Executive Order 13158 - Marine Protected Areas
[Federal Register: May 31, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 105)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 34909-34911]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31my00-122]
Presidential Documents
[[Page 34909]]
Executive Order 13158 of May 26, 2000
Marine Protected Areas
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.), 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
[[Page 34910]]
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 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
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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 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.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 26, 2000.
[FR Doc. 00-13830
Filed 5-30-00; 12:14 pm]
Billing code 3195-01-P
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