[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 2000)]
[Pages 1230-1233]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13158--Marine Protected Areas

May 26, 2000

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America and in furtherance of the 
purposes of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431 et 
seq.), National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 
U.S.C. 668dd-ee), National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et 
seq.),

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National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), Wilderness 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), Coastal Zone Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1362 et seq.), Clean 
Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), National Environmental 
Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (42 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), and other pertinent statutes, it is 
ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Purpose. This Executive Order will help protect the 
significant natural and cultural resources within the marine environment 
for the benefit of present and future generations by strengthening and 
expanding the Nation's system of marine protected areas (MPAs). An 
expanded and strengthened comprehensive system of marine protected areas 
throughout the marine environment would enhance the conservation of our 
Nation's natural and cultural marine heritage and the ecologically and 
economically sustainable use of the marine environment for future 
generations. To this end, the purpose of this order is to, consistent 
with domestic and international law: (a) strengthen the management, 
protection, and conservation of existing marine protected areas and 
establish new or expanded MPAs; (b) develop a scientifically based, 
comprehensive national system of MPAs representing diverse U.S. marine 
ecosystems, and the Nation's natural and cultural resources; and (c) 
avoid causing harm to MPAs through federally conducted, approved, or 
funded activities.
    Sec. 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this order: (a) ``Marine 
protected area'' means any area of the marine environment that has been 
reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws or 
regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural 
and cultural resources therein.
    (b) ``Marine environment'' means those areas of coastal and ocean 
waters, the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, and submerged lands 
thereunder, over which the United States exercises jurisdiction, 
consistent with international law.
    (c) The term ``United States'' includes the several States, the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
Islands of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands.
    Sec. 3. MPA Establishment, Protection, and Management. Each Federal 
agency whose authorities provide for the establishment or management of 
MPAs shall take appropriate actions to enhance or expand protection of 
existing MPAs and establish or recommend, as appropriate, new MPAs. 
Agencies implementing this section shall consult with the agencies 
identified in subsection 4(a) of this order, consistent with existing 
requirements.
    Sec. 4. National System of MPAs. (a) To the extent permitted by law 
and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Department of 
Commerce and the Department of the Interior, in consultation with the 
Department of Defense, the Department of State, the United States Agency 
for International Development, the Department of Transportation, the 
Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and 
other pertinent Federal agencies shall develop a national system of 
MPAs. They shall coordinate and share information, tools, and 
strategies, and provide guidance to enable and encourage the use of the 
following in the exercise of each agency's respective authorities to 
further enhance and expand protection of existing MPAs and to establish 
or recommend new MPAs, as appropriate:
(1)         science-based identification and prioritization of natural 
            and cultural resources for additional protection;
(2)         integrated assessments of ecological linkages among MPAs, 
            including ecological reserves in which consumptive uses of 
            resources are prohibited, to provide synergistic benefits;
(3)         a biological assessment of the minimum area where 
            consumptive uses would be prohibited that is necessary to 
            preserve representative habitats in different geographic 
            areas of the marine environment;
(4)         an assessment of threats and gaps in levels of protection 
            currently afforded

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            to natural and cultural resources, as appropriate;
(5)         practical, science-based criteria and protocols for 
            monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of MPAs;
(6)         identification of emerging threats and user conflicts 
            affecting MPAs and appropriate, practical, and equitable 
            management solutions, including effective enforcement 
            strategies, to eliminate or reduce such threats and 
            conflicts;
(7)         assessment of the economic effects of the preferred 
            management solutions; and
(8)         identification of opportunities to improve linkages with, 
            and technical assistance to, international marine protected 
            area programs.
    (b) In carrying out the requirements of section 4 of this order, the 
Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior shall consult 
with those States that contain portions of the marine environment, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, 
American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, tribes, Regional Fishery Management Councils, and other 
entities, as appropriate, to promote coordination of Federal, State, 
territorial, and tribal actions to establish and manage MPAs.
    (c) In carrying out the requirements of this section, the Department 
of Commerce and the Department of the Interior shall seek the expert 
advice and recommendations of non-Federal scientists, resource managers, 
and other interested persons and organizations through a Marine 
Protected Area Federal Advisory Committee. The Committee shall be 
established by the Department of Commerce.
    (d) The Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior 
shall establish and jointly manage a website for information on MPAs and 
Federal agency reports required by this order. They shall also publish 
and maintain a list of MPAs that meet the definition of MPA for the 
purposes of this order.
    (e) The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration shall establish a Marine Protected Area Center to carry 
out, in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, the 
requirements of subsection 4(a) of this order, coordinate the website 
established pursuant to subsection 4(d) of this order, and partner with 
governmental and nongovernmental entities to conduct necessary research, 
analysis, and exploration. The goal of the MPA Center shall be, in 
cooperation with the Department of the Interior, to develop a framework 
for a national system of MPAs, and to provide Federal, State, 
territorial, tribal, and local governments with the information, 
technologies, and strategies to support the system. This national system 
framework and the work of the MPA Center is intended to support, not 
interfere with, agencies' independent exercise of their own existing 
authorities.
    (f) To better protect beaches, coasts, and the marine environment 
from pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), relying upon 
existing Clean Water Act authorities, shall expeditiously propose new 
science-based regulations, as necessary, to ensure appropriate levels of 
protection for the marine environment. Such regulations may include the 
identification of areas that warrant additional pollution protections 
and the enhancement of marine water quality standards. The EPA shall 
consult with the Federal agencies identified in subsection 4(a) of this 
order, States, territories, tribes, and the public in the development of 
such new regulations.
      
    Sec. 5. Agency Responsibilities. Each Federal agency whose actions 
affect the natural or cultural resources that are protected by an MPA 
shall identify such actions. To the extent permitted by law and to the 
maximum extent practicable, each Federal agency, in taking such actions, 
shall avoid harm to the natural and cultural resources that are 
protected by an MPA. In implementing this section, each Federal agency 
shall refer to the MPAs identified under subsection 4(d) of this order.
      
    Sec. 6. Accountability. Each Federal agency that is required to take 
actions under this order shall prepare and make public annually a 
concise description of actions taken

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by it in the previous year to implement the order, including a 
description of written comments by any person or organization stating 
that the agency has not complied with this order and a response to such 
comments by the agency.
    Sec. 7. International Law. Federal agencies taking actions pursuant 
to this Executive Order must act in accordance with international law 
and with Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 1988, on the 
Territorial Sea of the United States of America, Presidential 
Proclamation 5030 of March 10, 1983, on the Exclusive Economic Zone of 
the United States of America, and Presidential Proclamation 7219 of 
September 2, 1999, on the Contiguous Zone of the United States.
    Sec. 8. General. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed as 
altering existing authorities regarding the establishment of Federal 
MPAs in areas of the marine environment subject to the jurisdiction and 
control of States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Indian tribes.
    (b) This order does not diminish, affect, or abrogate Indian treaty 
rights or United States trust responsibilities to Indian tribes.
    (c) This order does not create any right or benefit, substantive or 
procedural, enforceable in law or equity by a party against the United 
States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
May 26, 2000.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:14 p.m. May 30, 2000]

Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on 
May 31.