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Mission
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Goals
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Program Coordination
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Economic Analysis
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International Affairs
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International Trade
Examples
of Current Programs:
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Conservation Grants Coordination
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The Adaptive Management Working Group
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E.O. 12866 Guidelines
Mission
The Office of Policy Analysis undertakes analytic, coordination,
and review functions on priority issues to provide support to the
Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, and bureaus in order to furnish
them with accurate information and help define alternatives for
effective decision making. Our broad-scale,
inter-disciplinary, bureau-neutral approach helps top managers to
reach decisions on policies, programs, legislation, and resource
allocation.
Goals
Our goals are (1) to provide
the Office of the Secretary with the support that is necessary to
coordinate issues and policies, and (2) to aid the Secretary in
maintaining a department comprised of diverse agencies that have
often contradictory viewpoints. We strive to promote a
coherent departmental voice, and balance Administrative and
Departmental perspectives with competing priorities of the bureaus
and their constituents. The Office of Policy Analysis
provides the Secretary with an independent view at issues that
have regional, national, and international ramifications.
Program Coordination
A major function of the Office
of Policy Analysis is to provide program coordination when a
bureau-neutral voice needs to be present in Interior policy
development, program implementation, or program review. We
receive such assignments from the Secretariat.
We provide staff time and
expertise to broad-reaching Interior programs that involve many
stakeholders both within and outside Interior, and issues that
have broad-reaching implications for Interior's operations. An
example of such an issue is the streamlining of the hydropower
relicensing process, involving five Interior bureaus, several
government agencies outside Interior, non-government entities who
are concerned about the environmental implications for the land
and wildlife affected by the hydropower dams, and hydropower
facility operators who are interested in producing power from the
hydropower dams. Other areas of work include the
Adaptive Management Working
Group (see
below),
Recreational Fee Program,
Land Appraisal Reform
(press
release),
Law Enforcement Reform, and
International Trade.
We also provide
guidance to the
Interior bureaus regarding the information collection requirements
of the Paperwork Reduction Act, and are responsible for
Departmental review and clearance of all surveys, forms, and
regulations of the bureaus that require information from the
public.
Economic
Analysis
The Office of Policy Analysis
offers economics expertise to aid Departmental decision makers in
policy formation, analysis, and evaluations. Staff economists
typically work on specific projects such as: development of
environmental indicators;
natural resource damage assessments;
hydropower relicensing; reviewing regulatory impact analyses;
benefit-cost analysis of particular projects or activities (see
implementation of Executive Order 12866
and the Office of Management and Budget’s
Circular No. A-4 and
Circular No. A-94);
or recreation fees.
International Affairs
International Affairs
coordinates and reviews Interior-related agreements with foreign
countries, serves as a point of contact for other Federal agencies
on Interior-related international issues, coordinates foreign
travel of Interior employees, provides reimbursable technical
assistance on subjects of Interior expertise for the State
Department, and staffs the annual cabinet-level U.S.-Mexico
Bi-National Committee meeting.
International Trade
The Office of Policy Analysis provides analysis and advice to
senior management and represents the Department in interagency
discussions on trade policy issues relevant to Interior. We supply
information and analysis to help craft US trade policies and
agreements that take account of relevant Departmental and bureau
mandates and responsibilities.
Upon request, our staff serve on US delegations to
intergovernmental negotiations, providing agency expertise and
views to help negotiate beneficial outcomes for the US where
negotiations involve issues on which Interior has expertise. We
also coordinate Interior’s contribution to environmental reviews
of proposed trade agreements, working with experts from the
bureaus to analyze potential impact from trade agreements on
environmental issues relevant to the Department such as migratory
species, endangered species, invasive species and wildlife trade.
Examples of
Current Programs:
Conservation Grants Coordination
The Office of Policy Analysis led a review of conservation grant coordination by a
workgroup of conservation grant and cooperative agreement experts from Interior’s bureaus and offices.
A major product of this review is “Departmental Guidance: Conservation Grant Coordination” .
The Guidance is a brief one and a half page document directed at employees of Interior bureaus and offices.
Supporting the Guidance is a
Supplement that identifies key grant and cooperative agreement programs, details
their criteria, and provides a list of key conservation priorities around which coordination might occur
under the detailed criteria.
The Guidance is a non-prescriptive tool for financial assistance decisionmakers.
Its purpose is to help identify synergies among grant and cooperative agreement programs and the key conservation
priorities in order to maximize existing funds and achieve better conservation outcomes. The Guidance does not affect
any rule and policy relating to grants and cooperative agreements; for example, specific rules for each program and the
new policy on grants and cooperative agreements at 505 DM 2 remain in full force.
The Adaptive Management Working Group
The Office of Policy Analysis staffs the Assistant Secretary - Policy, Management, and Budget
who chairs Interior's Adaptive Management Working Group, which includes representatives of Interior's
bureaus and offices, in developing an Adaptive Management guidebook, training programs, and web site.
The Working Group's Products will include:
- Providing an operational Adaptive Management definition;
- Identifying the conditions appropriate for using Adaptive Management;
- Describing a process for using Adaptive Management;
- Identifying legal considerations
- Describing a process for evaluating the effectiveness of Adaptive Management; and
- Providing Adaptive Management case studies.
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