[Title 3 CFR 13061]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 1998 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Executive Order 13061 - Executive Order 13061 of September 11, 1997]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
3Presidential Documents11998-01-011998-01-01falseExecutive Order 13061 of September 11, 199713061Executive Order 13061Presidential Documents
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 Pol-
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icy 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.
(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 ac-
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count 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 revi-
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talization 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.
(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
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(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;
(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.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 11, 1997.
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