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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 20 (Friday, January 31, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8747-8750]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02174]



                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 20 / Friday, January 31, 2025 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 8747]]

                Executive Order 14181 of January 24, 2025

                
Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources in 
                California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain 
                Areas

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered:

                Section 1. Policy. For weeks, residents of the Los 
                Angeles area have watched raging fires consume their 
                homes, belongings, beloved pets, and childhood 
                memories. Almost immediately, firefighters were unable 
                to fight the blaze due to dry hydrants, empty 
                reservoirs, and inadequate water infrastructure. Today, 
                at least 28 people have lost their lives and thousands 
                more have lost everything else, with some damage 
                estimates calculating hundreds of billions of dollars 
                in damage.

                This tragedy affects the entire Nation, so it is in the 
                Nation's interest to ensure that California has what it 
                needs to prevent and fight these fires and others in 
                the future. Therefore, it is the policy of the United 
                States to provide Southern California with necessary 
                water resources, notwithstanding actively harmful State 
                or local policies. And it is the policy of the United 
                States to assist Americans in disaster areas through 
                responsive policies that more effectively empower them 
                to rebuild and regain their livelihoods.

                Sec. 2. Overriding Disastrous California Policies. (a) 
                The Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 
                Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the 
                Secretary of Agriculture shall expeditiously take all 
                measures, consistent with all applicable authorities, 
                to ensure adequate water resources in Southern 
                California. Each shall report to me within 15 days on 
                all authorities, including emergency authorities, 
                available to ensure, require, maintain, or use 
                infrastructure necessary to fight and prevent massive 
                wildfires in Southern California.

                    (b) In particular, the Secretary of the Interior 
                and the Secretary of Commerce shall immediately take 
                actions to override existing activities that unduly 
                burden efforts to maximize water deliveries. The 
                Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce 
                shall consider actions including those consistent with 
                the ``No Action Alternative'' in the Final 
                Environmental Impact Statement issued November 15, 
                2024, by the Bureau of Reclamation on Long-term 
                Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water 
                Project.
                    (c) The Secretary of the Interior, including 
                through the Bureau of Reclamation, shall utilize his 
                discretion to operate the CVP to deliver more water and 
                produce additional hydropower, including by increasing 
                storage and conveyance, and jointly operating federal 
                and state facilities, to high-need communities, 
                notwithstanding any contrary State or local laws. The 
                Bureau of Reclamation shall take all available measures 
                to ensure that State agencies--including the California 
                Department of Water Resources--do not interfere with 
                the Bureau of Reclamation's operation of the project to 
                maximize water delivery to high-need communities or 
                otherwise, including but not limited to the issuance of 
                a new Record of Decision maximizing water deliveries 
                and consistent with the 2020 Record of Decision.
                    (d) In accordance with section 6 of the Executive 
                Order of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Energy 
                Emergency), the Secretary of the Interior, through the 
                Bureau of Reclamation, and in accordance with section 
                1536 of title 16 United States Code, shall expedite 
                action related to any exemption under the Endangered 
                Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.,

[[Page 8748]]

                for the Long-Term Operation of the CVP and the State 
                Water Project for all applicable threatened and 
                endangered species.
                    (e) The Secretary of the Interior shall promptly 
                review, revise, or rescind any regulations or 
                procedures specific to implementation of section 1536 
                of title 16 United States Code, as needed and 
                consistent with applicable law, to conform with the 
                plain meaning of the statute.
                    (f) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
                of Commerce shall identify all ongoing or potential 
                major water-supply and storage projects within the 
                State of California for which they have joint 
                responsibility under the ESA or individual 
                responsibilities under the National Environmental 
                Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.
                    (g) For each such project identified under 
                subsection (f), the Secretary of the Interior and the 
                Secretary of Commerce shall each designate one federal 
                official to coordinate each agency's respective NEPA 
                and ESA compliance responsibilities. Within 30 days 
                from the date of this order, each designated official 
                shall identify any regulatory hurdles that unduly 
                burden each respective water project, identify any 
                recent changes in state or Federal law that may impact 
                such projects from a regulatory perspective (including 
                Public Law 118-5), and shall develop a proposed plan, 
                for review by the Secretaries, to appropriately 
                suspend, revise, or rescind any regulations or 
                procedures that unduly burden such projects and are not 
                necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise 
                comply with the law. In so doing, each designated 
                federal official will coordinate and share all 
                appropriate information that will enable improved 
                efficiencies. For the purposes of this order, ``unduly 
                burden'' means to unnecessarily obstruct, delay, 
                curtail, impede or otherwise impose significant costs 
                on the permitting, utilization, transmission, delivery, 
                or supply of water resources and water infrastructure.

