Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Commitment To Create More Equitable Access To Parks And Nature

As part of the President’s America the Beautiful initiative, the Biden-Harris Administration celebrated the signing of the “United States Government Interagency Memorandum of Understanding on Promoting Equitable Access to Nature in Nature- Deprived Communities” by 10 Federal departments and agencies. This effort focuses on strengthening investments in communities who have been locked out of the benefits nature provides to ensure all Americans can benefit from safe parks, natural areas, and waterways where they live, work, and play by expanding access to local parks, tree canopy cover, conservation areas, open space and water-based recreation, public gardens, beaches, and waterways, which the memorandum identifies as “parks and green and blue spaces.”

Today, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory, and Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Michael D. Smith will hold an event at the Benning Stoddert Recreation Center in Washington, DC to celebrate the signing of the memorandum to improve access to parks and green and blue spaces in areas that have historically not been afforded the benefits from these spaces. They will be joined by Federal and community leaders for a roundtable discussion on strategies moving forward to accomplish the goals set forth in the agreement, followed by a tree planting event.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) will convene the newly formed interagency group, named the Nature in Communities Committee, with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, AmeriCorps, and the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Army, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Homeland Security. These Federal departments and agencies have committed to collaborate with and learn from each other, and support local leaders’ efforts to improve access to nature and create, expand, steward, and conserve natural spaces for all Americans.

The Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Report, issued in May 2021 consistent with the President’s Executive Order 14008, highlighted a need for Federal agencies to place a greater focus on supporting nature-deprived communities that have disproportionately less access to nature’s public health and climate benefits, including the benefits that nature can provide in mitigating extreme heat and flooding. The report noted that the burdens associated with a lack of access to nature do not fall evenly on all people, and that an estimated 100 million Americans do not have an accessible park within a ten-minute walk of their homes. The Nature in Communities Committee will focus on strategies that help alleviate the burdens of legacy pollution and growing impacts of climate change while also supporting local economies.

More than 30 existing Federal programs can be deployed to support locally-led park system planning and safety, public transit improvements, planting of public trees and gardens, schoolyard greening, expansion of water access, educational programing, and jobs that promote safe, welcoming outdoor experiences. Collaboration under the agreement will knit together existing programs, partnerships, and coalitions, allowing Federal, State, Tribal, Territorial, local, and private entities to find synergies and coordinate across regions and in communities. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act will also supercharge these efforts with more than $12.4 billion in funds that can be accessed by nature-deprived communities to promote access to parks and green and blue spaces such as acquiring new park space, planting and caring for more trees, improving neighborhood access and equity, reducing urban heat islands, and expanding natural and nature-based infrastructure across the country.

Together, these investments will advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which will deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of climate and clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities. In total, hundreds of Federal programs, including those established or bolstered by the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, represent historic investments that are being reimagined and transformed to meet the Justice40 goal and maximize benefits to disadvantaged communities.

The Nature in Communities Committee will hold its first meeting before the end of the year and work on establishing a framework for implementation that will result in greater access to nature and its benefits for nature-deprived communities. The Committee will achieve these outcomes through existing programs and technical information.

The Administration’s efforts will build on and broaden existing Federal programs and initiatives such as:

• Urban Waters Federal Partnership: This existing partnership among Federal agencies — led by the Environmental Protection Agency — helps to reconnect overburdened or economically distressed communities with their waterways by improving coordination and collaboration with community-led revitalization efforts and promote their economic, environmental, and social benefits. Currently in 20 communities, the partnership plans to double that number, expand its Learning Network and utilize U.S. Geological Survey Cooperative Matching Funds, which are designated by Congress and can be used for water quality projects in any Urban Waters locations.

• Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership: This program, administered by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service, was established in 2014 and funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It is a nationally competitive program targeting grant assistance to help economically disadvantaged urban communities acquire and/or create, or substantially renovate, public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces. In July, the Department of the Interior announced that $192 million will be distributed to local communities through the program.

• AmeriCorps National Service: Through its many programs, AmeriCorps members, volunteers, and partners support nature-deprived communities by creating and maintaining city parks and greenspaces, improving stormwater management, and maintaining urban farms to increase economic opportunity. The agency also works with state and local partners help communities prepare for and recover from natural disasters.

• Urban Wildlife Conservation Program Partnerships: This program of the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service improves lives by expanding access to green space, education, and outdoor recreation for Americans living in and around cities. With more than 100 national wildlife refuges located within 25 miles of urban areas, the program was created to improve access to nature for Americans who live in or near cities. The program also fosters long-term partnerships with historically marginalized communities to address racial inequality in conservation.

Read the full article from the White House Fact Sheet here.