Executive Order 13352
August 26, 2004
Executive Order
Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation
By the authority vested in me as
President by the Constitution and the laws of the
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;
(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.
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