EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

722 JACKSON PLACE. N. W.

WASHINGTON. 0 C 20006

August 10, 1980

MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Interagency Consultation to Avoid or Mitigate

Adverse Effects on Rivers in the Nationwide

Inventory

In his second Message on the Environment, issued in

August 1979, the President underscored the need to strengthen

the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and to take

particular care not to harm rivers which may qualify for

inclusion in the System.

The President issued a directive on August 2, 1979 in

conjunction with his Message which required that:

"Each Federal agency shall, as part of its normal

planning and environmental review process, take care to

avoid or mitigate adverse effects on rivers identified

in the Nationwide Inventory prepared by the Heritage

Conservation and Recreation Service in the Department

of the Interior. Agencies shall, as part of their

normal environmental review process, consult with the

Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service prior to

taking actions which could effectively foreclose wild,

scenic, or recreational river status on rivers in the

Inventory.”

This memorandum is intended to assist your agency in

meeting its responsibilities under the President's directive.

A brief set of procedures is attached which provides guidance

on how to integrate these responsibilities with your normal

environmental analysis process under the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA). The objective is to ensure that the

President's directive is met promptly and efficiently.

Development along our rivers continues to outpace our

ability to protect those rivers that might qualify for

designation in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

The Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) in 

the Department of the Interior has been preparing a Nationwide

Inventory of river segments that, after preliminary review,

appear to qualify for inclusion in the System. It is

therefore essential that federal agencies proceed carefully
and limit any adverse effects of their actions on rivers 

identified in the Nationwide Inventory. Otherwise, the

Inventory could be depleted before the identified rivers can

be fully assessed to determine the desirability of including

them as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers

System.

Although the President’s directive does not prohibit an 

agency from taking, supporting or allowing an action which

would adversely affect wild and scenic values of a river in

the Inventory, each agency is responsible for studying,

developing and describing all reasonable alternatives before

acting, and for avoiding and mitigating adverse effects on 

rivers identified in the Inventory. Where agency action

could effectively foreclose the designation of a wild,

scenic, or recreational river segment, the President has

directed the agency to consult with HCRS. It is difficult

to restore a river and its immediate environment once its

wild and scenic qualities have been lost.

The purpose of this consultation requirement, which is

meant to be part of the normal environmental analysis

process, is to provide the opportunity for HCRS experts to

assist other agencies in meeting program objectives without

irreparably damaging potential wild, scenic, and recreational

river areas. Consultation with HCRS should encourage better

planning at an early stage in order to reduce resource

management conflicts or to avoid them altogether. The

consultation requirement also provides an opportunity to

seek early resolution of problems by policy-level officials

if necessary.

Completed portions of the Nationwide Inventory -- those

for the Eastern half of the country -- were sent to you from

HCRS Director Chris T. Delaporte on November 13, 1979.

Forthcoming portions of the Inventory will be transmitted as

they are completed.’* You should ensure that the list of

rivers in the Inventory and the attached procedures receive

wide distribution in your agency.

Copies of orders, guidance, or memoranda which you use

to adopt or to transmit the attached procedures within your

agency should be sent to the Council on Environmental

Quality (Attention: Larry Williams) and to the Interagency

Wild and Scenic Rivers Study Group (Attention: Jack Hauptman,

HCRS, 440 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20243).

Gus Speth

Chairman

Attachment
Procedures for Interagency Consultation to

Avoid or Mitigate Adverse Effects on Rivers

in the Nationwide Inventory

These procedures are designed to assist federal officials in complying

with the President's directive (attached) to protect rivers in the

Nationwide Inventory through the normal environmental analysis

process. NEOA, E.O. 11514, CEQ's NEPA Regulations, and agency

implementing procedures should be used to meet the President's

directive.

Although the steps outlined below pertain to wild and scenic river

protection, they also fit clearly within agencies' existing

environmental analysis processes. Agencies are already required: to

identify and analyze the environmental effects of their actions; to

consult with agencies with jurisdiction by law or special expertise

(in this case, the National Park Service (NPS)); to develop and study

alternatives; and to use all practicable means and measures to 

preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our

national heritage.

The procedures outline below simply link the appropriate elements of

the normal environmental analysis process with the President's

directive "to take care to avoid or mitigate adverse effects on rivers

identified in the Nationwide Inventory." Federal officials should 

promptly take steps to incorporate the actions specified below into

their planning and decision making activities and the conduct of their

environmental analyses.

