The cooperating agency role derives from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), which called on federal, state, and local governments to cooperate with the goal of achieving “productive harmony” between humans and their environment.

The Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations implementing NEPA allow federal agencies (as lead agencies) to invite tribal, state, and local governments, as well as other federal agencies, to serve as cooperating agencies in the preparation of environmental impact statements.

Over the years, the BLM has established many productive cooperating agency relationships under informal policy. Our partners have rendered invaluable assistance to the BLM during planning and managing efforts that cover more than 260 million acres of public land in our nation.

In 2005 the BLM amended its planning regulations to ensure that staffs at all levels – state office or field office – engage their governmental partners consistently and effectively through the cooperating agency relationship whenever land use plans are prepared or revised.

The BLM is the first federal agency to promulgate regulations that establish a consistent, permanent role for cooperating agencies. We believe that by working closely with our state, local, tribal and federal government partners, we will improve communication and understanding, identify common goals and objectives, and enhance the quality of our management of the public lands.

These regulations demonstrate the strong commitment to the letter and spirit of President Bush’s Executive Order on Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation, which recognizes that “local cooperation is critical to ensuring successful, effective, and long-lasting conservation results.”

On this site you will find links to the BLM’s Desk Guide to Cooperating Agency Relationships and associated documents. For further information, please contact Rob Winthrop, Planning and Science Support Group (202-785-6597), or Cynthia Moses-Nedd, Intergovernmental Affairs Group (202-452-5114), at the BLM Washington Office.

• Presidential Executive Order: Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation (20KB PDF)
• A Desk Guide to Cooperating Agency Relationships 2005 (990KB PDF)
  This file is also available in a text-only format.
• News Releases
  • Interior Department Managers to Work with States, Counties, Tribes in Early Stages of Environmental Studies, 6/10/2005 DOI
  • New Rule Change to Give States, Counties and Tribes Active Role in Land-use Planning Decisions, 3/16/2005 DOI
  • BLM Strengthens Role of Local, State, and Tribal Partners in Planning, 3/10/04 BLM
  • Interior Secretary Norton Encourages Cooperative Approach Towards Environmental Decision-Making, 7/19/2004 NACo (20KB PDF)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Federal Register Notice--Final Rule on Cooperating Agency Relationships (600KB PDF)
• The Revised BLM Land Use Planning Handbook (1.7MB PDF)
• a sample MOU
• Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
• CEQ Memorandum on Cooperating Agencies Implementing NEPA
• Excerpt from CEQ's Forty Most Asked Questions about NEPA
  (see Question 14 on Cooperating Agency Relationships)

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