42 U.S.C. § 4321 (THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE)
§ 4321. Congressional declaration of purpose
The purposes of this chapter are: To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation; and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality.
(Pub. L. 91–190, § 2, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852.)
heading: Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
heading: Short Title of 2020 Amendment
text: Pub. L. 116–260, div. S, § 102(a), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2243, provided that: “This section [enacting section 16298 of this title, amending sections 4370m and 7403 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 4370m of this title] may be cited as the ‘Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies Act’ or the ‘USE IT Act’.”
heading: Short Title
text: Pub. L. 91–190, § 1, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852, provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘National Environmental Policy Act of 1969’.”
heading: Environmental Product Declaration Assistance
text: Pub. L. 117–169, title VI, § 60112, Aug. 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 2072, provided that:
“(a) In General.—
In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $250,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2031, to develop and carry out a program to support the development, enhanced standardization and transparency, and reporting criteria for environmental product declarations that include measurements of the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of the material or product associated with all relevant stages of production, use, and disposal, and conform with international standards, for construction materials and products by—
“(1) providing grants to businesses that manufacture construction materials and products for developing and verifying environmental product declarations, and to States, Indian Tribes, and nonprofit organizations that will support such businesses;
“(2) providing technical assistance to businesses that manufacture construction materials and products in developing and verifying environmental product declarations, and to States, Indian Tribes, and nonprofit organizations that will support such businesses; and
“(3) carrying out other activities that assist in measuring, reporting, and steadily reducing the quantity of embodied carbon of construction materials and products.
“(b) Administrative Costs.—
Of the amounts made available under this section, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall reserve 5 percent for administrative costs necessary to carry out this section.
“(c) Definitions.—
In this section:
“(1) Greenhouse gas.—
The term ‘greenhouse gas’ means the air pollutants carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.
“(2) State.—
The term ‘State’ has the meaning given to that term in section 302(d) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7602(d)).”
heading: Low-Embodied Carbon Labeling for Construction Materials
text: Pub. L. 117–169, title VI, § 60116, Aug. 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 2077, provided that:
“(a) In General.—
In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal year 2022, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $100,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2026, for necessary administrative costs of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out this section and to develop and carry out a program, in consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration for construction materials used in transportation projects and the Administrator of General Services for construction materials used for Federal buildings, to identify and label construction materials and products that have substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions associated with all relevant stages of production, use, and disposal, as compared to estimated industry averages of similar materials or products, as determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, based on—
“(1) environmental product declarations; or
“(2) determinations by State agencies, as verified by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“(b) Definition of Greenhouse Gas.—
In this section, the term ‘greenhouse gas’ means the air pollutants carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.”
heading: Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters
text: Pub. L. 112–237, § 2, Dec. 28, 2012, 126 Stat. 1628, provided that:
“(a) Redesignation.—
The Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters located at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C., known as the Ariel Rios Building, shall be known and redesignated as the ‘William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building’.
“(b) References.—
Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building’.”
heading: Modification or Replacement of Executive Order No. 13423
text: Pub. L. 111–117, div. C, title VII, § 742(b), Dec. 16, 2009, 123 Stat. 3216, provided that: “Hereafter, the President may modify or replace Executive Order No. 13423 [formerly set out below] if the President determines that a revised or new executive order will achieve equal or better environmental or energy efficiency results.”
[Pursuant to section 742(b) of Pub. L. 111–117, set out above, Ex. Ord. No. 13423 was replaced by Ex. Ord. No. 13693, Mar. 19, 2015, 80 F.R. 15871, formerly set out below.]
Pub. L. 111–8, div. D, title VII, § 748, Mar. 11, 2009, 123 Stat. 693, which provided that Ex. Ord. No. 13423 (formerly set out below) would remain in effect on and after Mar. 11, 2009, except as otherwise provided by law after Mar. 11, 2009, was repealed by Pub. L. 111–117, div. C, title VII, § 742(a), Dec. 16, 2009, 123 Stat. 3216.
heading: Necessity of Military Low-Level Flight Training To Protect National Security and Enhance Military Readiness
text: Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [[div. A], title III, § 317], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–57, provided that: “Nothing in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or the regulations implementing such law shall require the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department to prepare a programmatic, nation-wide environmental impact statement for low-level flight training as a precondition to the use by the Armed Forces of an airspace for the performance of low-level training flights.”
heading: Pollution Prosecution
text: Pub. L. 101–593, title II, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2962, provided that:
“SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
“This title may be cited as the ‘Pollution Prosecution Act of 1990’.
“SEC. 202. EPA OFFICE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.
“(a) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Administrator’) shall increase the number of criminal investigators assigned to the Office of Criminal Investigations by such numbers as may be necessary to assure that the number of criminal investigators assigned to the office—
“(1) for the period October 1, 1991, through September 30, 1992, is not less than 72;
“(2) for the period October 1, 1992, through September 30, 1993, is not less than 110;
“(3) for the period October 1, 1993, through September 30, 1994, is not less than 123;
“(4) for the period October 1, 1994, through September 30, 1995, is not less than 160;
“(5) beginning October 1, 1995, is not less than 200.
