s purview.” It specified that the departmental activities covered by the order included, but were not limited to: “programmatic and long-term environmental reviews undertaken by the Department, management plans and activities developed for public lands, planning and management activities associated with oil, gas and mineral development on public lands, and planning and management activities for water projects and  water resources.” Secretarial Order No. 3226 was amended on January 16, 2009 (Secretarial Order No. 3226, Amendment No. 1) under the Bush Administration, and eventually reinstated by Secretarial Order 3289 under the Obama Administration.

Secretarial Order 3285 (Renewable Energy Development by the Department of the Interior)

Secretarial Order 3285, issued on March 11, 2009, established the development of renewable energy as a priority for the Department of the Interior and established a Departmental Task Force on Energy and Climate Change. This Order also amended and clarified Departmental roles and responsibilities to accomplish this goal.

Secretarial Order 3283 (Assignment of Renewable Energy Generation Responsibilities)

Secretarial Order 3283 was issued on January 16, 2009 to specify the Department of the Interior’s responsibilities to accomplish the goal laid out in Section 211 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This section states the provision to approve non-hydropower renewable energy projects on public lands with a total combined generation capacity of at least 10,000 MW of electricity by 2015 (Section 211, Public Law 109-58, 119 Stat. 660 (2005)). The Order clarifies that the Assistant Secretary—Land and Minerals Management has the “lead responsibility” in meeting the federal renewable energy goals, with other Program Assistant Secretaries providing support (including the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks). This Secretarial Order was issued with the aim of furthering development of renewable energy in order to “enhance the energy security of the United States.”

Biden Administration (2021-2025)

2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan

On June 20, 2024, major federal agencies, including DOI, released updated climate adaptation plans covering the 2024-2027 period, which expanded efforts to ensure agency facilities, employees, resources, and operations are increasingly resilient to climate change impacts. 

DOI's 2024–2027 Climate Adaptation Plan has two major components: (1) "a risk assessment, which uses historical data and future projections to measure [DOI] exposure to the impacts of climate change," and "an implementation plan" that describes DOI's ongoing and planned activities to address climate hazards.

2022 Climate Adaptation Progress Report

On October 6, 2022, the Department released its Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan Progress Report. The report highlights steps DOI had taken to advance the following climate adaptation themes from its 2021 Climate Action Plan:

• Promote Climate-Resilient Lands, Waters, and Cultural Resources
• Advance Climate Equity
• Transition to a Resilient Clean Energy Economy
• Support Tribal and Insular Community Resilience
• Empower the Next Generation of Conservation and Resilience Workers
• Enhance Climate Literacy
• Bolster Climate Resilience in the Management of Sites, Facilities and Supply of Products and Services

2021 Climate Action Plan

On October 7, 2021, twenty-three federal agencies, including DOI, released plans detailing how they will adapt to climate change and increase resilience to climate change impacts. The plans include a variety of resiliency and adaptation measures, including steps to develop a more resilient supply change, to enhance protections for workers and communities, and to increase climate literacy and leadership within Federal agencies.

DOI's 2021 Climate Action Plan, finalized on September 14, 2021, identifies five areas of climate vulnerability across DOI's operations: (1) People, Communities, and Cultural Resources, (2) Healthy Watersheds and Water Supplies, (3) Biodiversity and Ecosystems, (4) Coastal and Marine Resources, and (5) Infrastructure and Facilities. DOI's plan then builds on the strategies identified in the 2014 Climate Adaptation Plan to allocate responsibility for responding to these vulnerabilities. In addition, DOI's 2021 Climate Action Plan announced the Department's intent to formalize its policy with revisions to Department Manual Part 523 - Climate Change Adaption

• DOI Manual Part 523 - Climate Change Adaptation (as later amended Sept. 28, 2023)

Prior to publication, in September 2021 this plan was submitted to and reviewed by the National Climate Task Force, White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad

On January 27, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14008 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad). This executive order signaled that climate change would be a priority in policy-making across the federal government, established a number of new offices, and instructed agency heads to take steps toward developing climate policies. Section 211 of the Executive Order directed each agency, including the Department of the Interior (DOI), to develop a draft action plan that describes steps the agency can take with regard to its facilities and operations to bolster adaptation and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

First Trump Administration (2017-2021)

Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth

On March 28, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13738 (Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth). Among other things, the executive order revoked President Obama’s Executive Order 13653 (discussed below).

