EO 13061 Federal Support of Community Efforts Along American Heritage Rivers

EXECUTIVE
ORDER

EO 13061
Effective Date: September 11, 1997

Responsible Office: Office of Management Systems

Subject: 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.

        (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.

        (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 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 tecnical 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
                                                            /s/

THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 11, 1997.

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