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The Natural Resources Program Area includes the latest guidance, examples, and information resources to aid Federal facilities in managing endangered or threatened species, wetlands, erosion control, habitat development, native landscaping, and wildlife in general.
Executive Order 13423 focuses on natural resources management specifically by mandating water conservation (see Water Conservation section under Lessons Learned.). In Section 2, paragraph c, agencies are required, beginning in FY 2008, to reduce water consumption intensity, relative to the baseline of the agency's water consumption in fiscal year 2007, through life-cycle cost-effective measures by 2 percent annually through the end of fiscal year 2015 or 16 percent by the end of fiscal year 2015. (NOTE: By September 30, 2007, DOE, in coordination with EPA, shall issue guidance with respect to a 2007 baseline for potable, landscape, and other water consumption intensity and meeting the water conservation goal of Section 2© of the E.O.)
In order to meet these water conservation goals, the Instructions for Implementing EO 13423 urge:
- the use of metering devices that measure consumption of potable water in Federal buildings and other facilities and grounds. Data collected should be incorporated into Federal tracking systems and be made available to Federal facility managers (Section VI(a)(3)). Agencies should consider inclusion of metering requirements in all Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs), as appropriate.
- conducting water audits of at least 10 percent of facility square footage annually and conducting new audits at least every 10 years, thereafter. This audit requirement can be met by audits done in conjunction with ESPC or UESC projects (Section VI(a)(4)).
- Where applicable, agencies should purchase WaterSense (SM) labeled products and choose irrigation contractors who are certified through a WaterSense labeled program (Section VI(a)(8)).
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Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management
24 January 2007
Executive Order 13423 "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management", signed by President Bush on January 24, 2007. The order sets goals in the areas of energy efficiency, acquisition, renewable energy, toxics reductions, recycling, renewable energy, sustainable buildings, electronics stewardship, fleets, and water conservation. In addition the order requires more widespread use of Environmental Management Systems as the framework in which to manage and continually improve these sustainable practices.
With this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in January 2006, signatory agencies commit to federal leadership in the design, construction, and operation of High-Performance and Sustainable Buildings. A major element of this strategy is the implementation of common strategies for planning, acquiring, siting, designing, building, operating, and maintaining High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. Included in the MOU are the 5 Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings which includes more detailed guidance on the parameters for and the implementation of principles for optimizing energy performance, conserving water, improved indoor environmental quality, integrated design, and reduction of the impact of materials.
In accordance with Section 4(b) of Executive Order 13423, "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management", implementing instructions have been issued to Federal agencies to provide detail and direction to agencies as the work to fulfill the goals and requirement of the Executive Order. Section 8 of these instructions are specific to pollution prevention. These instructions are dated March 29, 2007.
This memorandum, jointly issued by OMB and CEQ, encourages all agencies to adopt and implement EMS, including the establishment of a firm date for final completion of the efforts. Additionally, agencies are encouraged to work with the January 2006 scorecard initiative launched by OMB. The January 11, 2006 scorecards address Environmental Stewardship, Transportation Management, and Energy Management.
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This act (16 USC 1451-1464, last amended in November 1990), is the Federal legislation that governs the preservation and management of coastal waters in the nation.
The purpose of this order is to direct Federal agencies that have programs and activities that have a measurable effect on public land management, outdoor recreation, and wildlife management, including the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, to facilitate the expansion and enhancement of hunting opportunities and the management of game species and their habitat. Federal Register notice is available here.
Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality
5 Mar 1970 and amended by EO 11990
Under this EO, the Federal Government must provide leadership in protecting and enhancing the quality of the nation’s environment to sustain and enrich human life. Federal agencies must initiate measures needed to direct their policies, plans and programs so as to meet national environmental goals.
Use of Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) on The Public Lands
24 May 1977
This EO specifies that ORVs may not be used without special use and location designation.
Trails for America in the 21st Century
18 January 2001
This EO mandates that Federal agencies will, to the extent permitted by law and where practicable--and in cooperation with Tribes, States, local governments, and interested citizen groups--protect, connect, promote, and assist trails of all types throughout the United States.
Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation
26 Aug 2004
This EO requires that the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the Administrator of the EPA shall:
1. carry out the programs, projects, and activities of the agency that they respectively head that implement laws relating to the environment and natural resources in a manner that:
- facilitates cooperative conservation;
- takes appropriate account of and respects the interests of persons with ownership or other legally recognized interests in land and other natural resources;
- properly accommodates local participation in Federal decisionmaking; and
- provides that the programs, projects, and activities are consistent with protecting public health and safety;
2. report annually to the Chairman of the CEQ on actions taken to implement this order; and
3. provide funding to the Office of the Environmental Quality Mgmt Fund for a Conference.