Obama Administration (2009-2017)

Climate Adaptation Plan

In 2014, DOI published an updated Climate Adaptation Plan in response to EO 13653 (discussed below). While the Department’s 2013 Climate Change Adaptation Plan focused on assessing DOI's climate change-related vulnerabilities, the 2014 Plan focused on DOI's work to address climate change through implementation of Executive Order 13653 and DOI's Climate Change Adaptation Policy.

Executive Order on Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change

In November 2013, President Obama issued Executive Order 13653 (Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change), which directed federal agencies to take various steps to prepare for climate change impacts and to support state and local resilience efforts. E.O. 13653 required each agency to evaluate agency climate change risks and vulnerabilities and to identify and manage the effects of climate change on the agency’s operations and mission in both the short and long term.

2013 Climate Change Adaptation Plan

On February 7, 2013, DOI issued Department of the Interior Climate Change Adaptation Plan for FY 2013, which outlined vulnerabilities to climate change impacts across DOI's program areas, and climate change adaptation priorities across DOI's Bureaus. In addition, the plan described the status of the Department’s climate adaptation efforts.

Secretarial Order 3289: Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on America’s Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources (2009/2010)

Secretarial Order 3289 (Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on America’s Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources) establishes a Department-wide approach for applying scientific tools to increase understanding of climate change and to coordinate an effective response to its impacts on the land, water, ocean, fish, and wildlife, and cultural heritage resources that the Department manages. It calls upon BLM and other agencies within the Department to consider and analyze potential climate change impacts when undertaking long-range planning exercises, and to develop landscape-level strategies for understanding and responding to climate change impacts.  It creates a “Climate Change Response Council” to oversee these efforts. It also calls for the creation of a Landscape Conservation Cooperation Network which connects federal, state, local and tribal governments and other stakeholders to manage landscape conservation efforts across jurisdictional boundaries.

The order was amended in February 2010 to integrate climate change mitigation considerations (primary renewable energy development goals) into the planning directives outlined in the order. The “Climate Change Response Council” was renamed the “Energy and Climate Change Council”.

It replaces Secretarial Order No. 3226, Amendment No. 1, issued on January 16, 2009, and reinstates the provisions of Secretarial Order No. 3226, issued on January 19, 2001.

• Secretarial Order 3289 (Sept. 14, 2009)
• Secretarial Order 3289, Amendment No. 1 (Feb. 22, 2010)

On November 26, 2021, the Department of Interior (DOI) published its Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which was mandated by EO 14008. The report outlines deficiencies in the current program and identifies recommendations to modernize it, including dramatically raising royalty rates to match private markets, and to reflect the full public cost of oil and gas exploration.

Biden Administration (2021-2025)

Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program

On November 26, 2021, the Department of Interior (DOI) published its Report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which was mandated by EO 14008. The report outlines deficiencies in the current program and identifies recommendations to modernize it, including dramatically raising royalty rates to match private markets, and to reflect the full public cost of oil and gas exploration.

Per the report, DOI’s recommended reforms serve three primary goals:

1. “Providing a fair return to the American public and States from Federal management of public lands and waters, including for development of energy resources;
2. Designing more responsible leasing and development processes that prioritize areas that are most suitable for development and ensure lessees and operators have the financial and technical capacity to comply with all applicable laws and regulations; and
3. Creating a more transparent, inclusive, and just approach to leasing and permitting that provides meaningful opportunity for public engagement and Tribal consultation.”

Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad

On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14008 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad). Among other directives, EO 14008 Section 208 directed DOI to conduct a programmatic review of federal oil and gas leasing and permitting "in light of the Secretary of the Interior's broad stewardship responsibilities over the public lands and in offshore waters, including potential climate and other impacts associated with oil and gas activities on public lands or in offshore waters."