1. Determine whether the proposed action could affect an Inventory

river.

Check the current regional Inventory list to determine whether the

proposed action could affect an Inventory river.

If an Inventory river could be affected by the proposed action, an

environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement may be

required depending upon the significance of the effects.

If their action would not affect an Inventory river, no further action

is necessary under these procedures. (The agency is still required to

fulfill any other responsibilities under NEPA).

2. Determine whether the proposed action could have an adverse

effect on the natural, cultural and recreational values of the

Inventory river segment.

Using the Guide for Identifying Potential Adverse Effects, which is

appended to these procedures, you should determine whether the

proposed action could adversely affect the natural, cultural, or

recreational values of the Inventory river segment. Adverse effects

on inventoried rivers may occur under conditions which include, but

are not limited to:
2

(1) Destruction or alteration of all or part of the free

flowing nature of the river;

(2) Introduction of visual, audible, or other sensory

intrusions which are out of character with the river or 

alter its setting;

(3) Deterioration of water quality; or

(4) Transfer or sale of property adjacent to an inventoried

river without adequate conditions or restrictions for

protecting the river and its surrounding environment.

If you have prepared a document which finds that there would be no

adverse effects — such as a Finding of No Significant Impact under

the CEQ NEPA regulations — you should send a courtesy copy to the NPS

field office in your region.

3. Determine whether the proposed action could foreclose options to

classify any portion of the Inventory segment as wild, scenic or

recreation river areas.

In some cases, impacts of a proposed action could be severe enough to 

preclude inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, or lower the

quality of the classification (e.g. from wild to recreational). If

the proposed undertaking could effectively downgrade any portion of

the Inventory segment you should consult with NPS.

Proposed action (whether uses or physical changes), which are

theoretically reversible, but which are not likely to be reversed in

the short term, should be considered to have the effect of foreclosing

for all practical purposes wild and scenic river status. This is

because a river segment, when studied for possible inclusion in the

Wild and Scenic River System, must be judged as it is found to exist

at the time of the study, rather than as it may exist as some future 

time.

If a proposal, including one or more alternatives, could have an

adverse effect on a river in the Inventory, an environmental

assessment or, if the effects are significant, an environmental impact

statement must be prepared. NPS staff is available to assist you in

determining the significance or severity of the effects in connection

with your assessment, scoping process, and EIS, if one is needed. A

detailed analysis of each of the rivers in the Inventory is available

from NPS for your use.

You should request assistance in writing from NPS, as early as you

can, providing sufficient information about the proposal to allow NPS

to assist you in determining whether any of the alternatives under

consideration would foreclose designation. NPS will in turn provide

you with an analysis of the impacts on natural, cultural and

recreational values which should enable you to make a determination as

to whether or not designation would be foreclosed. NPS is available

to assist you in developing appropriate avoidance/mitigation measures.
3

When environmental assessments are prepared on proposals that affect

Inventory rivers, copies should be sent in a timely fashion to the NPS

field office in your area before a proposed action is taken and while

there is still time to avoid or mitigate adverse effects. When

environmental impact statements are prepared on proposals that affect

Inventory rivers the lead agency should request NPS and the affected

land managing agency to be cooperating agencies as soon as the Notice

of Intent to prepare an EIS has been published.

If NPS does not respond to your request for assistance within 30 days,

you may proceed with completing preparation and circulation of the

environmental assessment or EIS as planned. Even where NPS has been

unable to comment on the environmental assessment or DRAFT EIS, you

are still obligated by the President's directive to "...take care to

avoid or mitigate adverse effects on rivers identified in the

Nationwide Inventory..."

4. Incorporate avoidance/mitigation measures into the proposed

action to maximum extent feasible within the agency's authority.

An environmental documents prepared on the proposed action should

identify the impact on natural, cultural and recreational values,

address the comments submitted by NPS, and state the

avoidance/mitigation measures adopted. Any disagreements will be

resolved through existing procedures. For projects requiring

environmental impact statements, the record of decision must adopt

appropriate avoidance/mitigation measures and a monitoring and

enforcement program as required by the CEQ regulations (40 CFR Sec.

1505.2(c)).

