97-24591. Federal Support of Community Efforts Along American Heritage Rivers  

  • [Federal Register Volume 62, Number 178 (Monday, September 15, 1997)]
    [Presidential Documents]
    [Pages 48445-48448]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 97-24591]
    
    
    
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    _______________________________________________________________________
    
    Part IV
    
    
    
    
    
    The President
    
    
    
    
    
    _______________________________________________________________________
    
    
    
    Executive Order 13061--Federal Support of Community Efforts Along 
    American Heritage Rivers
    
    
                            Presidential Documents 
    
    
    
    Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 1997 / 
    Presidential Documents
    
    ___________________________________________________________________
    
    Title 3--
    The President
    
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                    Executive Order 13061 of September 11, 1997
    
                    
    Federal Support of Community Efforts Along 
                    American Heritage Rivers
    
                    By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                    Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                    America, including the National Environmental Policy 
                    Act of 1969 (Public Law 91-190), and in order to 
                    protect and restore rivers and their adjacent 
                    communities, it is hereby ordered as follows:
    
                    Section 1. Policies.
    
                        (a) The American Heritage Rivers initiative has 
                    three objectives: natural resource and environmental 
                    protection, economic revitalization, and historic and 
                    cultural preservation.
                        (b) Executive agencies (``agencies''), to the 
                    extent permitted by law and consistent with their 
                    missions and resources, shall coordinate Federal plans, 
                    functions, programs, and resources to preserve, 
                    protect, and restore rivers and their associated 
                    resources important to our history, culture, and 
                    natural heritage.
                        (c) Agencies shall develop plans to bring increased 
                    efficiencies to existing and authorized programs with 
                    goals that are supportive of protection and restoration 
                    of communities along rivers.
                        (d) In accordance with Executive Order 12630, 
                    agencies shall act with due regard for the protection 
                    of private property provided for by the Fifth Amendment 
                    to the United States Constitution. No new regulatory 
                    authority is created as a result of the American 
                    Heritage Rivers initiative. This initiative will not 
                    interfere with matters of State, local, and tribal 
                    government jurisdiction.
                        (e) In furtherance of these policies, the President 
                    will designate rivers that meet certain criteria as 
                    ``American Heritage Rivers.''
                        (f) It is the policy of the Federal Government that 
                    communities shall nominate rivers as American Heritage 
                    Rivers and the Federal role will be solely to support 
                    community-based efforts to preserve, protect, and 
                    restore these rivers and their communities.
                        (g) Agencies should, to the extent practicable, 
                    help identify resources in the private and nonprofit 
                    sectors to aid revitalization efforts.
                        (h) Agencies are encouraged, to the extent 
                    permitted by law, to develop partnerships with State, 
                    local, and tribal governments and community and 
                    nongovernmental organizations. Agencies will be 
                    responsive to the diverse needs of different kinds of 
                    communities from the core of our cities to remote rural 
                    areas and shall seek to ensure that the role played by 
                    the Federal Government is complementary to the plans 
                    and work being carried out by State, local, and tribal 
                    governments. To the extent possible, Federal resources 
                    will be strategically directed to complement resources 
                    being spent by these governments.
                        (i) Agencies shall establish a method for field 
                    offices to assess the success of the American Heritage 
                    River initiative and provide a means to recommend 
                    changes that will improve the delivery and 
                    accessibility of Federal services and programs. 
                    Agencies are directed, where appropriate, to reduce and 
                    make more flexible procedural requirements and 
                    paperwork related to providing assistance to 
                    communities along designated rivers.
    
