    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [March 19, 2002]
    [Pages 751-752]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Memorandum on Designation of Officers of the Department of the Interior
    March 19, 2002

    Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior

    Subject: Designation of Officers of the Department of the Interior

        By the authority vested in me as President under the Constitution
    and the laws of the United States of America and pursuant to the Federal
    Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., I hereby order
    that:
        Section 1. Order of Succession.
        During any period when the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary),
    the Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and the officers designated by
    Executive Order 13244 of December 18, 2001, to perform the functions and
    duties of the office of Secretary have died, resigned, or otherwise
    become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of
    Secretary, the following officers of the Department of the Interior, in
    the order in which they shall have taken the oath of office as such,
    shall perform the functions and duties of the office of Secretary, if
    they are eligible to act as Secretary under the provisions of the
    Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, until such time as at least one of
    the officers mentioned above is able to perform the functions and duties
    of the office of Secretary:
        Director, U.S. Geological Survey;
        Director of the National Park Service;
        Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
        Commissioner of Reclamation;
        Director, Minerals Management Service;
        Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
            Enforcement;
        Director of the Bureau of Land Management; and
        Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
        Sec. 2. Exceptions.
        (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1 in
    an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Secretary
    pursuant to this memorandum.
        (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this memorandum, the President
    retains discretion, to the extent permitted by the Federal Vacancies
    Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to depart from this
    memorandum in designating an acting Secretary.

                                                              George W. Bush

    Note: This memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secretary
    on May 9.

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