Executive Order 13080

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App., as amended, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment.

There is hereby established the American Heritage Rivers Initiative Advisory Committee ("Committee"). The Committee shall consist of up to 20 members appointed by the President from the public and private sectors. Each member of the Committee shall be a person who, as a result of his or her training, experience, and attainments, is well qualified to appraise the quality of nominations for selection of rivers as American Heritage Rivers submitted by communities across the country. The expertise of members of the Committee shall be in areas such as natural, cultural, and historic resources; water quality; public health; scenic and recreation interests; tourism and economic development interests; industry; and agriculture. The President shall designate a Chair from among the members of the Committee.

Sec. 2.

(a) The Committee shall review nominations from communities and recommend to the President up to 20 rivers for consideration for designation as American Heritage Rivers. From the rivers recommended for consideration, the President shall designate ten as American Heritage Rivers.

(b) In its review of nominations submitted by communities, the Committee shall provide its assessment of:

(1) The scope of each nomination's application and the adequacy of its design to achieve the community's goals;

(2) Whether the natural, economic (including agricultural), scenic, historic, cultural, and/or recreational resources featured in the application are distinctive or unique;

(3) The extent to which the community's plan of action is clearly defined and the extent to which the plan addresses all three American Heritage Rivers objectives-natural resource and environmental protection, economic revitalization, and historic and cultural preservation- either through planned actions or past accomplishments, as well as any other characteristics of the proposals that distinguish a nomination, such as:

(A) Community vision and partnership;

(B) Sustainability of products and projects, including project maintenance;

(C) Resources, both committed and anticipated, including means of generating additional support from both private and public sources;

(D) Anticipated Federal role as defined by the applicants;

(E) Schedule or timeline;

(F) Citizen involvement;

(G) Public education relating to the designation of the river;

(H) Logistical support, operating procedures, and policies;

(I) Prior accomplishments, if relevant, and relationship to existing plans and projects in the area; and

(J) Measures of performance.

(4) The strength and diversity of support for the nomination and plan of action as evidenced by letters from local and State governments, Indian tribes, elected officials, any and all parties who participate in the life and health of the area to be nominated, or who have an interest in the economic life and cultural and environmental vigor of the involved community.

(c) The Committee also should seek to recommend the selection of rivers that as a group:

(1) Represent the natural, historic, cultural, social, economic, and agricultural diversity of American rivers;

(2) Showcase a variety of stream sizes and an assortment of urban, rural, and mixed settings from around the country, including both relatively pristine and degraded rivers;

(3) Highlight a variety of innovative programs in such areas as historic preservation, sustainable development through tourism, wildlife management, fisheries restoration, recreation, community revitalization, agricultural practices, and flood plain and watershed management;

(4) Include community efforts in early stages of development as well as those that are more well established; and

(5) Stand to benefit from targeted Federal assistance.

(d) The Committee shall report its recommendations for selection of rivers as American Heritage Rivers to the President through the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.

Sec. 3. Administration.

(a) The heads of executive departments and agencies shall provide the Committee, to the extent practicable and permitted by law, such information with respect to river revitalization as the Committee requires to fulfill its functions.

(b) The Committee shall be supported both administratively and financially by the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

Sec. 4. General.

The Committee shall terminate no later than 2 years from the date of this order. The Chair of the Committee, with the approval of the designated Federal officer, shall call meetings of the American Heritage Rivers Initiative Advisory Committee.

William J. Clinton The White House, April 7, 1998.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 9, 1998]