"As BP prepares to launch its latest effort to plug the oil leak in the gulf, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the agency will be split into three arms to oversee leasing, safety and royalties."

"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday he has named two high-level officials to oversee a restructuring of an agency that oversees offshore drilling."

"The Obama administration on Tuesday proposed breaking up the agency responsible for both policing the oil industry and acting as its partner in drilling activities, seeking to end a decades-old relationship between industry and government that has proved highly profitable -- and some say too cozy -- for both."

"President Obama launched the America's Great Outdoors initiative Friday, an attempt to reshape U.S. conservation policy at a time when the nation is facing new environmental threats but the government is hard-pressed to afford new spending programs."

"Interior Department policies don't ensure accurate measurement of oil and gas production on federal leases that generates billions of dollars in royalty payments each year, according to a government audit released today."

Mine safety experts are questioning the appointment of Norman Page to head the MSHA investigation into the Massey mine disaster. As an MSHA inspector, Page oversaw faulty inspections that led to a mine explosion that killed 5 people in 2006.

"Designs for the first five 'America the Beautiful' quarters were unveiled today, featuring America's four oldest national parks -- Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon - and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon."

"No federal health agency changed more during the Bush administration than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It got new buildings, new managers and an entirely new operating structure."

"The role of the White House Office of Management and Budget in federal rulemaking is expected to come under scrutiny [Tuesday] as a House panel investigates the regulatory process."

"Aides from the two House committees with jurisdiction over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working together to draft legislation to overhaul and authorize the agency for the first time, according to House Science Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.)."

"The Interior Department is beefing up efforts to ensure companies are paying the royalties they owe from producing energy on federal lands."

"Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) is poised to take the chairmanship of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, as current Chairman Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) is expected to move over to the coveted Defense subpanel."

President Obama's $3.8 trillion fiscal 2011 budget proposal, released Feb. 1, funds private nuclear plants, Great Lakes and Chesapeake cleanup, and acquisition of land for conservation. It cuts Yucca Mountain, fossil subsidies, and EPA. It still hopes to get revenue from cap-and-trade ... and affects the environment in myriad other ways.

"Jared Blumenfeld, the newly appointed director of the U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest region, Region 9, is pledging to make life difficult for polluters, especially those who despoil the environment in underserved and vulnerable communities."

"The federal agency's internal investigation will run concurrently with a state and local inquiry into health and environmental issues facing Kettleman City, Calif."