diff --git a/config/job_conf.xml.sample_advanced b/config/job_conf.xml.sample_advanced
index 3a659bacbf23..3aecbe246a27 100644
--- a/config/job_conf.xml.sample_advanced
+++ b/config/job_conf.xml.sample_advanced
@@ -283,7 +283,11 @@
             <param id="insecure">true</param>
             <!-- True to communicate with Chronos over HTTPS; false otherwise-->
         </plugin>
-
+        <!-- Additionally any plugin or destination (below) may define an "enabled" parameter that should
+             evaluate to True or False. When setup using
+                 <param id="enabled" from_environ="<VAR>">DEFAULT</param>
+             plugins and destinations can be conditionally loaded using environment variables.
+        -->
     </plugins>
     <handlers default="handlers">
         <!-- Additional job handlers - the id should match the name of a
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/jobs/__init__.py b/lib/galaxy/jobs/__init__.py
index 9383418d5d26..6c7747152e51 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/jobs/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/jobs/__init__.py
@@ -180,6 +180,8 @@ def __parse_job_conf_xml(self, tree):
                 if plugin.get('type') == 'runner':
                     workers = plugin.get('workers', plugins.get('workers', JobConfiguration.DEFAULT_NWORKERS))
                     runner_kwds = self.__get_params(plugin)
+                    if not self.__is_enabled(runner_kwds):
+                        continue
                     runner_info = dict(id=plugin.get('id'),
                                        load=plugin.get('load'),
                                        workers=int(workers),
@@ -223,7 +225,11 @@ def __parse_job_conf_xml(self, tree):
                 if metrics_elements:
                     job_metrics.set_destination_conf_element( id, metrics_elements[ 0 ] )
             job_destination = JobDestination(**dict(destination.items()))
-            job_destination['params'] = self.__get_params(destination)
+            params = self.__get_params(destination)
+            if not self.__is_enabled(params):
+                continue
+
+            job_destination['params'] = params
             job_destination['env'] = self.__get_envs(destination)
             destination_resubmits = self.__get_resubmits(destination)
             if destination_resubmits:
@@ -490,6 +496,15 @@ def __get_resubmits(self, parent):
             ) )
         return rval
 
+    def __is_enabled(self, params):
+        """Check for an enabled parameter - pop it out - and return as boolean."""
+        enabled = True
+        if "enabled" in params:
+            raw_enabled = params.pop("enabled")
+            enabled = util.asbool(raw_enabled)
+
+        return enabled
+
     @property
     def default_job_tool_configuration(self):
         """
diff --git a/test/unit/jobs/conditional_runners_job_conf.xml b/test/unit/jobs/conditional_runners_job_conf.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a0a261fa348c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/jobs/conditional_runners_job_conf.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<!-- A sample job config that explicitly configures job running the way it is configured by default (if there is no explicit config). -->
+<job_conf>
+    <plugins>
+        <plugin id="local" type="runner" load="galaxy.jobs.runners.local:LocalJobRunner" workers="4"/>
+        <plugin id="local2" type="runner" load="galaxy.jobs.runners.local:LocalJobRunner" workers="4">
+        	<param id="enabled" from_environ="LOCAL2_ENABLED">True</param>
+        </plugin>
+        <plugin id="local3" type="runner" load="galaxy.jobs.runners.local:LocalJobRunner" workers="4">
+        	<param id="enabled" from_environ="LOCAL3_ENABLED">False</param>
+        </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+    <handlers>
+        <handler id="main"/>
+    </handlers>
+    <destinations default="local">
+        <destination id="local" runner="local"/>
+        <destination id="local2_dest" runner="local2">
+        	<param id="enabled" from_environ="LOCAL2_ENABLED">True</param>
+		</destination>
+		<destination id="local3_dest" runner="local3">
+        	<param id="enabled" from_environ="LOCAL3_ENABLED">False</param>
+        </destination>
+    </destinations>
+</job_conf>
diff --git a/test/unit/jobs/test_job_configuration.py b/test/unit/jobs/test_job_configuration.py
index ec19701b1584..f95bc6f8616c 100644
--- a/test/unit/jobs/test_job_configuration.py
+++ b/test/unit/jobs/test_job_configuration.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 # there are advantages to testing the documentation/examples.
 SIMPLE_JOB_CONF = os.path.join( os.path.dirname( __file__ ), "..", "..", "..", "config", "job_conf.xml.sample_basic" )
 ADVANCED_JOB_CONF = os.path.join( os.path.dirname( __file__ ), "..", "..", "..", "config", "job_conf.xml.sample_advanced" )
+CONDITIONAL_RUNNER_JOB_CONF = os.path.join( os.path.dirname( __file__ ), "conditional_runners_job_conf.xml" )
 
 
 class JobConfXmlParserTestCase( unittest.TestCase ):
@@ -27,9 +28,11 @@ def setUp( self ):
         self.__write_config_from( SIMPLE_JOB_CONF )
         self.app = bunch.Bunch( config=self.config, job_metrics=MockJobMetrics() )
         self.__job_configuration = None
+        self.__original_environ = os.environ.copy()
 
     def tearDown( self ):
         shutil.rmtree( self.temp_directory )
+        os.environ = self.__original_environ
 
     def test_load_simple_runner( self ):
         runner_plugin = self.job_config.runner_plugins[ 0 ]
@@ -137,6 +140,27 @@ def test_macro_expansion( self ):
         for name in ["foo_small", "foo_medium", "foo_large", "foo_longrunning"]:
             assert self.job_config.destinations[ name ]
 
+    def test_conditional_runners( self ):
+        self.__write_config_from( CONDITIONAL_RUNNER_JOB_CONF )
+        runner_ids = [ r[ "id" ] for r in self.job_config.runner_plugins ]
+        assert "local2" in runner_ids
+        assert "local3" not in runner_ids
+
+        assert "local2_dest" in self.job_config.destinations
+        assert "local3_dest" not in self.job_config.destinations
+
+    def test_conditional_runners_from_environ( self ):
+        self.__write_config_from( CONDITIONAL_RUNNER_JOB_CONF )
+        os.environ["LOCAL2_ENABLED"] = "False"
+        os.environ["LOCAL3_ENABLED"] = "True"
+
+        runner_ids = [ r[ "id" ] for r in self.job_config.runner_plugins ]
+        assert "local2" not in runner_ids
+        assert "local3" in runner_ids
+
+        assert "local2_dest" not in self.job_config.destinations
+        assert "local3_dest" in self.job_config.destinations
+
     # TODO: Add job metrics parsing test.
 
     @property