Clinton Orders Waterways Cleanup

President Clinton on Saturday ordered government agencies to take new actions to improve the quality of federally managed beaches, rivers and other waterways, and he challenged the states to follow suit.

In his weekly radio address, delivered from a secluded wildlife preserve, the vacationing Clinton also criticized Republicans in Congress for “rolling back” environmental protections through “sneak attacks.”

Clinton announced that he is directing the National Park Service to improve water quality by further identifying pollution sources at federally managed beaches, including the coastlines along Point Reyes National Seashore near San Francisco; Cape Cod, Mass.; and Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The president also ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to develop tougher sewage treatment standards within a year to prevent and reduce sewage spills, which he said are the major cause of beach closures. An EPA survey of 1,062 beaches last year reported 350 pollution-related closures or warnings to beach-goers.

And he instructed all federal agencies to adopt “a comprehensive strategy to better safeguard rivers and other bodies of water on federal lands.”

Clinton’s executive orders, which do not require congressional approval, served to underscore his ability to act, even while on holiday, at a time when the GOP-controlled Congress is in disarray over budget, defense and campaign finance measures. The imbroglio forced Republican leaders last week to adjourn prematurely for a prolonged Memorial Day recess.

At the same time, Clinton criticized the Republicans’ use of legislative procedure to attach anti-environmental “riders,” narrowly targeted provisions, to the spending bills. The provisions would “impose drastic cuts in environmental protection and public health, he said, delaying cleanups of toxic waste sites, weakening clean water standards and limiting access to national parks.

Environmentalists praised Clinton’s announcement.

Tryg Sletteland, director of the Pacific Rivers Council in Portland, Ore., said a plan to reduce pollution in all lakes, rivers and streams on public lands is “long overdue.”

Actor Ted Danson, president of the American Oceans Campaign, said he hopes the federal plan will encourage states and cities to clean up their beaches.

As his environmental directives suggested, Clinton has spent most mornings here working despite what he said is a much-needed vacation. Since arriving Tuesday night, Clinton has consulted by telephone with foreign leaders over Kosovo, taped a radio message of “hope and solidarity” to Kosovo Albanians, monitored the political scene in New York and read a Medicare briefing notebook compiled by aides.

In their spare time, the president and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton have hiked, bicycled and observed the wildlife at the 7,500-acre White Oak Plantation, a pristine sanctuary along the banks of the St. Mary’s River, near Jacksonville, Fla.

In addition, the president has golfed daily on the plantation’s rolling, nine-hole course and caught up on some novels.

White Oak is owned by the Gilman Paper Co., one of the country’s largest privately owned and fully integrated pulp, paper, packaging and forest products firms. Six hundred acres of the private retreat are devoted to preserving endangered wildlife. The preserve, which the Clintons toured, is home to about 400 animals representing some 60 species, including okapis, cheetahs and giant elands.

The Clintons are staying in a five-bedroom house that has a backyard pool.

The president called the plantation “one of the most impressive nature preserves Hillary and I have ever seen.”

At night, the first couple apparently have been doing some star-gazing.

As the president noted in his radio address, “Our visit here reminds us once again what a gift it is to spend time outdoors, to walk among tall trees, to see wild animals and rare birds, to watch the sun set and the stars come out over a beautiful river.”

But Clinton also took time out for business. In one of his first telephone calls, he spoke with Kenneth P. Zebrowski, a Rockland County, N.Y., lawmaker who had just lost a special election for a state Senate seat in a swing district that Mrs. Clinton may have to win to prevail in 2000, should she choose to run there for the U.S. Senate.

She had taped a radio commercial for Zebrowski, and the president had written a letter to local communities supporting the candidate.

The next morning, Clinton called Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the Kosovo conflict. He also chatted with Eli Wiesel and prevailed on the Nobel Peace Prize winner to serve as a personal emissary to the Balkans to inspect the humanitarian efforts there. In addition, Clinton spoke with Czech President Vaclav Havel, who was recently hospitalized.

On Thursday, Clinton came to the gate of the plantation to deliver a brief statement hailing the indictment of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic as a war criminal by the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague.

Among the books the president is reading here are “Sudden Mischief” by Robert Parker and “Lucky You” by Carl Hiaasen. Both are mysteries, one of Clinton’s favorite genres.

If the splendid isolation here wears on the Clintons, relief is on the way.

Today, about 50 members of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist organization that Clinton once headed, are convening at the plantation for a series of discussions on “The Politics of the Third Way.”

The Clintons are scheduled to participate before returning to Washington tonight.