“(b) For fiscal year 1991 and in each of the following 4 fiscal years, the Administrator shall, during each such fiscal year, provide increasing numbers of additional support staff to the Office of Criminal Investigations.
“(c) The head of the Office of Criminal Investigations shall be a position in the competitive service as defined in 2102 of title 5 U.S.C. or a career reserve [reserved] position as defined in 3132(A) [3132(a)] of title 5 U.S.C. and the head of such office shall report directly, without intervening review or approval, to the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement.
“SEC. 203. CIVIL INVESTIGATORS.
“The Administrator, as soon as practicable following the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 16, 1990], but no later than September 30, 1991, shall increase by fifty the number of civil investigators assigned to assist the Office of Enforcement in developing and prosecuting civil and administrative actions and carrying out its other functions.
“SEC. 204. NATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE.
“The Administrator shall, as soon as practicable but no later than September 30, 1991 establish within the Office of Enforcement the National Enforcement Training Institute. It shall be the function of the Institute, among others, to train Federal, State, and local lawyers, inspectors, civil and criminal investigators, and technical experts in the enforcement of the Nation’s environmental laws.
“SEC. 205. AUTHORIZATION.
“For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act [probably should be “this title”], there is authorized to be appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency $13,000,000 for fiscal year 1991, $18,000,000 for fiscal year 1992, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, $26,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and $33,000,000 for fiscal year 1995.”
heading: Executive Documents
heading: Transfer of Functions
text: Enforcement functions of Secretary or other official in Department of the Interior related to compliance with system activities requiring coordination and approval under this chapter, and enforcement functions of Secretary or other official in Department of Agriculture, insofar as they involve lands and programs under jurisdiction of that Department, related to compliance with this chapter with respect to pre-construction, construction, and initial operation of transportation system for Canadian and Alaskan natural gas transferred to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, until first anniversary of date of initial operation of Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, see Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1979, §§ 102(e), (f), 203(a), 44 F.R. 33663, 33666, 93 Stat. 1373, 1376, effective July 1, 1979, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Office of Federal Inspector for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System abolished and functions and authority vested in Inspector transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 3012(b) of Pub. L. 102–486, set out as an Abolition of Office of Federal Inspector note under section 719e of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. Functions and authority vested in Secretary of Energy subsequently transferred to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects by section 720d(f) of Title 15.
heading: Emergency Preparedness Functions
text: For assignment of certain emergency preparedness functions to Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency, see Parts 1, 2, and 16 of Ex. Ord. No. 12656, Nov. 18, 1988, 53 F.R. 47491, set out as a note under section 5195 of this title.
heading: REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 3 OF 1970
heading: Eff. Dec. 2, 1970, 35 F.R. 15623, 84 Stat. 2086, as amended Pub. L. 98–80, § 2(a)(2), (b)(2), (c)(2)(C), Aug. 23, 1983, 97 Stat. 485, 486
text: Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, July 9, 1970, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 9 of Title 5 of the United States Code.
heading: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
heading: Section 1. Establishment of Agency
text: (a) There is hereby established the Environmental Protection Agency, hereinafter referred to as the “Agency.”
(b) There shall be at the head of the Agency the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, hereinafter referred to as the “Administrator.” The Administrator shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(c) There shall be in the Agency a Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Deputy Administrator shall perform such functions as the Administrator shall from time to time assign or delegate, and shall act as Administrator during the absence or disability of the Administrator or in the event of a vacancy in the office of Administrator.
(d) There shall be in the Agency not to exceed five Assistant Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each Assistant Administrator shall perform such functions as the Administrator shall from time to time assign or delegate. [As amended Pub. L. 98–80, § 2(a)(2), (b)(2), (c)(2)(C), Aug. 23, 1983, 97 Stat. 485, 486.]
heading: Sec. 2. Transfers to Environmental Protection Agency
text: (a) There are hereby transferred to the Administrator:
(1) All functions vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior and the Department of the Interior which are administered through the Federal Water Quality Administration, all functions which were transferred to the Secretary of the Interior by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1966 (80 Stat. 1608), and all functions vested in the Secretary of the Interior or the Department of the Interior by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or by provisions of law amendatory or supplementary thereof [see 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.].
(2)(i) The functions vested in the Secretary of the Interior by the Act of August 1, 1958, 72 Stat. 479, 16 U.S.C. 742d–1 (being an Act relating to studies on the effects of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides upon the fish and wildlife resources of the United States), and (ii) the functions vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior and the Department of the Interior which are administered by the Gulf Breeze Biological Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries at Gulf Breeze, Florida.
