[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 35903-35907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14946]
[[Page 35901]]
Vol. 79
Tuesday,
No. 121
June 24, 2014
Part IV
The President
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Memorandum of June 20, 2014--Creating a Federal Strategy To Promote the
Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators
Notice of June 20, 2014--Continuation of the National Emergency With
Respect to North Korea
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 121 / Tuesday, June 24, 2014 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 35903]]
Memorandum of June 20, 2014
Creating a Federal Strategy To Promote the Health
of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators
Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies
Pollinators contribute substantially to the economy of
the United States and are vital to keeping fruits,
nuts, and vegetables in our diets. Honey bee
pollination alone adds more than $15 billion in value
to agricultural crops each year in the United States.
Over the past few decades, there has been a significant
loss of pollinators, including honey bees, native bees,
birds, bats, and butterflies, from the environment. The
problem is serious and requires immediate attention to
ensure the sustainability of our food production
systems, avoid additional economic impact on the
agricultural sector, and protect the health of the
environment.
Pollinator losses have been severe. The number of
migrating Monarch butterflies sank to the lowest
recorded population level in 2013-14, and there is an
imminent risk of failed migration. The continued loss
of commercial honey bee colonies poses a threat to the
economic stability of commercial beekeeping and
pollination operations in the United States, which
could have profound implications for agriculture and
food. Severe yearly declines create concern that bee
colony losses could reach a point from which the
commercial pollination industry would not be able to
adequately recover. The loss of native bees, which also
play a key role in pollination of crops, is much less
studied, but many native bee species are believed to be
in decline. Scientists believe that bee losses are
likely caused by a combination of stressors, including
poor bee nutrition, loss of forage lands, parasites,
pathogens, lack of genetic diversity, and exposure to
pesticides.
Given the breadth, severity, and persistence of
pollinator losses, it is critical to expand Federal
efforts and take new steps to reverse pollinator losses
and help restore populations to healthy levels. These
steps should include the development of new public-
private partnerships and increased citizen engagement.
Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President
by the Constitution and the laws of the United States
of America, I hereby direct the following:
Section 1. Establishing the Pollinator Health Task
Force. There is hereby established the Pollinator
Health Task Force (Task Force), to be co-chaired by the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to the Co-
Chairs, the Task Force shall also include the heads, or
their designated representatives, from:
(a) the Department of State;
(b) the Department of Defense;
(c) the Department of the Interior;
(d) the Department of Housing and Urban
Development;
(e) the Department of Transportation;
(f) the Department of Energy;
(g) the Department of Education;
(h) the Council on Environmental Quality;
(i) the Domestic Policy Council;
[[Page 35904]]
(j) the General Services Administration;
(k) the National Science Foundation;
(l) the National Security Council Staff;
(m) the Office of Management and Budget;
(n) the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
and
(o) such executive departments, agencies, and
offices as the Co-Chairs may designate.
Sec. 2. Mission and Function of the Task Force. Within
180 days of the date of this memorandum, the Task Force
shall develop a National Pollinator Health Strategy
(Strategy), which shall include explicit goals,
milestones, and metrics to measure progress. The
Strategy shall include the following components:
(a) Pollinator Research Action Plan. The Strategy
shall include an Action Plan (Plan) to focus Federal
efforts on understanding, preventing, and recovering
from pollinator losses. The Plan shall be informed by
research on relevant topics and include:
(i) studies of the health of managed honey bees and native bees, including
longitudinal studies, to determine the relative contributions of, and
mitigation strategies for, different stressors leading to species declines
and colony collapse disorder, including exposure to pesticides, poor
nutrition, parasites and other pests, toxins, loss of habitat and reduced
natural forage, pathogens, and unsustainable management practices;
(ii) plans for expanded collection and sharing of data related to
pollinator losses, technologies for continuous monitoring of honey bee hive
health, and use of public-private partnerships, as appropriate, to provide
information on the status and trends of managed hive losses;
(iii) assessments of the status of native pollinators, including the
Monarch butterfly and bees, and modeling of native pollinator populations
and habitats;
(iv) strategies for developing affordable seed mixes, including native
pollinator-friendly plants, for maintenance of honey bees and other
pollinators, and guidelines for and evaluations of the effectiveness of
using pollinator-friendly seed mixes for restoration and reclamation
projects;
(v) identification of existing and new methods and best practices to reduce
pollinator exposure to pesticides, and new cost-effective ways to control
bee pests and diseases; and
(vi) strategies for targeting resources toward areas of high risk and
restoration potential and prioritizing plans for restoration of pollinator
habitat, based on those areas that will yield the greatest expected net
benefits.
(b) Public Education Plan. The Strategy shall
include plans for expanding and coordinating public
education programs outlining steps individuals and
businesses can take to help address the loss of
pollinators. It shall also include recommendations for
a coordinated public education campaign aimed at
individuals, corporations, small businesses, schools,
libraries, and museums to significantly increase public
awareness of the importance of pollinators and the
steps that can be taken to protect them.
(c) Public-Private Partnerships. The Strategy shall
include recommendations for developing public-private
partnerships to build on Federal efforts to encourage
the protection of pollinators and increase the quality
and amount of habitat and forage for pollinators. In
developing this part of the Strategy, the Task Force
shall consult with external stakeholders, including
State, tribal, and local governments, farmers,
corporations, and nongovernmental organizations.
