Modernizing America's Water Resource Management and Water Infrastructure
| Citation | 85 FR 65647 |
| Record Number | 2020-23116 |
| Published date | 16 October 2020 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 201 (Friday, October 16, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 65647-65650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23116] Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 201 / Friday, October 16, 2020 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 65647]]
Executive Order 13956 of October 13, 2020
Modernizing America's Water Resource Management
and Water Infrastructure
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. Abundant, safe, and reliable
supplies of water are critical to quality of life for
all Americans, fueling our economy, providing food for
our citizens and the world, generating energy,
protecting public health, supporting rich and diverse
wildlife and plant species, and affording recreational
opportunities. While America is blessed with abundant
natural resources, those resources must be effectively
managed, and our water infrastructure must be
modernized to meet the needs of current and future
generations.
Executive departments and agencies (agencies) that
engage in water-related matters, including water
storage and supply, water quality and restoration
activities, water infrastructure, transportation on our
rivers and inland waterways, and water forecasting,
must work together where they have joint or overlapping
responsibilities. This order will ensure that agencies
do that more efficiently and effectively to improve our
country's water resource management, modernize our
water infrastructure, and prioritize the availability
of clean, safe, and reliable water supplies.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States
to:
(a) Improve coordination among agencies on water
resource management and water infrastructure issues;
(b) Reduce unnecessary duplication across the
Federal Government by coordinating and consolidating
existing water-related task forces, working groups, and
other formal cross-agency initiatives, as appropriate;
(c) Efficiently and effectively manage America's
water resources and promote resilience of America's
water-related infrastructure;
(d) Promote integrated planning among agencies for
Federal investments in water-related infrastructure;
and
(e) Support workforce development and efforts to
recruit, train, and retain professionals to operate and
maintain America's essential drinking water,
wastewater, flood control, hydropower, and delivery and
storage facilities.
Sec. 3. Interagency Water Subcabinet. To promote
efficient and effective coordination across agencies
engaged in water-related matters, and to prioritize
actions to modernize and safeguard our water resources
and infrastructure, an interagency Water Policy
Committee (to be known as the Water Subcabinet) is
hereby established. The Water Subcabinet shall be co-
chaired by the Secretary of the Interior and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
(Co-Chairs), and shall include the Secretary of
Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary
of Energy, the Secretary of the Army, and the heads of
such other agencies as the Co-Chairs deem appropriate.
The Department of the Interior or the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) shall, to the extent permitted
by law and subject to the availability of
appropriations, provide administrative support as
needed for the Water Subcabinet to implement this
order.
Sec. 4. Reducing Inefficiencies and Duplication.
Currently, hundreds of Federal water-related task
forces, working groups, and other formal cross-agency
[[Page 65648]]
initiatives (Federal interagency working groups) exist
to address water resource management. Within 90 days of
the date of this order, the Water Subcabinet shall, to
the extent practicable, identify all such Federal
interagency working groups and provide recommendations
to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ), the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), and the Director of the Office of Science
and Technology Policy (OSTP) on coordinating and
consolidating these Federal interagency working groups,
as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 5. Improving Water Resource Management. Federal
agencies engage in a wide range of activities relating
to water resource management. Within 120 days of the
date of this order, the Water Subcabinet shall submit
to the Chairman of CEQ, the Director of OMB, and the
Director of OSTP a report that recommends actions to
address the issues described below, and for each
recommendation identifies a lead agency, other relevant
agencies, and agency milestones for fiscal years 2021
through 2025:
(a) Actions to increase water storage, water supply
reliability, and drought resiliency, including through:
(i) developing additional storage capacity, including an examination of
operational changes and opportunities to update dam water control manuals
for existing facilities during routine operations, maintenance, and safety
assessments;
(ii) coordinating agency reviews when there are multi-agency permitting and
other regulatory requirements;
(iii) increasing engagement with State, local, and tribal partners
regarding the ongoing drought along the Colorado River and regarding
irrigated agriculture in the Colorado Basin;
(iv) implementing the ``Priority Actions Supporting Long-Term Drought
Resilience'' document issued on July 31, 2019, by the National Drought
Resilience Partnership; and
(v) improving coordination among State, local, tribal, and territorial
governments and rural communities, including farmers, ranchers, and
landowners, to develop voluntary, market-based water and land management
practices and programs that improve conservation efforts, economic
viability, and water supply, sustainability, and security;
(b) Actions to improve water quality, source water
protection, and nutrient management; to promote
restoration activities; and to examine water quality
challenges facing our Nation's minority and low-income
communities, including through:
(i) implementing the ``Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action
Plan III'' issued on October 22, 2019, by the EPA for the GLRI Interagency
Task Force and Regional Working Group, established pursuant to the Water
Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (Public Law 114-322);
(ii) enhancing coordination among the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico
Watershed Nutrient Task Force partners to support State implementation of
nutrient reduction strategies;
(iii) increasing coordination between agencies and members of the South
Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, established pursuant to the Water
Resources Development Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-303), and implementing
and completing the activities included in the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan, established pursuant to the Water Resources Development
Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-541); and
(iv) continuing implementation of the EPA's memorandum entitled ``Updating
the Environmental Protection Agency's Water Quality Trading Policy to
Promote Market-Based Mechanisms for Improving Water Quality'' issued on
February 6, 2019;
[[Page 65649]]
(c) Actions to improve water systems, including for
drinking water, desalination, water reuse, wastewater,
and flood control, including through:
(i) finalizing and implementing, as appropriate and consistent with
applicable law, the proposed rule entitled ``National Primary Drinking
Water Regulations: Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revisions,'' 84 Fed. Reg.