(3) The functions vested by law in the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare or in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare which are administered through the Environmental Health Service, including the functions exercised by the following components thereof:
(i) The National Air Pollution Control Administration,
(ii) The Environmental Control Administration:
(A) Bureau of Solid Waste Management,
(B) Bureau of Water Hygiene,
(C) Bureau of Radiological Health,
except that functions carried out by the following components of the Environmental Control Administration of the Environmental Health Service are not transferred: (i) Bureau of Community Environmental Management, (ii) Bureau of Occupational Safety and Health, and (iii) Bureau of Radiological Health, insofar as the functions carried out by the latter Bureau pertain to (A) regulation of radiation from consumer products, including electronic product radiation, (B) radiation as used in the healing arts, (C) occupational exposures to radiation, and (D) research, technical assistance, and training related to clauses (A), (B), and (C).
(4) The functions vested in the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare of establishing tolerances for pesticide chemicals under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended, 21 U.S.C. 346, 346a, and 348, together with authority, in connection with the functions transferred, (i) to monitor compliance with the tolerances and the effectiveness of surveillance and enforcement, and (ii) to provide technical assistance to the States and conduct research under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.], and the Public Health Service Act, as amended [42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.].
(5) So much of the functions of the Council on Environmental Quality under section 204(5) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Public Law 91–190, approved January 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 855) [42 U.S.C. 4344(5)], as pertains to ecological systems.
(6) The functions of the Atomic Energy Commission under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended [42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.], administered through its Division of Radiation Protection Standards, to the extent that such functions of the Commission consist of establishing generally applicable environmental standards for the protection of the general environment from radioactive material. As used herein, standards mean limits on radiation exposures or levels, or concentrations or quantities of radioactive material, in the general environment outside the boundaries of locations under the control of persons possessing or using radio-active material.
(7) All functions of the Federal Radiation Council (42 U.S.C. 2021(h)).
(8)(i) The functions of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 135–135k) [7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.], (ii) the functions of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture under section 408(l) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended (21 U.S.C. 346a(l)), and (iii) the functions vested by law in the Secretary of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture which are administered through the Environmental Quality Branch of the Plant Protection Division of the Agricultural Research Service.
(9) So much of the functions of the transferor officers and agencies referred to in or affected by the foregoing provisions of this section as is incidental to or necessary for the performance by or under the Administrator of the functions transferred by those provisions or relates primarily to those functions. The transfers to the Administrator made by this section shall be deemed to include the transfer of (1) authority, provided by law, to prescribe regulations relating primarily to the transferred functions, and (2) the functions vested in the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by section 169(d)(1)(B) and (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (as enacted by section 704 of the Tax Reform Act of 1969, 83 Stat. 668); but shall be deemed to exclude the transfer of the functions of the Bureau of Reclamation under section 3(b)(1) of the Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. [former] 466a(b)(1)).
(b) There are hereby transferred to the Agency:
(1) From the Department of the Interior, (i) the Water Pollution Control Advisory Board (33 U.S.C. [former] 466f) [see 33 U.S.C. 1363], together with its functions, and (ii) the hearing boards provided for in sections 10(c)(4) and 10(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. [former] 466g(c)(4); 466g(f)). The functions of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to being or designating the Chairman of the Water Pollution Control Advisory Board are hereby transferred to the Administrator.
(2) From the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Air Quality Advisory Board (42 U.S.C. 1857e) [42 U.S.C. 7417], together with its functions. The functions of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare with respect to being a member and the Chairman of that Board are hereby transferred to the Administrator.
heading: Sec. 3. Performance of Transferred Functions
text: The Administrator may from time to time make such provisions as he shall deem appropriate authorizing the performance of any of the functions transferred to him by the provisions of this reorganization plan by any other officer, or by any organizational entity or employee, of the Agency.
heading: Sec. 4. Incidental Transfers
text: (a) So much of the personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, held, available or to be made available in connection with the functions transferred to the Administrator or the Agency by this reorganization plan as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine shall be transferred to the Agency at such time or times as the Director shall direct.
(b) Such further measures and dispositions as the Director of Office of Management and Budget shall deem to be necessary in order to effectuate the transfers referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall be carried out in such manner as he shall direct and by such agencies as he shall designate.
heading: Sec. 5. Interim Officers
text: (a) The President may authorize any person who immediately prior to the effective date of this reorganization plan held a position in the executive branch of the Government to act as Administrator until the office of Administrator is for the first time filled pursuant to the provisions of this reorganization plan or by recess appointment, as the case may be.
(b) The President may similarly authorize any such person to act as Deputy Administrator, authorize any such person to act as Assistant Administrator, and authorize any such person to act as the head of any principal constituent organizational entity of the Administration.
(c) The President may authorize any person who serves in an acting capacity under the foregoing provisions of this section to receive the compensation attached to the office in respect of which he so serves. Such compensation, if authorized, shall be in lieu of, but not in addition to, other compensation from the United States to which such person may be entitled.
heading: Sec. 6. Abolitions
text: (a) Subject to the provisions of this reorganization plan, the following, exclusive of any functions, are hereby abolished:
(1) The Federal Water Quality Administration in the Department of the Interior (33 U.S.C. [former] 466–1).
(2) The Federal Radiation Council (73 Stat. 690; 42 U.S.C. 2021(h)).