(d) Task Force member agencies shall report
regularly to the Task Force on their efforts to
implement section 3 of this memorandum.
Sec. 3. Increasing and Improving Pollinator Habitat.
Unless otherwise specified, within 180 days of the date
of this memorandum:
[[Page 35905]]
(a) Task Force member agencies shall develop and
provide to the Task Force plans to enhance pollinator
habitat, and subsequently implement, as appropriate,
such plans on their managed lands and facilities,
consistent with their missions and public safety. These
plans may include: facility landscaping, including
easements; land management; policies with respect to
road and other rights-of-way; educational gardens; use
of integrated vegetation and pest management; increased
native vegetation; and application of pollinator-
friendly best management practices and seed mixes. Task
Force member agencies shall also review any new or
renewing land management contracts and grants for the
opportunity to include requirements for enhancing
pollinator habitat.
(b) Task Force member agencies shall evaluate
permit and management practices on power line,
pipeline, utility, and other rights-of-way and
easements, and, consistent with applicable law, make
any necessary and appropriate changes to enhance
pollinator habitat on Federal lands through the use of
integrated vegetation and pest management and
pollinator-friendly best management practices, and by
supplementing existing agreements and memoranda of
understanding with rights-of-way holders, where
appropriate, to establish and improve pollinator
habitat.
(c) Task Force member agencies shall incorporate
pollinator health as a component of all future
restoration and reclamation projects, as appropriate,
including all annual restoration plans.
(d) The Council on Environmental Quality and the
General Services Administration shall, within 90 days
of the date of this memorandum, revise their respective
guidance documents for designed landscapes and public
buildings to incorporate, as appropriate, pollinator-
friendly practices into site landscape performance
requirements to create and maintain high quality
habitats for pollinators. Future landscaping projects
at all Federal facilities shall, to the maximum extent
appropriate, use plants beneficial to pollinators.
(e) The Departments of Agriculture and the Interior
shall, within 90 days of the date of this memorandum,
develop best management practices for executive
departments and agencies to enhance pollinator habitat
on Federal lands.
(f) The Departments of Agriculture and the Interior
shall establish a reserve of native seed mixes,
including pollinator-friendly plants, for use on post-
fire rehabilitation projects and other restoration
activities.
(g) The Department of Agriculture shall, as
appropriate and consistent with applicable law,
substantially increase both the acreage and forage
value of pollinator habitat in the Department's
conservation programs, including the Conservation
Reserve Program, and provide technical assistance,
through collaboration with the land-grant university-
based cooperative extension services, to executive
departments and agencies, State, local, and tribal
governments, and other entities and individuals,
including farmers and ranchers, in planting the most
suitable pollinator-friendly habitats.
(h) The Department of the Interior shall assist
States and State wildlife organizations, as
appropriate, in identifying and implementing projects
to conserve pollinators at risk of endangerment and
further pollinator conservation through the revision
and implementation of individual State Wildlife Action
Plans. The Department of the Interior shall, upon
request, provide technical support for these efforts,
and keep the Task Force apprised of such
collaborations.
(i) The Department of Transportation shall evaluate
its current guidance for grantees and informational
resources to identify opportunities to increase
pollinator habitat along roadways and implement
improvements, as appropriate. The Department of
Transportation shall work with State Departments of
Transportation and transportation associations to
promote pollinator-friendly practices and corridors.
The Department of Transportation shall
[[Page 35906]]
evaluate opportunities to make railways, pipelines, and
transportation facilities that are privately owned and
operated aware of the need to increase pollinator
habitat.
(j) The Department of Defense shall, consistent
with law and the availability of appropriations,
support habitat restoration projects for pollinators,
and shall direct military service installations to use,
when possible, pollinator-friendly native landscaping
and minimize use of pesticides harmful to pollinators
through integrated vegetation and pest management
practices.
(k) The Army Corps of Engineers shall incorporate
conservation practices for pollinator habitat
improvement on the 12 million acres of lands and waters
at resource development projects across the country, as
appropriate.
(l) The Environmental Protection Agency shall
assess the effect of pesticides, including
neonicotinoids, on bee and other pollinator health and
take action, as appropriate, to protect pollinators;
engage State and tribal environmental, agricultural,
and wildlife agencies in the development of State and
tribal pollinator protection plans; encourage the
incorporation of pollinator protection and habitat
planting activities into green infrastructure and
Superfund projects; and expedite review of registration
applications for new products targeting pests harmful
to pollinators.
(m) Executive departments and agencies shall, as
appropriate, take immediate measures to support
pollinators during the 2014 growing season and
thereafter. These measures may include planting
pollinator-friendly vegetation and increasing flower
diversity in plantings, limiting mowing practices, and
avoiding the use of pesticides in sensitive pollinator
habitats through integrated vegetation and pest
management practices.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This memorandum shall
be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.
(b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to any 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.
(c) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed
to require the disclosure of confidential business
information or trade secrets, classified information,
law enforcement sensitive information, or other
information that must be protected in the interest of
national security or public safety.
(d) This memorandum 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.
[[Page 35907]]
(e) The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby
authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in
the Federal Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, June 20, 2014
[FR Doc. 2014-14946
Filed 6-23-14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3410-10