[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 35 (Monday, August 30, 2004)]
[Pages 1692-1693]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13352--Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation

August 26, 2004

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as 
follows:
    Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this order is to ensure that the 
Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the 
Environmental Protection Agency implement laws relating to the 
environment and natural resources in a manner that promotes cooperative 
conservation, with an emphasis on appropriate inclusion of local 
participation in Federal decisionmaking, in accordance with their 
respective agency missions, policies, and regulations.
    Sec. 2. Definition. As used in this order, the term ``cooperative 
conservation'' means actions that relate to use, enhancement, and 
enjoyment of natural resources, protection of the environment, or both, 
and that involve collaborative activity among Federal, State, local, and 
tribal governments, private for-profit and nonprofit institutions, other 
nongovernmental entities and individuals.
    Sec. 3. Federal Activities. To carry out the purpose of this order, 
the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, to the 
extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of 
appropriations and in coordination with each other as appropriate:
    (a) carry out the programs, projects, and activities of the agency 
that they respectively head that implement laws relating to the 
environment and natural resources in a manner that:
    (i) facilitates cooperative conservation;
    (ii) takes appropriate account of and respects the interests of 
persons with ownership or other legally recognized interests in land and 
other natural resources;
    (iii) properly accommodates local participation in Federal 
decisionmaking; and
    (iv) provides that the programs, projects, and activities are 
consistent with protecting public health and safety;

[[Page 1693]]

    (b) report annually to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental 
Quality on actions taken to implement this order; and
    (c) provide funding to the Office of Environmental Quality 
Management Fund (42 U.S.C. 4375) for the Conference for which section 4 
of this order provides.
    Sec. 4. White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. The 
Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality shall, to the extent 
permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations:
    (a) convene not later than 1 year after the date of this order, and 
thereafter at such times as the Chairman deems appropriate, a White 
House Conference on Cooperative Conservation (Conference) to facilitate 
the exchange of information and advice relating to (i) cooperative 
conservation and (ii) means for achievement of the purpose of this 
order; and
    (b) ensure that the Conference obtains information in a manner that 
seeks from Conference participants their individual advice and does not 
involve collective judgment or consensus advice or deliberation.
    Sec. 5. General Provision. This order is not intended to, and does 
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable 
at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its 
departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers, 
employees or agents, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 August 26, 2004.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:31 a.m., August 27, 
2004]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
August 30.