President directs rename of Lake Ontario to Lake America

What happened

• The President signed Executive Order 14420 renaming the body of water now called Lake Ontario as "Lake America." It identifies the lake as bounded on the south and east by the State of New York and on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario.

Who must act and when

• Within 30 days the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Board on Geographic Names, must take all appropriate actions under 43 U.S.C. 364–364f to rename the lake in federal records.
• The order directs updating the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and removing references to "Lake Ontario" from federal maps, contracts, and communications.

Other implementation details

• The Board on Geographic Names will provide guidance to ensure federal documents reflect the change.
• The order says publication costs will be borne by the Department of the Interior and that implementation is subject to applicable law and available appropriations.

Claims contained in the order

• The order states the United States provided 9 of 11 icebreaking vessels on the Great Lakes and that the U.S. invested nearly $4 billion in Great Lakes protection in the past decade. It also says the deeper parts of the lake lie within U.S. territory and that the lake has been an important economic and strategic asset for the United States.

Legal limits

• The order says it does not create enforceable legal rights and will be implemented consistent with law.