A Note on the Meaning of "Federal Actions"

The above procedures are meant to apply to all federal actions that

could adversely affect a river in the Nationwide Inventory (see

Section 1508.18 of CEQ's NEPA Regulations (40 CFR 1508.18)) for the

meaning of "major federal actions"). For actions which are known in

advance to require an environmental assessment or environmental impact

statement, these procedures would be followed in the normal course of

NEPA compliance. If a federal action would not normally require an

environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement, but

could adversely affect a river in the Nationwide Inventory, the action

should either (1) not be "categorically excluded" under agency 

implementing procedures, or (2) be considered an "extraordinary

circumstance" in which a normally excluded action must be subjected to

environmental analysis (see Section 1508.4 of NEPA Regulations).

The above procedures should be used for any proposals (including the

evaluation of alternative courses of action) for which the NEPA

process is not yet completed. The above procedures should therefore

also be applied to a proposed modification or supplement to a

previously authorized or implemented action.
APPENDIX I. Guide for Identifying Potential Adverse Effects

The impact of a proposed action should be assessed in relation to the

eligibility and classification criteria of the Wild and Scenic Rivers

Act, 16 U.S.C. 1271-1287, as amended.

In order to be eligible for inclusion in the National System, a river

must:

1. Be "free-flowing,” i.e. "existing or flowing in natural condition

without impoundment,, diversion, straightening, rip-rapping, or other

modification of the waterway. The existence, however, of low dams,

diversion works and other minor structures at the time any river is

proposed for inclusion in the national wild and scenic rivers system 

shall not automatically bar its consideration for such inclusion:

Provided, that this shall not be construed to authorize, intend, or

encourage future construction of such structures within components

of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System." (U.S.C. Sec. 1286)

2. Possess "outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic,

fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, or other similar values."

(16 U.S.C. Sec. 1271)

Eligible river segments are classified according to the extent of

evidence of man's activity as one of the following:

1. "Wild river areas—Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free

of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with

watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters

unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America."

2. "Scenic river areas—Those rivers or sections of rivers that are

free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely

primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in

places by roads."

3. "Recreational river areas—Those rivers or sections of river that 

are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some

development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some

impoundment or diversion in the past. (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1273 (b)

Any action which could alter the river segment's ability to meet the

above eligibility and classification criteria should be considered an

adverse impact. Actions which diminish the free-flowing characteristics

or outstandingly remarkable values of a river segment could prevent the

segment from qualifying for inclusion in the national system. Actions

which increase the degree of evidence of man's activity, i.e., level of

development, could change the classification of the river segment.

The effect of all proposed developments within the river corridor should

be assessed in terms of severity of effect and extent of area affected.

Developments outside the corridor which would cause visual, noise, or

air quality impacts on the river corridor should also be examined.

Only proposed new construction or proposed expansion of existing

developments need be considered in assessing impacts. Repair or
rehabilitation of existing structures would not have a negative impact

except if the action would result in significant expansion of the

facility or if the construction process itself would cause an

irreversible impact on the environment.

Placement of navigation aids such as buoys and channel markers will not

be considered as causing adverse effects.

The following are examples of types of developments which would

generally require consultation with NPS because of the potential for

adverse effects on the values of a potential wild, scenic, or 

recreational river. This list is not exhaustive.

Small dock

Small bulkhead

Clearing and snagging

Drainage canal, culvert or

outfall

Irrigation canal

Levee or dike

Rip-rap, bank stabilization

or erosion control structure

Small reservoir

Increase in commercial

navigation

Dredging or filling

Run-of-the-river dam or

diversion structure

The following are examples of types of

Road

Railroad

Building (any type)

Pipeline, transmission

line

Bridge or ford

Gas, oil or water well

Sub-surface mine opening

Quarry

Power substation

Recreation area

Dump or junkyard

Change in flow regime

Clear-cut timber harvest

Radio tower, windmill

development which appear most

likely to cause serious adverse effects if they are constructed adjacent

to or in close proximity to an Inventory river. Such development

proposals will almost always require consultation with NPS because their

effects are likely to conflict with the values of a potential wild,

scenic or recreational river. These effects could be severe enough to

foreclose designation of the affected river segment. This list is not

exhaustive.

Impoundment

Channelization

Instream or surface mining 

Lock and dam

Airport

Landfill

Factory

Gas or oil field

Major highway

Railroad yard

Power plant

Sewage treatment plant

Housing development

Shopping center

Industrial park

Marina

Commercial dock