Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas
Record date: 2025-01-31
( printed page 8747) Executive Order 14181 of January 24, 2025 Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1 . Policy. For weeks, residents of the Los Angeles area have watched raging fires consume their homes, belongings, beloved pets, and childhood memories. Almost immediately, firefighters were unable to fight the blaze due to dry hydrants, empty reservoirs,
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2025-02174
- Publication date
- 2025-01-31
- Citation
- 90 FR 8747
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
( printed page 8747) Executive Order 14181 of January 24, 2025 Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1 . Policy. For weeks, residents of the Los Angeles area have watched raging fires consume their homes, belongings, beloved pets, and childhood memories. Almost immediately, firefighters were unable to fight the blaze due to dry hydrants, empty reservoirs, and inadequate water infrastructure. Today, at least 28 people have lost their lives and thousands more have lost everything else, with some damage estimates calculating hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. This tragedy affects the entire Nation, so it is in the Nation's interest to ensure that California has what it needs to prevent and fight these fires and others in the future. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to provide Southern California with necessary water resources, notwithstanding actively harmful State or local policies. And it is the policy of the United States to assist Americans in disaster areas through responsive policies that more effectively empower them to rebuild and regain their livelihoods. Sec. 2 . Overriding Disastrous California Policies. (a) The Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall expeditiously take all measures, consistent with all applicable authorities, to ensure adequate water resources in Southern California. Each shall report to me within 15 days on all authorities, including emergency authorities, available to ensure, require, maintain, or use infrastructure necessary to fight and prevent massive wildfires in Southern California. (b) In particular, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall immediately take actions to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall consider actions including those consistent with the “No Action Alternative” in the Final Environmental Impact Statement issued November 15, 2024, by the Bureau of Reclamation on Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project. (c) The Secretary of the Interior, including through the Bureau of Reclamation, shall utilize his discretion to operate the CVP to deliver more water and produce additional hydropower, including by increasing storage and conveyance, and jointly operating federal and state facilities, to high-need communities, notwithstanding any contrary State or local laws. The Bureau of Reclamation shall take all available measures to ensure that State agencies—including the California Department of Water Resources—do not interfere with the Bureau of Reclamation's operation of the project to maximize water delivery to high-need communities or otherwise, including but not limited to the issuance of a new Record of Decision maximizing water deliveries and consistent with the 2020 Record of Decision. (d) In accordance with section 6 of the Executive Order of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, and in accordance with section 1536 of title 16 United States Code , shall expedite action related to any exemption under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., ( printed page 8748) for the Long-Term Operation of the CVP and the State Water Project for all applicable threatened and endangered species. (e) The Secretary of the Interior shall promptly review, revise, or rescind any regulations or procedures specific to implementation of section 1536 of title 16 United States Code , as needed and consistent with applicable law, to conform with the plain meaning of the statute. (f) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall identify all ongoing or potential major water-supply and storage projects within the State of California for which they have joint responsibility under the ESA or individual responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (g) For each such project identified under subsection (f), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall each designate one federal official to coordinate each agency's respective NEPA and ESA compliance
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Questions for accountability
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