This document, published August 9, 1995 in the Federal Register, announces guidance developed by the interagency workgroup under the direction of the Office Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) to assist federal agencies in the implementation of environmentally and economically beneficial landscape practices.
In 2006 EPA signed a MOU with the Edison Electric Institute and five federal agencies to establish sound Integrated Vegetation Management practices in order to reduce adverse impacts to the environment and the public while ensuring reliable electrical service. The federal agencies involved in the MOU include the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service of the Department of the Interior. The MOU will support these federal agencies by providing practical, sustainable, and cost-effective policies, procedures, and practices that will reduce risks to the environment and the public, while ensuring safe, reliable, and uninterrupted electrical services to customers.
This act (16 USC 670a-670f, last amended in November 1997) authorizes the Secretary of Defense to carry out a program to provide for the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources on military installations.
This act, Public Law 93-629 (7 USC 2814), established a Federal program to control the spread of noxious weeds.
This act (16 USC 1133), originally dated September 3, 1964, mandates that each agency administering any area designated as wilderness is responsible for preserving the wilderness character of the area. When the agency uses the area for another purpose, it will do so in a manner that preserves the wilderness character.
This act (16 USC 1271-1287, last amended in May 1991) outlines the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values, must be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments must be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
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The purpose of this act (16 USC 1531-1547, et al., last amended in October 1988), is to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species, and to take such steps as may be appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and conventions for protection of endangered species (16 USC 1531(b)). Under ESA, the policy of Congress is that all Federal departments and agencies must seek to conserve endangered species and threatened species and must use their authorities in furtherance of the purposes of this act. Further, Federal agencies must cooperate with state and local agencies to resolve water resource issues in concert with conservation of endangered species (16 USC 1531(c)).
Recreational Fisheries
7 June 1995
This EO mandates that Federal agencies, to the extent permitted by law and where practicable, improve the quality, function, and sustainable productivity and distribution of U.S. aquatic resources for increased recreational fishing opportunities. It also established the National Recreational Fisheries Coordination Council.
Invasive Species
3 February 1999
This EO addresses the prevention of the introduction of invasive species and provides for their control and minimization of the economic, ecological, and human health impacts the invasive species causes. The EO establishes the Invasive Species Council, which is responsible for the preparation and issuance of the National Invasive Species Management Plan, which details and recommends performance-oriented goals and objectives and specific measures of success for Federal Agencies
Marine Protected Areas
26 May 2000
This EO mandates strengthening the management, protection, and conservation of existing marine protected areas (MPA) and establishment of new or expanded MPAs; the development of a scientifically based, comprehensive national system of MPAs representing diverse U.S. marine ecosystems and the Nation’s natural and cultural resources; and the avoiding causing harm to MPAs through federally conducted, approved, or funded activities.
Responsibilities of Federal Agencies To Protect Migratory Birds
10 January 2001
This EO directs executive departments and agencies to take certain actions to further implement the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The EO requires that each Federal agency taking actions that have, or are likely to have, a measurable negative effect on migratory bird populations is directed to develop and implement, within 2yr, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) that shall promote the conservation of migratory bird populations. Under this EO, the SOI will establish the interagency Council for the Conservation of Migratory Birds (Council) to oversee the implementation of the EO.
This act (16 U.S.C. 2901-2911) encourages Federal departments and agencies to utilize their statutory and administrative authority to the maximum extent possible to conserve and protect non-game fish and wildlife and their habitats.
This act (16 USC 666c, last amended in July 1965), is the Federal legislation that coordinates programs and activities regarding the conservation and rehabilitation of fish and wildlife in the United States.
Developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), the guidance describes a crediting framework for Federal agencies in carrying out recovery measures for threatened and endangered species. Under the guidance, Federal agencies may show how adverse effects of agency activities to a listed species are offset by beneficial effects of actions taken elsewhere for that species. The combined effects of the adverse and beneficial actions must provide a net benefit to the recovery of the species.
This act, (16 USC 1362 - 1407) states policy to prevent the extinction or depletion of marine mammals as a result of man’s activities. It further encourages the development of international arrangements for research on and conservation of all marine mammals.
This act (16 USC 1401 - 1444) declares that the United States will strictly limit all dumping into the ocean of any material which would adversely affect human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems, or economic potentialities.
This act (16 USC 703-711, last amended in December 1989), is a Federal law that enforces international conventions for the protection of migratory birds and game animals to which the United States is a party.