(b) Such provisions as may be necessary with respect to terminating any outstanding affairs shall be made by the Secretary of the Interior in the case of the Federal Water Quality Administration and by the Administrator of General Services in the case of the Federal Radiation Council.
heading: Sec. 7. Effective Date
text: The provisions of this reorganization plan shall take effect sixty days after the date they would take effect under 5 U.S.C. 906(a) in the absence of this section.
heading: Message of the President
text: To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, prepared in accordance with chapter 9 of title 5 of the United States Code and providing for an Environmental Protection Agency. My reasons for transmitting this plan are stated in a more extended accompanying message.
After investigation, I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 901(a) of title 5 of the United States Code. In particular, the plan is responsive to section 901(a)(1), “to promote the better execution of the laws, the more effective management of the executive branch and of its agencies and functions, and the expeditious administration of the public business;” and section 901(a)(3), “to increase the efficiency of the operations of the Government to the fullest extent practicable.”
The reorganizations provided for in the plan make necessary the appointment and compensation of new officers as specified in section 1 of the plan. The rates of compensation fixed for these officers are comparable to those fixed for other officers in the executive branch who have similar responsibilities.
Section 907 of title 5 of the United States Code will operate to preserve administrative proceedings, including any public hearing proceedings, related to the transferred functions, which are pending immediately prior to the taking effect of the reorganization plan.
The reorganization plan should result in more efficient operation of the Government. It is not practical, however, to itemize or aggregate the exact expenditure reductions which will result from this action.
Richard Nixon.
The White House, July 9, 1970.
heading: Message of the President
text: To the Congress of the United States:
As concern with the condition of our physical environment has intensified, it has become increasingly clear that we need to know more about the total environment—land, water and air. It also has become increasingly clear that only by reorganizing our Federal efforts can we develop that knowledge, and effectively ensure the protection, development and enhancement of the total environment itself.
The Government’s environmentally-related activities have grown up piecemeal over the years. The time has come to organize them rationally and systematically. As a major step in this direction, I am transmitting today two reorganization plans: one to establish an Environmental Protection Agency, and one to establish, within the Department of Commerce, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
heading: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)
text: Our national government today is not structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land that grows our food. Indeed, the present governmental structure for dealing with environmental pollution often defies effective and concerted action.
Despite its complexity, for pollution control purposes the environment must be perceived as a single, interrelated system. Present assignments of departmental responsibilities do not reflect this interrelatedness.
Many agency missions, for example, are designed primarily along media lines—air, water, and land. Yet the sources of air, water, and land pollution are interrelated and often interchangeable. A single source may pollute the air with smoke and chemicals, the land with solid wastes, and a river or lake with chemical and other wastes. Control of the air pollution may produce more solid wastes, which then pollute the land or water. Control of the water-polluting effluent may convert it into solid wastes, which must be disposed of on land.
Similarly, some pollutants—chemicals, radiation, pesticides—appear in all media. Successful control of them at present requires the coordinated efforts of a variety of separate agencies and departments. The results are not always successful.
A far more effective approach to pollution control would:
—identify pollutants.
—trace them through the entire ecological chain, observing and recording changes in form as they occur.
—Determine the total exposure of man his environment.
—Examine interactions among forms of pollution.
—Identify where in the ecological chain interdiction would be most appropriate.
In organizational terms, this requires pulling together into one agency a variety of research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities now scattered through several departments and agencies. It also requires that the new agency include sufficient support elements—in research and in aids to State and local anti-pollution programs, for example—to give it the needed strength and potential for carrying out its mission. The new agency would also, of course, draw upon the results of research conducted by other agencies.
heading: components of the epa
text: Under the terms of Reorganization Plan No. 3, the following would be moved to the new Environmental Protection Agency:
—The functions carried out by the Federal Water Quality Administration (from the Department of the Interior).
—Functions with respect to pesticides studies now vested in the Department of the Interior.
—The functions carried out by the National Air Pollution Control Administration (from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare).
—The functions carried out by the Bureau of Solid Waste Management and the Bureau of Water Hygiene, and portions of the functions carried out by the Bureau of Radiological Health of the Environmental Control Administration (from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare).
—Certain functions with respect to pesticides carried out by the Food and Drug Administration (from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare).
—Authority to perform studies relating to ecological systems now vested in the Council on Environmental Quality.
—Certain functions respecting radiation criteria and standards now vested in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Federal Radiation Council.
—Functions respecting pesticides registration and related activities now carried out by the Agricultural Research Service (from the Department of Agriculture).
With its broad mandate, EPA would also develop competence in areas of environmental protection that have not previously been given enough attention, such, for example, as the problem of noise, and it would provide an organization to which new programs in these areas could be added.
In brief, these are the principal functions to be transferred:
Federal Water Quality Administration.—Charged with the control of pollutants which impair water quality, it is broadly concerned with the impact of degraded water quality. It performs a wide variety of functions, including research, standard-setting and enforcement, and provides construction grants and technical assistance.
