[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 67617-67619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21882]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 67617]]
Memorandum of September 27, 2023
Restoring Healthy and Abundant Salmon, Steelhead,
and Other Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River
Basin
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies
The Columbia River and its tributaries, wetlands, and
estuaries are the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest,
providing abundant water, power, recreation,
agriculture, transportation, and natural resources that
have supported livelihoods, cultural and spiritual
practices, commerce, and economic growth. The salmon,
steelhead, and other native fish populations in the
Columbia River Basin (Basin) are essential to the
culture, economy, and way of life of Tribal Nations in
the region and Indigenous peoples in Canada, and also
provide an important food source for endangered orca,
which are sacred to many Tribal Nations in the region.
In 1855, the United States and four of the Tribal
Nations of the Basin entered into treaties specifying
that these Tribal Nations reserved the right to harvest
fish on their reservations and at all usual and
accustomed places. At that time, an estimated 7.5 to 16
million adult salmon and steelhead returned to the
Basin each year.
Actions since 1855, including the Federal Government's
construction and operation of dams in the Basin, have
severely depleted fish populations. Thirteen salmon and
steelhead populations are listed as threatened or
endangered, other populations of those fish have been
extirpated, and other native fish populations have also
declined, causing substantial harm to Tribal Nations
and other communities reliant on salmon and steelhead.
Despite decades of hard work, ingenuity, expense, and
commitment across Federal, Tribal, State, and local
governments and a wide range of stakeholders, the
populations of salmon, steelhead, and other native fish
populations in the Basin continue to decline or have
not recovered to the level that would warrant removing
any population from the list of threatened and
endangered species.
It is time for a sustained national effort to restore
healthy and abundant native fish populations in the
Basin. For these reasons, and 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. Policy. It is a priority of my
Administration to honor Federal trust and treaty
responsibilities to Tribal Nations--including to those
Tribal Nations harmed by the construction and operation
of Federal dams that are part of the Columbia River
System (CRS)--and to carry out the requirement of the
Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and
Conservation Act (Public Law 96-501) to operate,
manage, and regulate the CRS to adequately protect,
mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the
Federal dams in the Basin in a manner that provides
equitable treatment for fish and wildlife with the
other purposes for which the Federal dams are managed
and operated.
In recognition of these priorities, it is the policy of
my Administration to work with the Congress and with
Tribal Nations, States, local governments, and
stakeholders to pursue effective, creative, and durable
solutions, informed by Indigenous Knowledge, to restore
healthy and abundant salmon, steelhead, and other
native fish populations in the Basin; to secure a clean
and resilient energy future for the region; to support
local agriculture and its role in food security
domestically and globally; and to invest in the
[[Page 67618]]
communities that depend on the services provided by the
Basin's Federal dams to enhance resilience to changes
to the operation of the CRS, including those necessary
to address changing hydrological conditions due to
climate change.
Sec. 2. Federal Implementation. (a) All executive
departments and agencies (agencies) with applicable
authorities and responsibilities, including the
Department of the Interior, including the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the
Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service, and the United States Geological
Survey; the Department of Agriculture, including the
United States Forest Service and the Natural Resources
Conservation Service; the Department of Commerce,
including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration; the Department of Energy, including the
Bonneville Power Administration; the Department of the
Army, including the United States Army Corps of
Engineers; and the Environmental Protection Agency, are
directed to utilize their authorities and available
resources to advance the policy established in section
1 of this memorandum.
(b) Within 120 days of the date of this memorandum,
all agencies with applicable authorities and
responsibilities, including those agencies identified
in subsection (a) of this section, shall review their
programs affecting salmon, steelhead, and other native
fish populations in the Basin, including any program
with authority or responsibility with respect to the
CRS, for consistency with the policy established in
section 1 of this memorandum. As soon as practicable
following such review, agencies shall, consistent with
applicable law, identify and initiate any steps
necessary to advance that policy.
(c) Within 220 days of the date of this memorandum,
all agencies with applicable authorities and
responsibilities, including those agencies identified
in subsection (a) of this section, shall provide the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
(Director) an assessment of the agency's programs that
can advance the policy established in section 1 of this
memorandum and the resources such programs need for
this purpose. Based on the assessment, each agency
shall prioritize these activities to the extent
feasible in their program and budget planning.
Sec. 3. Intergovernmental Partnership. The Chair of the
Council on Environmental Quality (Chair) and the
Director shall explore opportunities and mechanisms to
develop an intergovernmental partnership, including
through a memorandum of understanding, to advance the
policy established in section 1 of this memorandum
within the United States; the States of Oregon,
Washington, Montana, and Idaho; the Tribal Nations of
the Basin, including the Columbia Basin Treaty Tribes
(the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands
of the Yakama Indian Nation, the Confederated Tribes of
the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation); the Upper Columbia United Tribes (the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the
Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Indians, the Spokane Tribe of
Indians, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, and the
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho); the Upper Snake River Tribes
(the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Fort McDermitt Paiute-
Shoshone Tribe, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort
Hall Reservation, and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the
Duck Valley Reservation); and other Tribal Nations, as
appropriate. Within 120 days of the date of this
memorandum, the Chair and the Director shall submit a
report to the President with an update on progress in
developing this intergovernmental partnership.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this
memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect the ability of heads of agencies to meet the
requirements of sections 2 and 3 of this memorandum
before the deadlines in those sections or to produce
additional materials not specifically requested in this
memorandum.
(b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:
[[Page 67619]]
(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.
(c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent
with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(d) This memorandum 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.
(e) Independent agencies are strongly encouraged to
comply with the provisions of this memorandum.
Sec. 5. Publication. The Chair is hereby authorized and
directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal
Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, September 27, 2023
[FR Doc. 2023-21882
Filed 9-29-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3125-W0-P