On May 19, 1997, the Council on Environmental Quality published in the Federal Register a notice for public comment on the establishment of a Federal interagency task force to design criteria and make recommendations to the President for selection of ten outstanding stretches of river for designation as American Heritage Rivers. The notice was vague in detail and provided for a short comment period until June 9, 1997. The public responded to this issue by contacting Congress with concerns involving the effects of these designations on private property rights, concerns of increased Federal regulation, and Federal usurpation of local and State land-use authority.

The Congress requested that the Administration extend the comment period for this initiative, resulting in a June 20, 1997 publication of notice in the Federal Register extending the comment period until August 20, 1997.

The Committee on Resources is reviewing the American Heritage Rivers due to Congressional concerns involving the reprogramming of authorized funds for this initiative and the future reprogramming of funds for specific Federal assistance at areas not authorized by Congress.

On February 4, 1997, President Clinton announced the American Heritage Rivers Initiative in his State of the Union Address. The Council on Environmental Quality formulated all initial input into this initiative. Agencies involved in the America Heritage Rivers Initiative include the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The American Heritage Rivers Initiative has two major components: 1) enhanced services and program delivery to designated rivers, and 2) improved delivery of services and information to these designated river communities. The President will designate, by proclamation, ten rivers in calender year 1997, and others may be designated in later years. Designation of a river will be considered permanent, depending on the community's plan of action, and there will be a "River Navigator", a Federal employee, assigned to each designated river for a five year term, to serve as liaison to the community to coordinate delivery of all Federal agency resources.

The entire program design is vague, and leads one to believe that there are additional Federal resources available to these non-Congressionally authorized, Presidentially proclaimed rivers. These river designations are measured in the hundreds of miles crossing multiple city, county, and State jurisdictional lines. In some instances, international boundaries are involved. Finally, there is confusion in that communities assume these rivers will receive the same opportunity for Federal funding as the Congressionally authorized National Heritage River Corridors..

Meetings were held in 15 major cities in all regions of the United States in April and May, 1997. These meetings were coordinated by the Federal Interagency Task Force, including representatives from the National Park Service, U. S. Forest Service, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency. There is concern that the meetings did not comply with the Administrative Procedures Act and certainly not with the National Environmental Policy Act requiring adequate public notice and openness. Less than 1,000 individuals attended these sessions. On July 3, 1997, the Committee on Resources requested detailed information concerning these public meetings and the Council on Environmental Quality has agreed to provide it for review.

On May 19, 1997, the Council on Environmental Quality published notice in the Federal Register on the American Heritage Rivers initiative, and informed the Committee on Resources of this action, by letter dated the same day. Public reaction to the notice reached Congress during the last week of May, and as a result, on June 4, 1997, the Committee on Resources strongly advised the Council on Environmental Quality to extend the comment period for 90 days, until at least September 9, 1997. The letter also requested a briefing by the Council on Environmental Quality for Congressional staff. Subsequently, the Council on Environmental Quality briefed Congressional staff on June 6, 1997, but the results were so totally unsatisfactory that the decision was made to hold an oversight hearing. On June 11, 1997, the Council on Environmental Quality informed the Committee on Resources that the comment period would be extended until August 20, 1997, and subsequently, on June 20, 1997, the Council on Environmental Quality, published notice in the Federal Register extending the public comment by 60 days, rather than the requested 90-day period.