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uc~-~,-~~ ~~158 FROHIH.B.S.S. I '.. a ~...' c- ii~i}. .~ -",~-", 0') .;:... o ~;~~l t According to testimony from Ms. Mc(;lnty. the Amc:rican Heritage RIvers initiative (AHRI) is intended to 'support community~ed drom to ~taliZe local economies, protect natur.ll resoW'Ces and the en-iron- ment, and pr=ve historic and cultur.ll resources. " But notwithstanding the feeJ.good sound bites, aitics assert that the program doa not protect rivetS-it actu- ally provides for' deveJ.opmenl of the ten rivers selected in the presldentW oompetition. creating riverbank developments inducling ~=ional and residential strUctures of uodC1:ennined size and scope and river transportation systems, Funher, the Progx2DI does ....hat it does through an unauthorized =ension and deleg>- tion of feden.l power, providing for a fedet2lly funded ri-'cr "na>igator" to be the fin21 arbiter on alllssues concerning AHRI_ A "river community" coll1ll1lttee m~ up of nonelected officials in a new quasi-federal regulatory jwisdiction is to make all drosions for' the river and within ilS watershed, ....hich w!ll often indude immense tracts of land offecting pro~ own- ers br beyond the river. AHIU W'aS introduced In President Ointoo's State of the Union address, February 4, 1997, and fOrmally insti- tuted with Executive Order 13,061, September 11, 1997, din:cting feden1 agencies to implement the pro- gram. President CUnton ~d in his introduction that 'we have to tmke sure that the rivers that run.through them [the cities] are good, dean rivas." But a number ot teden.l Statutes and congressionall}' authorized feder- al progntDS already address eomprehensively the issues of dean water and rut2J development while a ne.... fed- eral program created wholly by executive order creates more legal questions than it doa river prorection or development. National environmental Pror..ction Act, AHRl is an affront to the protections pro>ided by the: tirst envi- ronmental st:ltute-the National Environmenul . Protection ACt (NCPA). l.'iEPA r~s that any "major fede:ral action significantly offc:cting the quality of the hum:an environment" must be pteceded by m environ- mental assessment and a subsequent environmental im~ statement. when such actions are proposed- long before implanent:ltion. The CEQ plan for AHRI has cut through this sututory requirement- -redtape" W'aS the term used-as promised and has proceeded to develop itS OWtl criteria for aW2ttl and inlple;nentation of environmentally dest1'Ucth-e projecu. Separation of Powws_ Separation of po....ers is a tund2mental principle of collStitutlon:LI govemtnent. AHRI is a =jor feden.l initi3.tive which is not onJ~' NOT authorized Or manc.lared by Congress, but for which spending was expressly prohibited by the 1998 Budget Act. If the SOOctity of constitutional principles is not enough. the practical problems of not follo....ing the governmental traditions inhe~nt in the separation of powers doctrine are evident hen::. Whilc Vice President Gore ~d ~ his National Performance 36:Z 10.970 247 8827 PAGE 3/4 Re>;cw StatuS Rcpon: that AHRI is an example of the "trUe spirit of reinventing governmenr.. it acrualIy cre- ated a major overlap with another existing and congres- sionaUy authorized federal program. The Rural Developmem: P3rtnersbip, est:ablIshed under lhe Bush "'tlmlnl.......tion in 1991, addresses the issue of coordi. nal:ed rural economic developmenr and is already at ....-ode In olmOS! 80 pereent of the States. 5_ Lzws and PrtrIaU Property Rigbts. State sover- eignty is .e~usaaed in lhe Tenth Amendment and the corurol of the StatCS ova- issues like the enviroMtent. nat- ural re:sources, land use, = rights and private property riglIts has long been acknowiedged and accepted, subjccr only to apress exereise of congressional po"';~ to regu- late interstate co=e in the best in= of all AmCllc2ns. 1bat kd=1 power does not arise from the is5uance of ac:cutive orders. Generations ot common law rights and regu1atOIy programs protected 3Ild enf<mXd by ....re gm-emmaus CltUlot be so easily swept aside. Any privaIe p!1)j>dtY owner within the watershed aI<::3 of rivers chosen for participation in lhe AHRl will be subjea- ed to new limitations on the use of their propert}., r2ising with alarm questions abouI: the federal go>'cmment's legal authottty for ttIis imrusion and whc:ther these impacts amount to coDStitwionally prohibited "takings" of private propc:n:y without just compensation. The western States ~ a complexity of ~d water use tights. involv. ing the clIstribulion of scarce water tcsouteeS that have been in place for decades and that are carefulI}' guarded. AHRI would aeate a qua.skegulatOty O''Crlay that seeks to affect the use of water/property rights. Public Norice and Comment. The Administrative Procedure Act r~s a public "notice and comment" period on any federal rulemaking :lCtivity. The fact that CEQ did not call AHRl a rulemaking aCtiYit)- or that they claim to add "no new regulations or rules" is irrel- <:vant. A rule i5 defined :as "the whole Or a part of an agency statement of genen.l ot particular appliClbility and future effect designed to implcment, Interpret or pttSaibe Ia... 01 policy. Or ~escribing the organization. procedun: or practice requirements of an agency.' The Ointon .tlm;n;<tr.ltion, through CEQ, cJai.m.s that the creation of this ne".- federal program. was not rulemak- ing and that the Implement.:ltlon of the new program did not req:llte not:ie:e_~d eomment rulemaklng pro- cee<lings because the new program had no rules. While this dubious argument may rai5e more concerns than it scnles, the essence ot the issue is that ~ has recelved neither congressional approval or public input, yet it seeks to crC2-te an extensi.-e new program of federal regularOIy influence into the very centc:r of American life, the protection and use: of our environ- ment ond our property. Congressional opposition ro ~ included a request from fifty-live member.! ot the House of Representatives ond tifrt:en senators to c:xrend the COm- ment period on the abbreviau:d Federal Register notice !\'RlI:E Sum"," 1998