Certain pesticides research authority from the Department of the Interior.—Authority for research on the effects of pesticides on fish and wildlife would be provided to the EPA through transfer of the specialized research authority of the pesticides act enacted in 1958. Interior would retain its responsibility to do research on all factors affecting fish and wildlife. Under this provision, only one laboratory would be transferred to the EPA—the Gulf Breeze Biological Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The EPA would work closely with the fish and wildlife laboratories remaining with the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife.
National Air Pollution Control Administration.—As the principal Federal agency concerned with air pollution, it conducts research on the effects of air pollution, operates a monitoring network, and promulgates criteria which serve as the basis for setting air quality standards. Its regulatory functions are similar to those of the Federal Water Quality Administration. NAPCA is responsible for administering the Clean Air Act, which involves designating air quality regions, approving State standards and providing financial and technical assistance to State Control agencies to enable them to comply with the Act’s provisions. It also sets and enforces Federal automotive emission standards.
Elements of the Environmental Control Administration.—ECA is the focal point within HEW for evaluation and control of a broad range of environmental health problems, including water quality, solid wastes, and radiation. Programs in the ECA involve research, development of criteria and standards, and the administration of planning and demonstration grants. From the ECA, the activities of the Bureaus of Water Hygiene and Solid Waste Management and portions of the activities of the Bureau of Radiological Health would be transferred. Other functions of the ECA including those related to the regulation of radiation from consumer products and occupational safety and health would remain in HEW.
Pesticides research and standard-setting programs of the Food and Drug Administration.—FDA’s pesticides program consists of setting and enforcing standards which limit pesticide residues in food. EPA would have the authority to set pesticide standards and to monitor compliance with them, as well as to conduct related research. However, as an integral part of its food protection activities, FDA would retain its authority to remove from the market food with excess pesticide residues.
General ecological research from the Council on Environmental Quality.—This authority to perform studies and research relating to ecological systems would be in addition to EPA’s other specific research authorities, and it would help EPA to measure the impact of pollutants. The Council on Environmental Quality would retain its authority to conduct studies and research relating to environmental quality.
Environmental radiation standards programs.—The Atomic Energy Commission is now responsible for establishing environmental radiation standards and emission limits for radioactivity. Those standards have been based largely on broad guidelines recommended by the Federal Radiation Council. The Atomic Energy Commission’s authority to set standards for the protection of the general environment from radioactive material would be transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency. The functions of the Federal Radiation Council would also be transferred. AEC would retain responsibility for the implementation and enforcement of radiation standards through its licensing authority.
Pesticides registration program of the Agricultural Research Service.—The Department of Agriculture is currently responsible for several distinct functions related to pesticides use. It conducts research on the efficacy of various pesticides as related to other pest control methods and on the effects of pesticides on non-target plants, livestock, and poultry. It registers pesticides, monitors their persistence and carries out an educational program on pesticide use through the extension service. It conducts extensive pest control programs which utilize pesticides.
By transferring the Department of Agriculture’s pesticides registration and monitoring function to the EPA and merging it with the pesticides programs being transferred from HEW and Interior, the new agency would be given a broad capability for control over the introduction of pesticides into the environment.
The Department of Agriculture would continue to conduct research on the effectiveness of pesticides. The Department would furnish this information to the EPA, which would have the responsibility for actually licensing pesticides for use after considering environmental and health effects. Thus the new agency would be able to make use of the expertise of the Department.
heading: advantages of reorganization
text: This reorganization would permit response to environmental problems in a manner beyond the previous capability of our pollution control programs. The EPA would have the capacity to do research on important pollutants irrespective of the media in which they appear, and on the impact of these pollutants on the total environment. Both by itself and together with other agencies, the EPA would monitor the condition of the environment—biological as well as physical. With these data, the EPA would be able to establish quantitative “environmental baselines”—critical if we are to measure adequately the success or failure of our pollution abatement efforts.
As no disjointed array of separate programs can, the EPA would be able—in concert with the States—to set and enforce standards for air and water quality and for individual pollutants. This consolidation of pollution control authorities would help assure that we do not create new environmental problems in the process of controlling existing ones. Industries seeking to minimize the adverse impact of their activities on the environment would be assured of consistent standards covering the full range of their waste disposal problems. As the States develop and expand their own pollution control programs, they would be able to look to one agency to support their efforts with financial and technical assistance and training.
In proposing that the Environmental Protection Agency be set up as a separate new agency, I am making an exception to one of my own principles: that, as a matter of effective and orderly administration, additional new independent agencies normally should not be created. In this case, however, the arguments against placing environmental protection activities under the jurisdiction of one or another of the existing departments and agencies are compelling.
In the first place, almost every part of government is concerned with the environment in some way, and affects it in some way. Yet each department also has its own primary mission—such as resource development, transportation, health, defense, urban growth or agriculture—which necessarily affects its own view of environmental questions.
In the second place, if the critical standard-setting functions were centralized within any one existing department, it would require that department constantly to make decisions affecting other departments—in which, whether fairly or unfairly, its own objectivity as an impartial arbiter could be called into question.
