The Biden-Harris Administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2023. The President’s Budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address—to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families, and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.
The Biden-Harris Administration has proposed $1.6 billion for the Bureau of Land Management for fiscal year 2023 to meet a multitude of challenges, from addressing the climate crisis to strengthening the Bureau’s core capacity to deliver for the American people. The proposal is carefully designed to help ensure access for all Americans to the public lands, while also maintaining the Bureau’s multiple use and sustained yield mission that supports energy production, livestock and agriculture, wildlife conservation, watershed protection, and recreation.
The budget makes critical investments in the American people that will help lay a stronger foundation for shared growth and prosperity for generations to come. The proposed 2023 budget is an increase of $238 million above the fiscal year 2022 Continuing Resolution and includes significant investments to address the climate crisis and accelerate clean energy development to reach the goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025.
“President Biden has proposed an important blueprint for our country’s future that reflects the importance of science, equity and collaboration in carrying out Interior’s important missions,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “These resources, coupled with the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help the Department make critical investments in climate resiliency while creating good-paying union jobs in the clean energy economy, ensuring Tribal communities have the resources and support they need, and conserving and protecting wildlife and their habitats for future generations. Together, we can ensure that every community has a stake in our efforts to build a better America.”
“As the nation’s largest land management agency, we have an obligation to rise to the challenges before us,” said Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “As we continue to confront intense drought and increasing wildfire, manage an exploding wild horse and burro population, and help the country transition to a clean energy future, the Bureau needs a larger and better set of tools to carry out its Congressionally mandated duties,” she said.
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, the BLM will focus efforts to conserve and restore BLM-managed public lands, with a particular emphasis on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.
Among the most significant features in the request:
- Renewable Energy -The 2023 budget request would help fulfill the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to clean energy by providing over $49 million in the Renewable Energy Management program and an additional $11 million in the Resource Management Planning program to support siting, leasing, and processing rights-of-way applications for renewable energy projects and transmissions lines.
- Oil and Gas Well Cleanup - The 2023 budget includes $29.4 million to remediate Alaska legacy well sites on the North Slope. The BLM expects to address other orphaned oil and gas wells across the country, which pose risks for ground water contamination and methane leakage, with funds provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- Wild Horses and Burros - The budget requests $153.1 million for the Wild Horse and Burro Management program. The current estimated population of over 86,000 animals is more than three times greater than the carrying capacity of BLM-managed public lands, undermining the health of public rangelands and adversely affecting other uses of the lands and the species that depend on them.
- Combating the Climate Crisis - The budget request includes approximately $665 million to improve the resiliency and adaptability of BLM-managed lands to climate change and other stressors. The request also includes $12 million to support the Civilian Climate Corps, leveraging the skills of young adults and veterans to improve public lands and provide a pathway to good-paying jobs.
- Diversity and Inclusion - The BLM is pursuing a comprehensive approach to advance equity for all. The request includes $960,000 to support the Department-wide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility initiative to address high-priority needs and to ensure we work to create an agency that is open to all Americans.
The budget also includes funding for critically needed new employees in the Bureau. The budget will support an estimated 10,592 full-time equivalents to help the Bureau rise to urgent challenges.
The budget makes these smart investments while also reducing deficits and improving our country’s long-term fiscal outlook.
For more information on the President’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.
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