Presidential Documents

48445

Federal Register

Vol. 62, No. 178

Monday, September 15, 1997

Title 3—

The President

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.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 1997 / Presidential Documents 48447

(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;
48448 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 178 / Monday, September 15, 1997 / Presidential Documents

(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

[FR Doc. 97–24591

person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

September 11, 1997.

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Filed 9–12–97; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P