Because environmental protection cuts across so many jurisdictions, and because arresting environmental deterioration is of great importance to the quality of life in our country and the world, I believe that in this case a strong, independent agency is needed. That agency would, of course, work closely with and draw upon the expertise and assistance of other agencies having experience in the environmental area.
heading: roles and functions of epa
text: The principal roles and functions of the EPA would include:
—The establishment and enforcement of environmental protection standards consistent with national environmental goals.
—The conduct of research on the adverse effects of pollution and on methods and equipment for controlling it, the gathering of information on pollution, and the use of this information in strengthening environmental protection programs and recommending policy changes.
—Assisting others, through grants, technical assistance and other means in arresting pollution of the environment.
—Assisting the Council on Environmental Quality in developing and recommending to the President new policies for the protection of the environment.
One natural question concerns the relationship between the EPA and the Council on Environmental Quality, recently established by Act of Congress.
It is my intention and expectation that the two will work in close harmony, reinforcing each other’s mission. Essentially, the Council is a top-level advisory group (which might be compared with the Council of Economic Advisers), while the EPA would be an operating, “line” organization. The Council will continue to be a part of the Executive Office of the President and will perform its overall coordinating and advisory roles with respect to all Federal programs related to environmental quality.
The Council, then, is concerned with all aspects of environmental quality—wildlife preservation, parklands, land use, and population growth, as well as pollution. The EPA would be charged with protecting the environment by abating pollution. In short, the Council focuses on what our broad policies in the environment field should be; the EPA would focus on setting and enforcing pollution control standards. The two are not competing, but complementary—and taken together, they should give us, for the first time, the means to mount an effectively coordinated campaign against environmental degradation in all of its many forms.
heading: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
text: The oceans and the atmosphere are interacting parts of the total environmental system upon which we depend not only for the quality of our lives, but for life itself.
We face immediate and compelling needs for better protection of life and property from natural hazards, and for a better understanding of the total environment—and understanding which will enable us more effectively to monitor and predict its actions, and ultimately, perhaps to exercise some degree of control over them.
We also face a compelling need for exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources. The global oceans, which constitute nearly three-fourths of the surface of our planet, are today the least-understood, the least-developed, and the least-protected part of our earth. Food from the oceans will increasingly be a key element in the world’s fight against hunger. The mineral resources of the ocean beds and of the oceans themselves, are being increasingly tapped to meet the growing world demand. We must understand the nature of these resources, and assure their development without either contaminating the marine environment or upsetting its balance.
Establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—NOAA—within the Department of Commerce would enable us to approach these tasks in a coordinated way. By employing a unified approach to the problems of the oceans and atmosphere, we can increase our knowledge and expand our opportunities not only in those areas, but in the third major component of our environment, the solid earth, as well.
Scattered through various Federal departments and agencies, we already have the scientific, technological, and administrative resources to make an effective, unified approach possible. What we need is to bring them together. Establishment of NOAA would do so.
By far the largest of the components being merged would be the Commerce Department’s Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), with some 10,000 employees (70 percent of NOAA’s total personnel strength) and estimated Fiscal 1970 expenditures of almost $200 million. Placing NOAA within the Department of Commerce therefore entails the least dislocation, while also placing it within a Department which has traditionally been a center for service activities in the scientific and technological area.
heading: components of noaa
text: Under terms of Reorganization Plan No. 4, the programs of the following organizations would be moved into NOAA:
—The Environmental Science Services Administration (from within the Department of Commerce).
—Elements of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (from the Department of the Interior).
—The marine sport fish program of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife (from the Department of the Interior).
—The Marine Minerals Technology Center of the Bureau of Mines (from the Department of the Interior).
—The Office of Sea Grant Programs (from the National Science Foundation).
—Elements of the United States Lake Survey (from the Department of the Army).
In addition, by executive action, the programs of the following organizations would be transferred to NOAA:
—The National Oceanographic Data Center (from the Department of the Navy).
—The National Oceanographic Instrumentation Center (from the Department of the Navy).
—The National Data Buoy Project (from the Department of Transportation).
In brief, these are the principal functions of the programs and agencies to be combined:
heading: THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
text: (ESSA) comprises the following components:
—The Weather Bureau (weather, marine, river and flood forecasting and warning).
—The Coast and Geodetic Survey (earth and marine description, mapping and charting).
—The Environmental Data Service (storage and retrieval of environmental data).
—The National Environmental Satellite Center (observation of the global environment from earth-orbiting satellites).
—The ESSA Research Laboratories (research on physical environmental problems).
ESSA’s activities include observing and predicting the state of the oceans, the state of the lower and upper atmosphere, and the size and shape of the earth. It maintains the nation’s warning systems for such natural hazards as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and seismic sea waves. It provides information for national defense, agriculture, transportation and industry.
ESSA monitors atmospheric, oceanic and geophysical phenomena on a global basis, through an unparalleled complex of air, ocean, earth and space facilities. It also prepares aeronautical and marine maps and charts.
