Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued six orders aligning DOI procedures with Trumpâs policies.
Newly seated Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued six Department of Interior (DOI) orders on Feb. 3, his first official day in office.
The former North Dakota governor was confirmed by the Senate in a
78â20 vote on Jan. 29. His initial actions as secretary align DOI procedures and initiatives with the 200-plus executive actions that President Donald Trump has signed since his Jan. 20 inauguration, including more than 50 related to energy development.
The DOI âwill immediately identify all emergency and legal authorities available to facilitate the identification, permitting, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, distribution, exporting, and generation of domestic energy resources and critical mineralsâ the order states.
The departmentâwhich manages 500 million acres of public lands and 1.7 billion offshore acresâwill also âidentify all emergency and other legal authorities available to expedite the completion of all authorized and appropriate infrastructure, energy, environmental, and natural resources projects,â it states.
Secretaryâs Order 3418 aligns DOI with the provisions outlined in Trumpâs âUnleashing American Energyâ order by âimmediately terminating all actions takenâ under revoked executive orders issued by President Joe Biden.
The order âdirects a review of all appropriationsâ from 2022âs
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and 2021âs Bipartisan Infrastructure Law âto ensure consistency with President Trumpâs energy dominance policies.â
Those two bills, along with the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, are the legislative framework of Bidenâs âNew Green Deal.â They collectively authorize more than 80 new federal regulatory programs and billions in allocations through 2032.
Burgumâs order also directs the DOI to review mining regulations, encourage energy development on federal lands/waters, and ensure âa global rule, regulation, or action … be reported separately from its domestic costs and benefits.â
Secretaryâs Order 3419 mandates that the DOI âtake immediate steps that will reduce living costs for American familiesâ as laid out under the presidentâs âDelivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisisâ executive actions package through a âreview of all programs and regulations that are unnecessarily causing higher living costs for hardworking American families to identify and recommend future actions to lower costs.â
Secretaryâs Order 3420 âdirects immediate complianceâ with Trumpâs executive order revoking the Biden administrationâs âwrongful withdrawals of the Outer Continental Shelf from oil and gas leasing,â including two December 2024 Biden executive orders that placed restrictions on offshore drilling across 625 million acres off the East and West coasts.
The âban has been unbanned,â Burgumâs order states.
Secretaryâs Order 3421 directs the DOI to support Trumpâs deregulation agenda as outlined in his âUnleashing Prosperity Through Deregulationâ executive order. Under Burgumâs order, the DOI âwill eliminate at least 10 existing regulations for every new one introduced and ensure that the costs of new regulations are offset by removing the costs of previous ones.â
Secretaryâs Order 3422 directs that the department âtake all necessary stepsâ to implement the presidentâs âUnleashing Alaskaâs Extraordinary Resource Potentialâ executive order that rescinds âall regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions … promulgated, issued, or adopted between Jan. 20, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025,â essentially erasing 70 Biden-era regulatory actions related to Alaska.
âToday marks the beginning of an exciting chapter,â Burgum said in a statement. âWe are committed to working collaboratively to unlock Americaâs full potential in energy dominance and economic development to make life more affordable for every American family while showing the world the power of Americaâs natural resources and innovation.â
