[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 37 (Monday, September 15, 1997)]
[Pages 1317-1320]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13061--Federal Support of Community Efforts Along 
American Heritage Rivers

September 11, 1997

    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

[[Page 1318]]

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

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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
    (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

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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.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 12, 
1997]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
September 15.