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This Convention was created on 2 February 1971, in Ramsar, Iran amended by Paris Protocol of 3 December 1982, and entered into force for the United States on 18 December 1986. Each country must promote the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl by establishing nature reserves on wetlands and provide adequately for their wardening (Article 4, para 1).
The Corps of Engineer's Regulatory Guidance Letter 3 August 2006, Minimum Monitoring Requirements for Compensatory Mitigation Projects Involving the Creation, Restoration, and/or Enhancement of Aquatic Resources outlines minimum monitoring requirements to ensure projects designed to replace lost wetlands are meeting their goals. The guidance outlines standardized procedures, time frames, and standards that managers need to follow in submitting annual monitoring reports for projects designed to mitigate wetlands lost to dredging and filling activities permitted under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The current Federal delineation manual, dated January 1987, used in the Clean Water Act Section 404 regulatory program for the identification and delineation of wetlands. Except where noted in the manual, the approach requires positive evidence of hydrophytic vegetation, hydric soils, and wetland hydrology for a determination that an area is a wetland.
A joint legal memorandum has been issued that interprets the June 19, 2006 Supreme Court decision in the consolidated cases Rapanos v. U.S. and Carabell v. U.S. The guidance is being released to Corps of Engineers and EPA field offices to ensure nationwide predictability, reliability, and consistency in identifying wetlands, streams and rivers subject to the Clean Water Act. The guidance reflects the agencies’ intent to provide maximum protection for the Nation's aquatic resources under the CWA as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Rapanos. To ensure such decisions are made in a timely manner, the agencies have released concurrently with the guidance a MOA laying out a process with specific short timeframes, when necessary, for reaching interagency agreements on jurisdictional calls. In addition, a series of questions and answers provides additional information. More information can be found here.
Protection of Wetlands
24 May 1977 and amended by EO 12608
Under this EO each Federal agency must provide leadership and take action to minimize the destruction, loss or degradation of wetlands, and to preserve and enhance the natural and beneficial values of wetlands. Each agency, to the extent permitted by law, must avoid undertaking or providing assistance for new construction located in wetlands unless the head of the agency finds: there is no practical alternative to such construction; the proposed action includes all practical measures to minimize harm to wetlands that may result from such use. In making this finding the head of the agency may take into account economic, environmental and other pertinent factors (Section 2(a)). Each agency must also provide opportunity for early public review of any plans or proposals for new construction in wetlands (Section 2(b)).
Originally this Act authorized the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, in cooperation with other Federal, state and local entities, to prepare comprehensive programs for eliminating or reducing the pollution of interstate waters and tributaries and improving the sanitary condition of surface and underground waters. The original statute also authorized the Federal Works Administrator to assist states, municipalities, and interstate agencies in constructing treatment plants to prevent discharges of inadequately treated sewage and other wastes into interstate waters or tributaries. Since 1948, the original statute has been amended extensively either to authorize additional water quality programs, standards and procedures to govern allowable discharges, funding for construction grants or general program funding. Amendments in other years provided for continued authority to conduct program activities or administrative changes to related activities.
Updates and background information regarding the scope of term "Waters of the United States" protected under the CWA.
This act (16 .SC 4401-4413), dated 13 December 1989, was promulgated to conserve North American wetland ecosystems and waterfowl and the other migratory birds and fish and wildlife that depend upon such habitat. The act encourages partnership among public agencies and other interested to: protect, enhance, restore, and manage an appropriate distribution and diversity of wetland ecosystems and other habitats for migratory birds and other fish and wildlife in North America; maintain current or improved distribution of migratory bird populations; and sustain an abundance of waterfowl and other migratory birds consistent with the goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and the international obligations contained in the migratory bird treaties and conventions and other agreements with Canada, Mexico, and other countries.
Approved JDs and preliminary JDs are tools used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to help implement Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Sections 9 and 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA). This RGL explains the differences between these two types of JDs and provides guidance on when an approved JD is required and when a landowner, permit applicant, or other "affected party"1 can decline to request and obtain an approved JD and elect to use a preliminary JD instead.
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A bi-monthly newsletter developed by NOAA’s Coastal Services Center. Each issue focuses on a tool, information resource, or methodology of interest to the nation's coastal resource managers.
Sponsored b NOAA’s Coastal Services Center. This directory provides access to coastal-related databases and libraries throughout the nation.
Sponsored by NOAA, this bimonthly magazine is a trade publication for the nation's coastal resource managers. Past issues discuss various coastal zone initiati | | |
Executive Order 13423
