Environment

States serve as environmental stewards through their roles in managing state parks and forests, outdoor recreation facilities, energy production and distribution, water resources, waste management, and the elimination of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other forever chemicals. States also directly affect natural resources through their preservation and conservation strategies. To be effective environmental stewards, states must seek to balance efforts to maintain a healthy environment with efforts to develop and utilize natural resources.

Latest

Congressional Briefing on Environmental Protection

On April 10, 2024, NGA’s Economic Development and Revitalization Task Force and the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) hosted a Congressional briefing to educate Congressional staff, Administration officials, and ...

Leveraging Outdoor Assets in the Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

On Wednesday, December 13th NGA hosted its fourth and final webinar in a four-part series highlighting innovative and replicable projects that are funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Travel, ...

Advancing Equity in the Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

On Wednesday, September 27th NGA hosted its third webinar in a four-part series highlighting innovative and replicable projects that are funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Travel, Tourism and ...

Governors Urge Congress to Address Water Infrastructure Funding Cuts

The Co-Chairs of the National Governors Association's Economic Development and Revitalization Task Force wrote a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to mitigate further funding cuts to water infrastructure projects ...

Innovative Workforce Development Programs for the Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Sectors

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices held a webinar on Thursday, June 22, 1:00-2:00 EST for members of our Economic Development and Outdoor Recreation Networks to learn about ...

Cleaning Up America’s Nuclear Weapons Complex: 2023 Update for Governors

Since the 1992 enactment of the Federal Facilities Compliance Act, the U.S. Department of Energy Office and states have worked together to clean up the nuclear weapons complex. (Download) Executive ...

Jessica Rackley, Program Director
Henry Ashley, Policy Coordinator

Projects

Outdoor Recreation Learning Network

The NGA Outdoor Recreation Learning Network and Economic Policy teams are working with state recreation and economic policy networks and the Oregon State University’s Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy (CORE) to gather and analyze data in order to study the effectiveness of Economic Development Administration Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (TTOR) grants.

Travel, Tourism And Outdoor Recreation

State Energy Toolkit

The toolkit offers ideas to help governors respond to trends as they take action in their states in four areas — energy efficiency, clean energy, transportation electrification, and cyber and physical protection.

Federal Facilities Task Force

The mission of the FFTF is to bring together governor-designated representatives with U.S. Department of Energy officials to examine critical technical, policy and budget issues and improve coordination of major program decisions on a range of issues related to radioactive material and waste.

NGA Resources

States serve as environmental stewards through their roles in managing state parks and forests, energy production and distribution, wildlife protection, land use and waste management. States also directly affect natural resources through their preservation and conservation strategies. To be effective environmental stewards, states must seek to balance efforts to maintain a healthy environment with efforts to develop and utilize natural resources.

Advancing the Energy-Water Nexus: How Governors Can Bridge Their Conservation Goals

Energy and water are critical resources that rely on each other to be extracted, transported and used. However, because states typically regulate energy and water separately, they can miss opportunities ...

Vessel Incidental Discharge

The Honorable Mitch McConnell Majority Leader United States Senate U.S. Capitol Building, Room S-230 Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Charles Schumer Minority Leader United States Senate U.S. Capitol Building, Room ...

Setting Site-Specific Priorities in the Federal Budget Process for Cleanup of Nuclear Weapons Waste

Opportunities for State Engagement Sufficient federal funding to clean up the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is a priority for states that host or are affected by the 17 sites still ...

Setting Site-Specific Priorities in the Federal Budget Process for Cleanup of Nuclear Weapons Waste: Opportunities for State Engagement

This issue brief focuses on the opportunities for state engagement at each stage of the budget process and suggests how states can ensure that site budgets incorporate state input and ...

Governors Concentrate on Water Conservation, Quality

WASHINGTON—The National Governors Association today (NGA) announced California Gov. Edmund G. Brown and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will serve as co-chairs of the new NGA Center for Best Practices’ Water Policy Learning Network. The ...

Endangered Species Act

The Honorable John Barrasso Chairman Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Thomas R. Carper Ranking Member Committee on Environment and Public Works ...

States Advance Energy Goals Through New NGA Opportunity

The National Governors Association (NGA) today announced that five states— Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington—will participate in a state retreat to help them explore innovative policies and programs to reduce energy costs and ...

Environmental Protection

1.1 Preamble The nation’s governors are committed to protecting public health and conserving the environment for the American people. The future success of environmental protection and remediation efforts depends upon ...

Natural Resources

3.1 Preamble The nation’s governors are concerned about the growing challenges facing both state and federal agencies in managing and protecting our natural resources. As the United States’ diverse population ...