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                        (j) Agencies shall commit to a policy under which 
                    they will seek to ensure that their actions have a 
                    positive effect on the natural, historic, economic, and 
                    cultural resources of American Heritage River 
                    communities. The policy will require agencies to 
                    consult with American Heritage River communities early 
                    in the planning stages of Federal actions, take into 
                    account the communities' goals and objectives and 
                    ensure that actions are compatible with the overall 
                    character of these communities. Agencies shall seek to 
                    ensure that their help for one community does not 
                    adversely affect neighboring communities. Additionally, 
                    agencies are encouraged to develop formal and informal 
                    partnerships to assist communities. Local Federal 
                    facilities, to the extent permitted by law and 
                    consistent with the agencies' missions and resources, 
                    should provide public access, physical space, technical 
                    assistance, and other support for American Heritage 
                    River communities.
                        (k) In addition to providing support to designated 
                    rivers, agencies will work together to provide 
                    information and services to all communities seeking 
                    support.
    
                    Sec. 2. Process for Nominating an American Heritage 
                    River.
    
                        (a) Nomination. Communities, in coordination with 
                    their State, local, or tribal governments, can nominate 
                    their river, river stretch, or river confluence for 
                    designation as an American Heritage River. When several 
                    communities are involved in the nomination of the same 
                    river, nominations will detail the coordination among 
                    the interested communities and the role each will play 
                    in the process. Individuals living outside the 
                    community may not nominate a river.
                        (b) Selection Criteria. Nominations will be judged 
                    based on the following:
                        (1) the characteristics of the natural, economic, 
                    agricultural, scenic, historic, cultural, or 
                    recreational resources of the river that render it 
                    distinctive or unique;
                        (2) the effectiveness with which the community has 
                    defined its plan of action and the extent to which the 
                    plan addresses, either through planned actions or past 
                    accomplishments, all three American Heritage Rivers 
                    objectives, which are set forth in section 1(a) of this 
                    order;
                        (3) the strength and diversity of community support 
                    for the nomination as evidenced by letters from elected 
                    officials; landowners; private citizens; businesses; 
                    and especially State, local, and tribal governments. 
                    Broad community support is essential to receiving the 
                    American Heritage River designation; and
                        (4) willingness and capability of the community to 
                    forge partnerships and agreements to implement their 
                    plan to meet their goals and objectives.
                        (c) Recommendation Process.
                        The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality 
                    (``CEQ'') shall develop a fair and objective procedure 
                    to obtain the views of a diverse group of experts for 
                    the purpose of making recommendations to the President 
                    as to which rivers shall be designated. These experts 
                    shall reflect a variety of viewpoints, such as those 
                    representing natural, cultural, and historic resources; 
                    scenic, environmental, and recreation interests; 
                    tourism, transportation, and economic development 
                    interests; and industries such as agriculture, 
                    hydropower, manufacturing, mining, and forest 
                    management. The Chair of the CEQ will ensure that the 
                    rivers recommended represent a variety of stream sizes, 
                    diverse geographical locations, and a wide range of 
                    settings from urban to rural and ensure that relatively 
                    pristine, successful revitalization efforts are 
                    considered as well as degraded rivers in need of 
                    restoration.
                        (d) Designation.
                        (1) The President will designate certain rivers as 
                    American Heritage Rivers. Based on the receipt of a 
                    sufficient number of qualified nominations, ten rivers 
                    will be designated in the first phase of the 
                    initiative.
    
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                        (2) The Interagency Committee provided for in 
                    section 3 of this order shall develop a process by 
                    which any community that nominates and has its river 
                    designated may have this designation terminated at its 
                    request.
                        (3) Upon a determination by the Chair of the CEQ 
                    that a community has failed to implement its plan, the 
                    Chair may recommend to the President that a designation 
                    be revoked. The Chair shall notify the community at 
                    least 30 days prior to making such a recommendation to 
                    the President. Based on that recommendation, the 
                    President may revoke the designation.
    
                    Sec. 3. Establishment of an Interagency Committee. 
                    There is hereby established the American Heritage 
                    Rivers Interagency Committee (``Committee''). The 
                    Committee shall have two co-chairs. The Chair of the 
                    CEQ shall be a permanent co-chair. The other co-chair 
                    will rotate among the heads of the agencies listed 
                    below.
    
