98-32915. International Joint Commission, Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68496-68497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32915]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2942]


International Joint Commission, Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909

    The United States and Canadian federal governments have asked the 
International Joint Commission (IJC) to further examine the 
international watershed approach as a mechanism to anticipate and 
respond to the range of water-related and other environmental 
challenges that are expected to occur as we enter the 21st century.
    In its report to Governments, The IJC and the 21st century, the IJC 
proposed the international watershed board concept to build on 
cooperative efforts and successes achieved in the Great Lakes by 
offering to provide similar opportunities to other major transboundary 
basins through the establishment of permanent IJC international 
watershed boards. These boards would provide a much improved mechanism 
for avoiding and resolving transboundary disputes by building a 
capacity at the watershed level to anticipate and respond to the full 
range of water-related and other environmental challenges that may be 
foreseen for the 21st century.

[[Page 68497]]

    Specifically, governments have asked the IJC to:
     Define the general framework under which watershed boards 
would operate, which includes the definition of the scope of activities 
of the watershed boards and the definition of the operating principles 
of such boards;
     Recommend the location of the first watershed board;
     Recommend the structure, composition and terms of 
reference of the first international watershed board, including the 
priority issues that it would address;
     Develop cost projections and possible sources of funding, 
including innovative funding mechanisms, for the formation and 
operation of the first international watershed board and for special 
studies that would be projected for its first few years of operation;
     Consult provinces, states and both federal governments on 
the identification of locations and the development, planning and 
establishment of additional international watershed boards at 
appropriate times.
    The International Joint Commission is a binational Canada-U.S. 
organization established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. It 
assists the governments in managing waters along the border for the 
benefit of both countries in a variety of ways including examining 
issues referred to it by the two federal governments.
    The IJC will undertake broad consultations with all interested 
parties as part of its examination of the watershed approach. The IJC 
would invite all interested parties to notify the Commission of their 
interest in this matter at either one of the following addresses:

International Joint Commission, United States Section, 1250 23rd 
Street, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20440, Telephone: [phone], 
Fax: [phone], Email: [e-mail]

International Joint Commission, Canadian Section, 100 Metcalfe Street, 
18th Floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 5M1, Telephone: [phone], Fax: (613) 
993-5583, [e-mail]

    Dated: November 30, 1998.
Gerald E. Galloway,
Secretary, United States Section.
[FR Doc. 98-32915 Filed 12-10-98; 8:45 am]
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