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and marine sport fish activities.—Those fishery activities of the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which are ocean related and those which are directed toward commercial fishing would be transferred. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bureau of Commercial Fisheries has the dual function of strengthening the fishing industry and promoting conservation of fishery stocks. It conducts research on important marine species and on fundamental oceanography, and operates a fleet of oceanographic vessels and a number of laboratories. Most of its activities would be transferred. From the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, the marine sport fishing program would be transferred. This involves five supporting laboratories and three ships engaged in activities to enhance marine sport fishing opportunities.
The Marine Minerals Technology Center is concerned with the development of marine mining technology.
Office of Sea Grant Programs.—The Sea Grant Program was authorized in 1966 to permit the Federal Government to assist the academic and industrial communities in developing marine resources and technology. It aims at strengthening education and training of marine specialists, supporting applied research in the recovery and use of marine resources, and developing extension and advisory services. The Office carries out these objectives by making grants to selected academic institutions.
The U.S. Lake Survey has two primary missions. It prepares and publishes navigation charts of the Great Lakes and tributary waters and conducts research on a variety of hydraulic and hydrologic phenomena of the Great Lakes’ waters. Its activities are very similar to those conducted along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by ESSA’s Coast and Geodetic Survey.
The National Oceanographic Data Center is responsible for the collection and dissemination of oceanographic data accumulated by all Federal agencies.
The National Oceanographic Instrumentation Center provides a central Federal service for the calibration and testing of oceanographic instruments.
The National Data Buoy Development Project was established to determine the feasibility of deploying a system of automatic ocean buoys to obtain oceanic and atmospheric data.
heading: role of noaa
text: Drawing these activities together into a single agency would make possible a balanced Federal program to improve our understanding of the resources of the sea, and permit their development and use while guarding against the sort of thoughtless exploitation that in the past laid waste to so many of our precious natural assets. It would make possible a consolidated program for achieving a more comprehensive understanding of oceanic and atmospheric phenomena, which so greatly affect our lives and activities. It would facilitate the cooperation between public and private interests that can best serve the interests of all.
I expect that NOAA would exercise leadership in developing a national oceanic and atmospheric program of research and development. It would coordinate its own scientific and technical resources with the technical and operational capabilities of other government agencies and private institutions. As important, NOAA would continue to provide those services to other agencies of government, industry and private individuals which have become essential to the efficient operation of our transportation systems, our agriculture and our national security. I expect it to maintain continuing and close liaison with the new Environmental Protection Agency and the Council on Environmental Quality as part of an effort to ensure that environmental questions are dealt with in their totality and they benefit from the full range of the government’s technical and human resources.
Authorities who have studied this matter, including the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources, strongly recommended the creation of a National Advisory Committee for the Oceans. I agree. Consequently, I will request, upon approval of the plan, that the Secretary of Commerce establish a National Advisory Committee for the Oceans and the Atmosphere to advise him on the progress of governmental and private programs in achieving the nation’s oceanic and atmospheric objectives.
heading: AN ON-GOING PROCESS
text: The reorganizations which I am here proposing afford both the Congress and the Executive Branch an opportunity to re-evaluate the adequacy of existing program authorities involved in these consolidations. As these two new organizations come into being, we may well find that supplementary legislation to perfect their authorities will be necessary. I look forward to working with the Congress in this task.
In formulating these reorganization plans, I have been greatly aided by the work of the President’s Advisory Council on Executive Organization (the Ash Council), the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources (the Stratton Commission, appointed by President Johnson), my special task force on oceanography headed by Dr. James Wakelin, and by the information developed during both House and Senate hearings on proposed NOAA legislation.
Many of those who have advised me have proposed additional reorganizations, and it may well be that in the future I shall recommend further changes. For the present, however, I think the two reorganizations transmitted today represent a sound and significant beginning. I also think that in practical terms, in this sensitive and rapidly developing area, it is better to proceed a step at a time—and thus to be sure that we are not caught up in a form of organizational indigestion from trying to rearrange too much at once. As we see how these changes work out, we will gain a better understanding of what further changes—in addition to these—might be desirable.
Ultimately, our objective should be to insure that the nation’s environmental and resource protection activities are so organized as to maximize both the effective coordination of all and the effective functioning of each.
The Congress, the Administration and the public all share a profound commitment to the rescue of our natural environment, and the preservation of the Earth as a place both habitable by and hospitable to man. With its acceptance of these reorganization plans, the Congress will help us fulfill that commitment.
Richard Nixon.
The White House, July 9, 1970.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 11472. Cabinet Committee on the Environment and Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11472, May 29, 1969, 34 F.R. 8693, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 11514, Mar. 5, 1970, 35 F.R. 4247; Ex. Ord. No. 12007, Aug. 22, 1977, 42 F.R. 42839, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows:
heading: Part I—Cabinet Committee on the Environment
text: Section 101. Establishment of the Cabinet Committee. (a) There is hereby established the Cabinet Committee on the Environment (hereinafter referred to as “the Cabinet Committee”).
(b) The President of the United States shall preside over meetings of the Cabinet Committee. The Vice President shall preside in the absence of the President.
(c) The Cabinet Committee shall be composed of the following members:
The Vice President of the United States
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Transportation
and such other heads of departments and agencies and others as the President may from time to time direct.
