Executive Order 13340 of May 18, 2004

 
                Establishment of Great Lakes Interagency Task 
                Force and Promotion of a Regional Collaboration of 
                National Significance for the Great Lakes

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, and to help establish a regional collaboration 
                of national significance for the Great Lakes, it is 
                hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. The Great Lakes are a national 
                treasure constituting the largest freshwater system in 
                the world. The United States and Canada have made great 
                progress addressing past and current environmental 
                impacts to the Great Lakes ecology. The Federal 
                Government is committed to making progress on the many 
                significant challenges that remain. Along with numerous 
                State, tribal, and local programs, over 140 Federal 
                programs help fund and implement environmental 
                restoration and management activities throughout the 
                Great Lakes system. A number of intergovernmental 
                bodies are providing leadership in the region to 
                address environmental and resource management issues in 
                the Great Lakes system. These activities would benefit 
                substantially from more systematic collaboration and 
                better integration of effort. It is the policy of the 
                Federal Government to support local and regional 
                efforts to address environmental challenges and to 
                encourage local citizen and community stewardship. To 
                this end, the Federal Government will partner with the 
                Great Lakes States, tribal and local governments, 
                communities, and other interests to establish a 
                regional collaboration to address nationally 
                significant environmental and natural resource issues 
                involving the Great Lakes. It is the further policy of 
                the Federal Government that its executive departments 
                and agencies will ensure that their programs are 
                funding effective, coordinated, and environmentally 
                sound activities in the Great Lakes system.

                Sec. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this order:

                    (a) ``Great Lakes'' means Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, 
                Lake Huron (including Lake Saint Clair), Lake Michigan, 
                and Lake Superior, and the connecting channels (Saint 
                Marys River, Saint Clair River, Detroit River, Niagara 
                River, and Saint Lawrence River to the Canadian 
                Border).
                    (b) ``Great Lakes system'' means all the streams, 
                rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water within the 
                drainage basin of the Great Lakes.

                Sec. 3. Great Lakes Interagency Task Force.

                    (a) Task Force Purpose. To further the policy 
                described in section 1 of this order, there is 
                established, within the Environmental Protection Agency 
                for administrative purposes, the ``Great Lakes 
                Interagency Task Force'' (Task Force) to:

(i)

 Help convene and establish a process for collaboration among the members 
of the Task Force and the members of the Working Group that is established 
in paragraph b(ii) of this section, with the Great Lakes States, local 
communities, tribes, regional bodies, and other interests in the Great 
Lakes region regarding policies, strategies, plans, programs, projects, 
activities, and priorities for the Great Lakes system.

(ii)

 Collaborate with Canada and its provinces and with bi-national bodies 
involved in the Great Lakes region regarding policies, strategies, 
projects, and priorities for the Great Lakes system.

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(iii)

 Coordinate the development of consistent Federal policies, strategies, 
projects, and priorities for addressing the restoration and protection of 
the Great Lakes system and assisting in the appropriate management of the 
Great Lakes system.

(iv)

 Develop outcome-based goals for the Great Lakes system relying upon, among 
other things, existing data and science-based indicators of water quality 
and related environmental factors. These goals shall focus on outcomes such 
as cleaner water, sustainable fisheries, and biodiversity of the Great 
Lakes system and ensure that Federal policies, strategies, projects, and 
priorities support measurable results.

(v)

 Exchange information regarding policies, strategies, projects, and 
activities of the agencies represented on the Task Force related to the 
Great Lakes system.

(vi)

 Work to coordinate government action associated with the Great Lakes 
system.

(vii)

 Ensure coordinated Federal scientific and other research associated with 
the Great Lakes system.

(viii)

 Ensure coordinated government development and implementation of the Great 
Lakes portion of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

(ix)

 Provide assistance and support to agencies represented on the Task Force 
in their activities related to the Great Lakes system.

(x)

 Submit a report to the President by May 31, 2005, and thereafter as 
appropriate, that summarizes the activities of the Task Force and provides 
any recommendations that would, in the judgment of the Task Force, advance 
the policy set forth in section 1 of this order.

                    (b) Membership and Operation.

(i)

 The Task Force shall consist exclusively of the following officers of the 
United States: the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
(who shall chair the Task Force), the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of 
Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of the 
Army, and the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality. A member of 
the Task Force may designate, to perform the Task Force functions of the 
member, any person who is part of the member's department, agency, or 
office and who is either an officer of the United States appointed by the 
President or a full-time employee serving in a position with pay equal to 
or greater than the minimum rate payable for GS-15 of the General Schedule. 
The Task Force shall report to the President through the Chairman of the 
Council on Environmental Quality.

(ii)

 The Task Force shall establish a ``Great Lakes Regional Working Group'' 
(Working Group) composed of the appropriate regional administrator or 
director with programmatic responsibility for the Great Lakes system for 
each agency represented on the Task Force including: the Great Lakes 
National Program Office of the Environmental Protection Agency; the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and United States 
Geological Survey within the Department of the Interior; the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service and the Forest Service of the Department of 
Agriculture; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the 
Department of Commerce; the Department of Housing and Urban Development; 
the Department of Transportation; the Coast Guard within the Department of 
Homeland Security; and the Army Corps of Engineers within the Department of 
the Army. The Working Group will coordinate and make recommendations on how 
to implement the policies, strategies, projects, and priorities of the Task 
Force.

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                    (c) Management Principles for Regional 
                Collaboration of National Significance. To further the 
                policy described in section 1, the Task Force shall 
                recognize and apply key principles and foster 
                conditions to ensure successful collaboration. To that 
                end, the Environmental Protection Agency will 
                coordinate the development of a set of principles of 
                successful collaboration.

                Sec. 4. Great Lakes National Program Office. The Great 
                Lakes National Program Office of the Environmental 
                Protection Agency shall assist the Task Force and the 
                Working Group in the performance of their functions. 
                The Great Lakes National Program Manager shall serve as 
                chair of the Working Group.

                Sec. 5. Preservation of Authority. Nothing in this 
                order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect 
                the functions of the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget relating to budget, 
                administrative, regulatory, and legislative proposals. 
                Nothing in this order shall be construed to affect the 
                statutory authority or obligations of any Federal 
                agency or any bi-national agreement with Canada.

                Sec. 6. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to 
                improve the internal management of the Federal 
                Government and is not intended to, and does not, create 
                any right, benefit, or trust responsibility, 
                substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 
                equity by a party against the United States, its 
                departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, 
                its officers or employees, or any other person.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    May 18, 2004.