By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, and as President of the United States, I hereby prescribe the following rules and regulations relating to the administration of the said Act: SECTION 1. Scope of order. This order shall apply (a) to the planning, construction, operation, and maintenance of all works of improvement under the authority of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (Public Law 566, approved August 4, 1954; 68 Stat. 666), hereinafter referred to as the Act, and (b) to other programs and projects of the Department of Agriculture, and to programs and projects of the Department of the Interior and of the Department of the Army, to the extent that such programs or projects affect, or are affected significantly by, works of improvement provided for in the Act. SEC. 2. Department of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture shall have the following-described responsibilities with respect to works of improvement under the Act: (a) Approval or disapproval of applications for Federal assistance in preparing plans for works of improvement, and the assignment of priorities for the provision of such assistance. (b) Notifying the following, severally, in writing of all approvals or disapprovals of applications for planning assistance: the sponsoring organization, the State Governor or Governors concerned, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Army, and other Federal agencies concerned. (c) Notifying in writing the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army and other Federal agencies concerned of his decision to initiate any survey or field investigation involving water-resource development work, and furnishing the Federal agencies concerned with appropriate information regarding the scope, nature, status, and results of such survey or investigation. (d) Submitting plans for works of improvement to the State Governor or Governors concerned and to the Federal agencies concerned for review and comment, when the Secretary and the interested local organization have agreed on such plans; and, when and as required by the Act, submitting such plans to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army for their review and comment prior to transmission of the plans to the Congress through the President. (e) Establishing criteria for the formulation and justification of plans for works of improvement and criteria for the sharing of the cost of both structural and land treatment measures which conform with policies established by or at the direction of the President for watershed protection, flood control, irrigation, drainage, water supply, and related water-resource development purposes. (f) Establishing engineering and economic standards and objectives, including standards as to degrees of flood protection, for works of improvement planned and carried out under the authority of the Act. (g) Determination and definition of (1) those land-treatment measures and structural improvements for flood prevention and measures for the agricultural phases of conservation, development, use, and disposal of water which are eligible for Federal assistance, and (2) the nature and extent of such assistance and the conditions under which such assistance shall be rendered. (h) Planning and installing works of improvement on public lands under his jurisdiction, and arranging for the participation of other Federal agencies in the planning and installation of works of improvement on public lands under their jurisdiction. (i) Consulting with the Tennessee Valley Authority with respect to any survey or field investigation involving water-resource development work in the Tennessee Valley, and continuing such consultation throughout all phases of project development. (j) Holding public hearings at suitable times and places when he determines that such action will further the purposes of the Act. SEC. 3. Department of the Interior. (a) The Secretary of the Interior shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Army and other Federal agencies concerned in writing of his decision to initiate any survey or field investigation involving water-resource development work, and shall furnish the Federal agencies concerned with appropriate information regarding the scope, nature, status, and results of such survey or investigation. (b) The Secretary of the Interior shall cooperate with the Secretary of Agriculture in assessing the need for works of improvement under the Act on Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. Recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior for necessary work on such lands shall be submitted as an integral part of the plans of the Department of Agriculture for works of improvement. Arrangements for construction, operation, and maintenance of works of improvement on such lands shall be mutually satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 4. Department of the Army. The Secretary of the Army shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior and other Federal agencies concerned in writing of his decision to initiate any survey or field investigation involving water-resource development work, and shall furnish the Federal agencies concerned with appropriate information regarding the scope, nature, status, and results of such survey or investigation. SEC. 5. Relationship to comprehensive development. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture shall submit plans for installation of works of improvement under the Act to the Congress through the President only if the Secretary is satisfied that such works constitute needed and harmonious elements in the comprehensive development of the river sub-basin or river basin involved. (b) Federal agencies having responsibilities for water resource developments shall, in the design and justification of works of improvement, take cognizance of all upstream and downstream works in place and in operation, or soon to be brought into operation. The guiding principle shall be to adjust the nature, capacity, and operating characteristics of works of improvement in a manner that (1) reflects the respective contributions of upstream and downstream works to flood protection and to the conservation, development, use, and disposal of water, and (2) provides the best use and control of water resources at minimum cost. Whenever approximately equivalent benefits can be obtained from alternative works of improvement, or combinations of improvements, with approximately the same cost, the alternative or combination least costly to the Federal Government shall be given preferential consideration. In case benefits are produced jointly by more than one work of improvement, or in case complementary relationships exist between the projects and plans of the several agencies, the benefits claimed in justification of a system of improvements shall not include any duplication or compounding of benefits.
Sec. 6. #sec-6
Basic data. In the utilization of existing basic physical and economic data, and in the acquisition of additional basic data required for planning, design, construction, operation and evaluation of works of improvement authorized under the Act, the Department of Agriculture shall be assisted by the principal basic data collection agencies, including the Geological Survey in the Department of the Interior and the Weather Bureau in the Department of Commerce. The basic-data collection agencies shall assist and cooperate with the Department of Agriculture with respect to the following: (a) Provision of pertinent information in the preliminary planning of works of improvement. (b) Collaboration in planning programs of hydrologic-data collection in project areas, in the selection of station sites and installation of equipment for collecting hydrologic data, and in the collection of such data. (c) Collaboration in the analysis and interpretation of hydrologic data collected specifically for projects initiated under the Act, and of relevant data which may contribute to an analysis of the effects of such projects. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature
December 18, 1954.
