Soon after he became Secretary, Ryan Zinke began to discuss possible ways that the US Department of the Interior could be improved. It’s been more than a year since he brought the idea up, but more definite ideas were brought before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 19.
“During this ongoing review, [Interior] leadership has gathered information from career employees, members of Congress, governors, tribes, and stakeholders,” said Susan Combs, DOI assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget. “We have worked with others in the administration to refine ideas and assess reorganization and reform recommendations.”
Particularly relevant, this report contains recommendations to merge responsibilities from other agencies into DOI to improve the management and regulatory processes that those agencies carry out, Combs said.
The plan recommends that the National Marine Fisheries Service, once part of Interior but currently part of the Department of Commerce, be brought back to DOI and merged into the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “This would consolidate administration of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act and create a stronger and more holistic fish and wildlife organization,” Combs said.
Combining the two services’ management capacities will also result in improved permitting—particularly regarding infrastructure projects—more consistent federal fisheries and wildlife policies, and improved service to stakeholders, she noted.
Another plan would be to improve water resource management. “The plan would consolidate and realign the US Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works missions, moving the Corps missions related to flood and storm damage reduction, aquatic ecosystem restoration, regulatory and other activities to the Army Corps, where we already conduct very similar activities,” Combs said.
Other Corps Civil Works functions related to its commercial navigation mission would move to the Department of Transportation. “This would increase consistency in federal policy in natural resource management and transportation planning, resulting in better federal investment decisions,” said Combs. “It would also leverage the expertise and relationships that DOI maintains with state fish and wildlife agencies,” she said.
Cleanups into EPA
The plan also proposes the integration of portions of the cleanup programs at DOI and the US Department of Agriculture into EPA’s Superfund program to streamline the federal government’s response to abandoned mine sites in need of environmental assessment and cleanup.
Under this proposal, both DOI and USDA would maintain existing compliance, bonding, and reclamation programs for noncomprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act sites, she noted. This consolidation would reduce the number of decisions and approvals, eliminate policy inconsistency among agencies, and expedite the cleanup of these contaminated sites. Several other proposals indirectly affect DOI, Combs said.
