Establishing the One Trillion Trees Interagency Council, 65643-65645 [2020-23115]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 65643-65645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23115]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 201 / Friday, October 16, 2020 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 65643]]


                Executive Order 13955 of October 13, 2020

                
Establishing the One Trillion Trees Interagency 
                Council

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. As I declared in Executive Order 
                13855 of December 21, 2018 (Promoting Active Management 
                of America's Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal 
                Lands To Improve Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk), 
                it is the policy of the United States to promote 
                healthy and resilient forests, rangelands, and other 
                Federal lands by actively managing them through 
                partnerships with States, tribes, communities, non-
                profit organizations, and the private sector.

                Our Nation is home to hundreds of millions of acres of 
                Federal, State, tribal, and private forests and 
                woodlands, which produce tremendous positive economic 
                and environmental effects throughout our country. 
                Recreational and educational visits to National Forests 
                make substantial contributions to our Nation's physical 
                and emotional health as well as to our gross domestic 
                product, all while supporting thousands of full- and 
                part-time jobs. Our Nation's forests and woodlands 
                provide valuable environmental benefits as well, 
                including by serving as wildlife habitats and 
                supporting air and water quality for all Americans. 
                Forests and woodlands sequester atmospheric carbon, and 
                according to the Forest Service, 180 million people in 
                over 68,000 communities rely on our Nation's forested 
                watersheds to capture and filter their drinking water.

                These facts demonstrate how our Nation has taken 
                advantage of the tremendous economic and environmental 
                benefits associated with tree growth and forestation. 
                By advancing Federal policies conducive to these 
                practices, under my leadership, the United States has 
                promoted greater use of nature-based solutions to 
                address global challenges.

                On January 21, 2020, I announced that to further 
                protect the environment, the United States would be 
                joining the World Economic Forum's One Trillion Trees 
                initiative (Initiative), an ambitious global effort to 
                grow and conserve one trillion trees worldwide by 2030. 
                Following through on my commitment, and given the 
                expansive footprint of our Federal forests and 
                woodlands, this order initiates the formation of the 
                United States One Trillion Trees Interagency Council to 
                further the Federal Government's contribution to the 
                global effort.

                Sec. 2. United States One Trillion Trees Interagency 
                Council. There is hereby established a United States 
                One Trillion Trees Interagency Council (Council). The 
                Council shall be charged with developing, coordinating, 
                and promoting Federal Government interactions with the 
                Initiative with respect to tree growing, restoration, 
                and conservation, and with coordinating with key 
                stakeholders to help advance the Initiative. The 
                Council shall remain independent from the Initiative.

                The Council shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of the 
                Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, or by their 
                designees (Co-Chairs). The Assistant to the President 
                for Economic Policy and the Assistant to the President 
                and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination, or 
                their designees, shall serve as Vice Chairs.

                    (a) Membership. In addition to the Co-Chairs and 
                Vice Chairs, the Council shall consist of the following 
                officials or their designees:

[[Page 65644]]

(i) the Secretary of State;

(ii) the Secretary of the Treasury;

(iii) the Secretary of Defense;

(iv) the Secretary of Commerce;

(v) the Secretary of Labor;

(vi) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(vii) the Secretary of Transportation;

(viii) the Secretary of Energy;

(ix) the Secretary of Education;

(x) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;

(xi) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

(xii) the Senior Advisor to the President;

(xiii) the Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Economic 
Initiatives and Entrepreneurship;

(xiv) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;

(xv) the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality;

(xvi) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;

(xvii) the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development;

(xviii) the Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental 
Affairs;

(xix) the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works); and

(xx) the heads of such other executive departments and Federal land 
management agencies (agencies) and offices as the President, Co-Chairs, or 
Vice Chairs may, from time to time, designate or invite, as appropriate.

                    (b) Administration. The Co-Chairs, in consultation 
                with the Vice Chairs, shall convene meetings of the 
                Council and direct its work. The Co-Chairs shall keep 
                the Council apprised of all Federal efforts related to 
                the subject of this order. The Co-Chairs and members of 
                the Council shall also coordinate with the Vice Chairs 
                on communications with the Initiative and related 
                parties regarding any Federal Government interactions 
                with the Initiative.

                Sec. 3. Agency Roles and Responsibilities. All members 
                of the Council who are heads of agencies shall:

                    (a) include Council-related activities within their 
                respective strategic planning processes; and
                    (b) provide to the Co-Chairs, Vice Chairs, and the 
                Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
                pursuant to the Council protocol established under 
                section 4(e) of this order, regular progress reports on 
                their respective agencies' activities, if any, relating 
                to the growth, restoration, and conservation of trees.

                Sec. 4. Council Mission and Functions. The mission of 
                the Council shall be to promote an increase in Federal 
                Government activities and other national efforts that 
                further the Initiative by growing, restoring, and 
                conserving trees. The Council shall:

                    (a) develop and implement a strategy that includes 
                a methodology that the Federal Government will use to 
                track and measure any Federal activities related to the 
                Initiative, specifically with respect to trees grown, 
                restored, and conserved;
                    (b) identify statutory, regulatory, and other 
                limitations that inhibit the Federal Government from 
                taking additional actions in furtherance of the 
                Initiative, and recommend potential administrative and 
                legislative actions to remedy such limitations;

[[Page 65645]]

                    (c) identify opportunities to use existing 
                authorities and existing or future authorized and 
                appropriated funds to promote efforts to protect and 
                restore trees, and to promote the active management of 
                existing Federal lands to facilitate growth, 
                restoration, and conservation of trees;
                    (d) inform State, local, and tribal officials of 
                Federal efforts to protect, grow, and actively manage 
                forests and woodlands on Federal lands; and
                    (e) establish a protocol for the submission by 
                members of the Council who are heads of agencies of 
                regular progress reports to the Co-Chairs, Vice Chairs, 
                and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
                on the activities, if any, of these members' respective 
                agencies relating to the growth, restoration, and 
                conservation of trees.

                Sec. 5. Termination. The Council shall terminate on 
                December 31, 2030.

                Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    October 13, 2020.

[FR Doc. 2020-23115
Filed 10-15-20; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P