The Biden-Harris administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2024. The budget includes $1.7 billion for the Bureau of Land Management to promote its multiple use and sustained yield mandate and strengthen the Administration’s commitment to address the climate crisis; accelerate responsible development of renewable energy on public lands; create family-supporting union jobs; strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion partnerships; and implement once-in-a-generation investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“This budget proposal will put people to work restoring our public lands, deliver the clean energy necessary to tackle a changing climate, and build a more robust, diverse agency,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “It's a significant investment in the President’s agenda to address the climate crisis, restore balance on public lands and waters, promote a clean energy future, and create good-paying jobs.”
As steward for 245 million acres of public land – more than any other federal agency – the BLM plays a critical role in achieving the climate and economic goals of the Biden-Harris administration, while working in partnership with thousands of Tribes and communities, mostly across the American West and in Alaska, where the agency’s employees live and work. More than 170 million people live within 100 miles of public lands managed by the BLM.
The proposed budget will help lay a stronger foundation for the BLM to develop shared growth and prosperity for generations to come. The proposed 2024 budget for the BLM is an increase of $140.5 million above fiscal year 2023 funding 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.
The proposed budget will:
- Strengthen climate resilience and conservation partnerships. The FY 2024 budget proposes program increases to enhance the restoration and conservation of public lands managed by the BLM, delivering on a commitment and obligation to future generations. It contributes to the America the Beautiful initiative, will improve equitable access to the outdoors, and will strengthen the economy. The America the Beautiful initiative supports the Department of the Interior’s core mission and contributes to President Biden’s goal to conserve 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030. This will help conserve lands and waters to improve their resilience in the face of rising temperatures and extreme weather. The budget requests $304 million in Land Resources, which provides for integrated management of public land resources, including forestry, range, and cultural resources, as well as wild horses and burro management. A request of $235.4 million in Wildlife Habitat Management and Aquatic Resources will also advance conservation and restoration of BLM-managed lands. The budget also includes an increase of $12 million for BLM to work with youth corps programs, which will enable the BLM to draw on the skills of young adults and veterans to improve the public lands.
- Accelerate responsible development of renewable energy on public lands. The BLM has a significant role in promoting the development of clean energy by providing sites on public lands for environmentally sound development. With excellent solar, wind, and geothermal energy potential on public lands, the BLM can help meet the Administration’s goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025 as part of the broader strategy to rapidly reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2030. The budget request proposes funding that will allow the BLM to promote and facilitate increased renewable energy development, including $72.5 million in the Renewable Energy Management program and an increase of $11.0 million in the Resource Management Planning program.
- Create good-paying jobs. The proposed FY 2024 BLM budget will advance the Administration’s effort to create good-paying jobs that provide a free and fair chance to join a union. This includes jobs for remediating and reclaiming abandoned wells and mines, and jobs to help ease the transition for oil and gas field workers, coal miners, and conventional energy and mining communities as the economy transitions toward cleaner energy sources. The budget will help support underserved communities that have been adversely impacted by energy and mining activities in the past, including through an increase of $4.7 million to address abandoned hardrock mine sites on public lands managed by the BLM. There are an estimated 103,000 abandoned mine features on BLM lands.
- Implement once-in-a-generation investments from the BIL and IRA. The BLM will put investments from these laws to put people to work plugging orphaned oil and gas wells, restoring watersheds, and making communities safer from wildfire. The BIL was signed by President Biden in November 2021 to grow the economy, enhance the nation’s competitiveness, create good jobs, and create a more sustainable and resilient economy. The BLM will use these funds in several areas to accelerate work being done in ecosystem restoration, orphaned and abandoned well remediation, and wildland fire management – important to communities in the West. For example, funding from the BIL will advance wildland fire research through a grant program seeking innovative fuels treatments and post-fire rehabilitation methods. Meanwhile, the IRA provides a significant federal investment of nearly $400 billion through loans for clean energy and transmission infrastructure. This investment is anticipated to further increase permitting workloads on BLM-managed federal lands through 2030. As a result, the BLM anticipates substantial need for Renewable Energy Coordination Offices’ permitting support through 2030 and potentially beyond for the construction and monitoring of newly permitted projects.
- Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and partnerships. The impacts of climate change and environmental degradation in the United States are not evenly distributed in our society. Communities of color, low-income families, and rural and Indigenous communities have long suffered disproportionate and cumulative harm from air pollution, water pollution, and toxic sites. The BLM, as part of its work, dedicates time and resources to engage a wide range of stakeholders and communities in all its land management decisions, as well as conduct formal consultation with Tribes in recognition of the U.S. government’s trust responsibilities.
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