                Sec. 3. Ending the Subsidization of California's 
                Mismanagement. (a) The Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget (OMB) shall review all Federal 
                programs, projects, and activities for all relevant 
                agencies that impact land management, water 
                availability, water supply, water storage and delivery, 
                water infrastructure, and disaster preparedness and 
                response.

                    (b) Within 30 days of the date of this order, to 
                ensure that State and local jurisdictions promote 
                sensible land management practices and reliable water 
                supply for all Americans, the Secretary of the 
                Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the 
                Secretary of Commerce shall jointly report to the 
                President, through the Assistant to the President for 
                Domestic Policy and Assistant to the President for 
                Economic Policy, regarding California State and local 
                policies or practices inconsistent with sound disaster 
                prevention and response.
                    (c) The Director of OMB, in consultation with the 
                Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and 
                Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, shall 
                recommend appropriate action to the President, 
                regarding:

(i) any lack of compliance by California with the terms of existing Federal 
grants, contracts, or other financial assistance to States or localities; 
and

(ii) beneficial additional terms that may be added with respect to any 
future Federal programs, projects, or activities to ensure sound disaster 
prevention and response.

                Sec. 4. Additional Actions to Help Los Angeles 
                Families. (a) Housing Displaced Families. The Secretary 
                of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security, through the Administrator of FEMA, 
                shall expeditiously provide an Integrated Federal 
                Housing Strategy and Implementation Plan to the 
                Director of OMB and the Assistant to the President for 
                National Security Affairs that expedites options for 
                housing relief to survivors displaced by wildfires in 
                California.

                    (b) Expediting Waste Removal. Within 5 days from 
                the date of this order, to accelerate the rebuilding of 
                areas devastated by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, 
                the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security,

[[Page 8749]]

                through the Administrator of FEMA, and the 
                Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
                shall develop and execute a plan to expedite the bulk 
                removal of contaminated and general debris.
                    (c) Effectively Using Grants to Improve Fire 
                Preparedness. The Secretary of Homeland Security, 
                through the Administrator of FEMA, shall immediately 
                implement a plan to enable the timely and appropriate 
                use of Federal preparedness grants for the City of Los 
                Angeles. As of the date of this order, the city has yet 
                to use the majority of its $213 million allotment that 
                has accrued since fiscal year 2021. These Federal 
                preparedness grants shall not be used to support 
                illegal aliens. The Attorney General, in coordination 
                with the FEMA Administrator, shall investigate the 
                misuse of these grants by the City of Los Angeles and 
                take appropriate action to address such misuse.

                Sec. 5. Additional Actions to Help North Carolina 
                Families. (a) Clearing Roads. To accelerate rebuilding 
                and community recovery, the Secretary of 
                Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
                acting through the Administrator of FEMA, and the 
                Administrator of the Small Business Administration 
                shall immediately take all necessary and appropriate 
                measures, including through direct assistance, loans, 
                and other available means, to expedite roadway 
                clearance or rebuilding, including the section of 
                Interstate 40 in North Carolina that remains closed, 
                and the repair or rebuilding of roads and bridges on 
                private property in areas of North Carolina affected by 
                Hurricane Helene.

                    (b) Housing Displaced Families. The Secretary of 
                Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security, through the Administrator of the 
                Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall immediately 
                provide an Integrated Federal Housing Strategy and 
                Implementation Plan to the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget and the Assistant to the 
                President for National Security Affairs that expedites 
                options for housing relief to survivors displaced by 
                Hurricane Helene.

                Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.

[[Page 8750]]

                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    January 24, 2025.

[FR Doc. 2025-02174
Filed 1-30-25; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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