Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and in furtherance of the purpose and policy of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 466), it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Policy. The heads of the departments, agencies, and establishments of the Executive Branch of the Government shall provide leadership in the nationwide effort to improve water quality through prevention, control, and abatement of water pollution from Federal Government activities in the United States. In order to achieve these objectives (1) Pollution from all existing Federal facilities and buildings shall be controlled in accordance with plans to be submitted to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget pursuant to Section 3 of this Order; (2) New Federal facilities and buildings shall be constructed so as to meet the pollution control standards prescribed by Section 4 of this Order; (3) Pollution caused by all other operations of the Federal Government, such as water resources projects and operations under Federal loans, grants, or contracts, shall be reduced to the lowest level practicable; (4) Review and surveillance of all such activities shall be maintained to assure that pollution control standards are met on a continuing basis; (5) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall, in administering the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, provide technical advice and assistance to the heads of other departments, agencies, and establishments in connection with their duties and responsibilities under this Order; (6) The head of each department, agency, and establishment shall ensure compliance with Section 11 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 466h), which declares it to be the intent of Congress that Federal departments and agencies shall, insofar as practicable and consistent with the interests of the United States and within available appropriations, cooperate with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and with State and interstate agencies and municipalities, in preventing or controlling water pollution; and (7) Water pollution control needs shall be considered in the initial stages of planning for each new installation or project, and the head of each department, agency, and establishment shall establish appropriate procedures for securing advice and for consulting with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare at the earliest feasible stage. SEC. 2. Procedures for new Federal facilities and buildings. (a) A request for funds to defray the cost of designing and constructing new facilities and buildings in the United States shall be included in the annual budget estimates of a department, agency, or establishment only if such request includes funds to defray the costs of such measures as may be necessary to assure that the new facility or building will meet the general standards prescribed by Section 4 of this Order. (b) Prior to any solicitation of bids for construction of any such new facility or building a description of the essential features of the water pollution control and treatment measures proposed for the project shall be submitted to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for prompt review and advice as to the adequacy and effectiveness of the measures proposed and for advice as to any related operating procedures and continuing laboratory examinations deemed necessary to ensure effective plant operation. SEC. 3. Procedures for existing Federal facilities and buildings. (a) In order to facilitate budgeting for corrective and preventive measures, the head of each department, agency, and establishment shall provide for an examination of all existing facilities and buildings under his jurisdiction in the United States and shall develop and present to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, by July 1, 1966, a phased and orderly plan for installing such improvements as may be needed to prevent water pollution, or abate such water pollution as may exist, with respect to such buildings and facilities. Subsequent revisions needed to keep any such plan up-to-date shall be promptly submitted to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. Future construction work at each such facility and the expected future use of the facility shall be considered in developing such a plan. Each such plan, and any revisions therein, shall be developed in consultation with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in order to ensure that adoption of the measures proposed thereby will result in the prevention or abatement of water pollution in conformity with the general standards prescribed by Section 4 of this Order. (b) The head of each department, agency, and establishment shall present to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, by July 1, 1967, and by the first of each fiscal year thereafter, an annual report describing progress of his department, agency, or establishment in accomplishing the objectives of its pollution abatement plan. SEC. 4. General standards. (a) Federal installations shall provide secondary treatment, or its equivalent, for all wastes except cooling water and fish hatchery effluents. Discharge of wastes into municipal sewerage systems maintaining adequate treatment is hereby declared to be the preferred method of disposal. However, whenever connection to such a system is not feasible, the department, agency, or establishment concerned shall be responsible for installing its own waste treatment system. Upon an application of the head of a department, agency, or establishment, a degree of treatment less than secondary may be approved with respect to an agency-installed system in an exceptional case if the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare finds that a lesser degree of treatment is adequate to protect the quality of the receiving waters. (b) If discharge of cooling water is expected to create problems by significantly increasing the temperature of the receiving waters, facilities shall be installed, or operating procedures shall be established, to maintain water temperatures within acceptable limits. (c) Storage facilities for materials which are hazardous to health and welfare, and for oils, gases, fuels or other materials capable of causing water pollution, if accidentally discharged, shall be located so as to minimize or prevent any spillage which might result in water pollution. Engineering measures to entrap spillage, such as 507 catchment areas, relief vessels, or entrapment-dikes, shall be