                        (a) The Committee shall be composed of the 
                    following members or their designees at the Assistant 
                    Secretary level or equivalent:
                        (1) The Secretary of Defense;
                        (2) The Attorney General;
                        (3) The Secretary of the Interior;
                        (4) The Secretary of Agriculture;
                        (5) The Secretary of Commerce;
                        (6) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
                        (7) The Secretary of Transportation;
                        (8) The Secretary of Energy;
                        (9) The Administrator of the Environmental 
                    Protection Agency;
                        (10) The Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic 
                    Preservation;
                        (11) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for 
                    the Arts; and
                        (12) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for 
                    the Humanities.
                        The Chair of the CEQ may invite to participate in 
                    meetings of the Committee, representatives of other 
                    agencies, as appropriate.
                        (b) The Committee shall:
                        (1) establish formal guidelines for designation as 
                    an American Heritage River;
                        (2) periodically review the actions of agencies in 
                    support of the American Heritage Rivers;
                        (3) report to the President on the progress, 
                    accomplishments, and effectiveness of the American 
                    Heritage Rivers initiative; and
                        (4) perform other duties as directed by the Chair 
                    of the CEQ.
    
                    Sec. 4. Responsibilities of the Federal Agencies. 
                    Consistent with Title I of the National Environmental 
                    Policy Act of 1969, agencies shall:
    
                        (a) identify their existing programs and plans that 
                    give them the authority to offer assistance to 
                    communities involved in river conservation and 
                    community health and revitalization;
                        (b) to the extent practicable and permitted by law 
                    and regulation, refocus programs, grants, and technical 
                    assistance to provide support for communities adjacent 
                    to American Heritage Rivers;
                        (c) identify all technical tools, including those 
                    developed for purposes other than river conservation, 
                    that can be applied to river protection, restoration, 
                    and community revitalization;
                        (d) provide access to existing scientific data and 
                    information to the extent permitted by law and 
                    consistent with the agencies mission and resources;
                        (e) cooperate with State, local, and tribal 
                    governments and communities with respect to their 
                    activities that take place in, or affect the area 
                    around, an American Heritage River;
    
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                        (f) commit to a policy, as set forth in section 
                    1(j) of this order, in making decisions affecting the 
                    quality of an American Heritage River;
                        (g) select from among all the agencies a single 
                    individual called the ``River Navigator,'' for each 
                    river that is designated an American Heritage River, 
                    with whom the communities can communicate goals and 
                    needs and who will facilitate community-agency 
                    interchange;
                        (h) allow public access to the river, for agencies 
                    with facilities along American Heritage Rivers, to the 
                    extent practicable and consistent with their mission; 
                    and
                        (i) cooperate, as appropriate, with communities on 
                    projects that protect or preserve stretches of the 
                    river that are on Federal property or adjacent to a 
                    Federal facility.
    
                    Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Committee and the 
                    Council on Environmental Quality. The CEQ shall serve 
                    as Executive agent for the Committee, and the CEQ and 
                    the Committee shall ensure the implementation of the 
                    policies and purposes of this initiative.
    
                    Sec. 6. Definition. For the purposes of this order, 
                    Executive agency means any agency on the Committee and 
                    such other agency as may be designated by the 
                    President.
    
                    Sec. 7. Judicial Review. This order does not create any 
                    right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                    enforceable by any party against the United States, its 
                    agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or 
                    employees, or any other person.
    
                        (Presidential Sig.)
    
                    THE WHITE HOUSE,
    
                        September 11, 1997.
    
    [FR Doc. 97-24591
    Filed 9-12-97; 8:45 am]
    Billing code 3195-01-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
09/15/1997
Department:
Executive Office of the President
Entry Type:
Presidential Document
Document Type:
Executive Order
Document Number:
97-24591
Pages:
48445-48448 (4 pages)
EOCitation:
E.O. 13061 of 1997-09-11
EONotes:
Amended by: EO 13093, July 27, 1998
PDF File:
97-24591.pdf