The Department of the Interior has been awarded a Presidential Federal Sustainability Award for its efforts to phase out single-use plastics on Department-managed lands and for its work in strengthening climate resilience through public-private partnerships. Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis attended a ceremony at the White House to accept the awards and commend employees involved in these initiatives.

"Across our bureaus and public lands, Interior Department employees are moving quickly to implement President Biden and Secretary Haaland’s directives to phase out single-use plastics and make communities more climate resilient,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Daniel-Davis. “Collectively, these efforts will have impacts for decades to come, helping protect the ecosystems that we depend on, and equipping communities with the tools and resources necessary to adapt to a changing climate.”

In June 2022, Secretary Deb Haaland issued Secretary’s Order (S.O.) 3407 aiming to reduce the procurement, sale, and distribution of single-use plastic products with a goal of phasing them out on Department-managed lands by 2032. S.O. 3407 is part of President Biden’s Executive Order 14057, which calls for federal agencies to minimize waste and support markets for recycled products. Since then, national parks, wildlife refuges, and conservation lands have made significant progress including installing water bottle filling stations, increasing recycling efforts, and working with concessionaires to reduce sales of single-use plastic items.

Additionally, all bureaus and offices finalized sustainable procurement plans in September 2023 to phase out single-use plastics within the next decade.

The Department was also recognized for its role in strengthening climate resilience through initiatives like the Rogue Forest Partnership (RFP). This partnership involves federal and state agencies along with nonprofit organizations working together to reduce wildfire risk by 70 percent across 4.6 million acres in Oregon's Rogue River Basin. Supported by funding from President Biden's Investing in America agenda, RFP aims at enhancing forestland resilience through controlled burns and ecological thinning while creating local jobs.

Historic investments from programs such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act are aiding these efforts by providing unprecedented resources aimed at supporting comprehensive climate resilience strategies under the Biden-Harris administration.

The Presidential Federal Sustainability Awards Program was launched in March 2023 to honor leadership and innovation among federal agencies towards achieving ambitious sustainability goals set forth in Executive Order 14057.

For more information on Interior’s sustainable practices implementation visit their Sustainability webpage.