installed so as to prevent accidental pollution of water. (d) No waste shall be discharged into waters if it contains any substances in concentrations which are hazardous to health. (e) No waste shall be discharged into waters if it contains any substances in concentrations which will result in substantial harm to domestic animals, fish, shellfish, or wildlife, if methods of treatment or disposal are available that will remove or render harmless such pollutants. If such methods are not available, but can reasonably be developed, they will be developed and used at the earliest possible date. A determination that such methods are not available or cannot reasonably be developed will not be made without the concurrence of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. (f) The head of each department, agency, and establishment shall, with respect to each installation in the United States under his jurisdiction, make, or cause to be made, such surveys as may be necessary to ensure that discharges of waste effluents from activities concerned with radioactivity are in accord with the applicable rules, regulations, or requirements of the Atomic Energy Commission (10 CFR, Part 20) and the policies and guidance of the Federal Radiation Council as published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (g) Construction and operating plans for waste treatment facilities shall include space for the conduct of necessary laboratory analyses and for the maintenance of records of results thereof whenever the size and complexity of the system makes this necessary. (h) Construction and operating plans for waste treatment facilities shall take into account water quality standards promulgated pursuant to the provisions of the Water Quality Act of 1965 (79 Stat. 903). (i) Any waste treatment facilities installed by any department, agency, or establishment shall as far as practicable be constructed so as to conform with any areawide program, meeting criteria established by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator for a unified or officially coordinated areawide sewer facilities system as part of a comprehensively planned development of an area pursuant to Section 702(c) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, that may have been adopted with respect to the areas concerned. SEC. 5. Modification of standards. The standards prescribed by paragraphs (a) through (e) and (g) through (i) of Section 4 of this Order may be supplemented or modified by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, after consultation with the Director of the Bureau of the Budget. All such changes shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. SEC. 6. Procedures for Federal water resources projects. (a) The Secretaries of Agriculture, the Army, and the Interior, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission shall present for the consideration of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare any plans that they propose to recommend with respect to the authorization or construction of any Federal water resource development project in the United States. Such plans must be consistent with the general standards prescribed by Section 4 of this Order to the fullest extent practicable. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall review such plans and supporting data relating to water quality, and shall prepare a report to the head of the responsible department, agency, or establishment describing the potential impact of the project on water quality, including recommendations concerning any changes or other measures with respect thereto which he considers to be necessary with respect to the design, construction, and operation of the project. (b) The report of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall accompany any report proposing authorization or construction of such a water resource development project. In any case in which the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare fails to submit a report within 90 days after receipt of project plans, the head of the department, agency, or establishment concerned may propose authorization or construction of the project without such an accompanying report. In any such case, the head of the department, agency, or establishment concerned shall explicitly state in his report concerning the project that the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare has not reported on the potential impact of the project on water quality. SEC. 7. Review of facilities or operations supported by Federal loans, grants, or contracts. (a) The head of each department, agency, and establishment shall conduct a review of the loan, grant, and contract practices of his organization to determine the extent to which water pollution control standards similar to those set forth in this Order for direct Federal operations should be adhered to by borrowers, grantees, or contractors with respect to their operations in the United States. The head of each department, agency, and establishment shall review all such activities for which there is a significant potential for reduction of water pollution and develop appropriate recommendations for accomplishing such reduction. In conducting this review, necessary technical assistance should be sought from the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies. A report on the results of this review shall be submitted to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget by July 1, 1966. (b) The heads of departments, agencies, and establishments are encouraged to prescribe regulations covering loan, grant, or contract practices designed to reduce water pollution. SEC. 8. Study of water pollution from vessel operations. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall make a comprehensive study of the problem of water pollution within the United States caused by the operation of vessels, and shall develop such recommendations for corrective or preventive action as may be appropriate, including recommendations with respect to vessels operated by any department, agency, or establishment of the Federal Government. The results of the study and recommendations shall be transmitted to the President by January 1, 1967. The study and report thereon shall be prepared in consultation with, and with the advice and assistance of, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce. SEC. 9. Prior Executive Order superseded. Executive Order No. 10014 of November 5, 1948, is hereby superseded. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House November 17, 1965