61684 (Nov. 13, 2019);
(ii) implementing the ``National Water Reuse Action Plan'' issued on
February 27, 2020, by the EPA;
(iii) coordinating with the Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task
Force, established pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968
(Public Law 90-448), on Federal flood risk management policies and programs
to better support community needs; and
(iv) continuing coordination among agencies concerning the Department of
Energy's Water Security Grand Challenge to advance transformational
technology and innovation to provide safe, secure, and affordable water;
and
(d) Actions to improve water data management,
research, modeling, and forecasting, including through:
(i) aligning efforts and developing research plans among the Secretary of
the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Secretary of the
Army, through the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), to ensure
that America remains a global leader for water-related science and
technology capabilities;
(ii) implementing common methods of water forecasting, including the use of
snow monitoring tools, on a national and basin scale, supported by weather
forecasting on all scales;
(iii) developing state-of-the-art geospatial data tools, including maps,
through Federal, State, tribal, and territorial partnerships to depict the
scope of waters regulated under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-500); and
(iv) implementing actions identified in the ``Federal Action Plan for
Improving Forecasts of Water Availability'' issued on October 18, 2019, by
the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce pursuant to
section 3 of the Presidential Memorandum of October 19, 2018 (Promoting the
Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West).
Sec. 6. Report. Within 1 year of submitting the report
required by section 5 of this order, and annually
thereafter, the Water Subcabinet shall update the
Chairman of CEQ, the Director of OMB, and the Director
of OSTP on the status of the actions identified in the
report.
Sec. 7. Integrated Infrastructure Planning. Agencies
oversee a number of programs to enhance coordination of
cross-agency water infrastructure planning and to
protect taxpayer investments. Within 150 days of the
date of this order, the Water Subcabinet shall identify
and recommend actions and priorities to the Director of
OMB, the Chairman of CEQ, and the Assistant to the
President for Economic Policy to support integrated
planning and coordination among agencies to maintain
and modernize our Nation's water infrastructure,
including for drinking water, desalination, water
reuse, wastewater, irrigation, flood control,
transportation on our rivers and inland waterways, and
water storage and conveyance. The recommendations shall
consider water infrastructure programs that are funded
by the Department of Defense through the Army Corps of
Engineers, and by the Department of the Interior, the
Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy,
the EPA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the
Economic Development Administration, and other
agencies, as appropriate. Such programs include the
EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
program, established pursuant to the Water Resources
Reform and Development Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-121)
and amended by the America's Water Infrastructure Act
of 2018 (Public Law 115-270), which modernizes the
aging
[[Page 65650]]
water infrastructure of the United States, improves
public health protections, and creates jobs; the
Department of Agriculture's rural development programs,
which make and support investments in water
infrastructure; and the Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service programs, which
promote source water protection, improve water quality,
and assist with developing new water infrastructure
projects.
Sec. 8. Water Sector Workforce. Trained water-sector
professionals are vital to protecting public health and
the environment through strategic planning, operation
and maintenance of treatment facilities, and
implementation of water management programs. Within 150
days of the date of this order, the Water Subcabinet,
in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary
of Education, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and
the heads of other agencies, as appropriate, shall
identify actions and develop recommendations to improve
interagency coordination and provide assistance and
technical support to State, local, tribal, and
territorial governments in order to enhance the
recruitment, training, and retention of water
professionals within drinking water, desalination,
water reuse, wastewater, flood control, hydropower, and
delivery and storage sectors. Such recommendations
shall be submitted to the Chairman of CEQ, the
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, the
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner
consistent with applicable law and subject to the
availability of appropriations.
(c) 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, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 13, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-23116
Filed 10-15-20; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F1-P