(d) Each member of the Cabinet Committee may designate an alternate, who shall serve as a member of the Cabinet Committee whenever the regular member is unable to attend any meeting of the Cabinet Committee.
(e) When matters which affect the interest of Federal agencies the heads of which are not members of the Cabinet Committee are to be considered by the Cabinet Committee, the President or his representative may invite such agency heads or their alternates to participate in the deliberations of the Cabinet Committee.
(f) The Director of the Bureau of the Budget [now the Director of the Office of Management and Budget], the Director of the Office of Science and Technology, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Executive Secretary of the Council for Urban Affairs or their representatives may participate in the deliberations of the Cabinet Committee on the Environment as observers.
(g) The Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (established by Public Law 91–190) [this chapter] shall assist the President in directing the affairs of the Cabinet Committee.
Sec. 102. Functions of the Cabinet Committee. (a) The Cabinet Committee shall advise and assist the President with respect to environmental quality matters and shall perform such other related duties as the President may from time to time prescribe. In addition thereto, the Cabinet Committee is directed to:
(1) Recommend measures to ensure that Federal policies and programs, including those for development and conservation of natural resources, take adequate account of environmental effects.
(2) Review the adequacy of existing systems for monitoring and predicting environmental changes so as to achieve effective coverage and efficient use of facilities and other resources.
(3) Foster cooperation between the Federal Government, State and local governments, and private organizations in environmental programs.
(4) Seek advancement of scientific knowledge of changes in the environment and encourage the development of technology to prevent or minimize adverse effects that endanger man’s health and well-being.
(5) Stimulate public and private participation in programs and activities to protect against pollution of the Nation’s air, water, and land and its living resources.
(6) Encourage timely public disclosure by all levels of government and by private parties of plans that would affect the quality of environment.
(7) Assure assessment of new and changing technologies for their potential effects on the environment.
(8) Facilitate coordination among departments and agencies of the Federal Government in protecting and improving the environment.
(b) The Cabinet Committee shall review plans and actions of Federal agencies affecting outdoor recreation and natural beauty. The Cabinet Committee may conduct studies and make recommendations to the President on matters of policy in the fields of outdoor recreation and natural beauty. In carrying out the foregoing provisions of this subsection, the Cabinet Committee shall, as far as may be practical, advise Federal agencies with respect to the effect of their respective plans and programs on recreation and natural beauty, and may suggest to such agencies ways to accomplish the purposes of this order. For the purposes of this order, plans and programs may include, but are not limited to, those for or affecting: (1) Development, restoration, and preservation of the beauty of the countryside, urban and suburban areas, water resources, wild rivers, scenic roads, parkways and highways, (2) the protection and appropriate management of scenic or primitive areas, natural wonders, historic sites, and recreation areas, (3) the management of Federal land and water resources, including fish and wildlife, to enhance natural beauty and recreational opportunities consistent with other essential uses, (4) cooperation with the States and their local subdivisions and private organizations and individuals in areas of mutual interest, (5) interstate arrangements, including Federal participation where authorized and necessary, and (6) leadership in a nationwide recreation and beautification effort.
Sec. 103. Coordination. The Secretary of the Interior may make available to the Cabinet Committee for coordination of outdoor recreation the authorities and resources available to him under the Act of May 28, 1963, 77 Stat. 49 [see 54 U.S.C. 200101], to the extent permitted by law, he may make such authorities and resources available to the Cabinet Committee also for promoting such coordination of other matters assigned to the Cabinet Committee by this order.
Sec. 104. Assistance for the Cabinet Committee. In compliance with provisions of applicable law, and as necessary to serve the purposes of this order, (1) the Council on Environmental Quality (established by Public Law 91–190) [this chapter] shall provide or arrange for necessary administrative and staff services, support, and facilities for the Cabinet Committee, and (2) each department and agency which has membership on the Cabinet Committee under Section 101(c) hereof shall furnish the Cabinet Committee such information and other assistance as may be available.
heading: Part II—Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality
text: [Revoked. Ex. Ord. No. 12007, Aug. 22, 1977, 42 F.R. 42839.]
heading: Part III—General Provisions
text: Sec. 301. Construction. Nothing in this order shall be construed as subjecting any department, establishment, or other instrumentality of the executive branch of the Federal Government or the head thereof, or any function vested by law in or assigned pursuant to law to any such agency or head, to the authority of any other such agency or head or as abrogating, modifying, or restricting any such function in any manner.
Sec. 302. Prior bodies and orders. The President’s Council on Recreation and Natural Beauty and the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Recreation and Natural Beauty are hereby terminated and the following are revoked:
(1) Executive Order No. 11278 of May 4, 1966.
(2) Executive Order No. 11359A of June 29, 1967.
(3) Executive Order No. 11402 of March 29, 1968.
heading: Termination of Cabinet Committee on the Environment
text: The Cabinet Committee on the Environment was terminated and its functions transferred to the Domestic Council, see section 2(b) of Ex. Ord. No. 11541, eff. July 1, 1970, 35 F.R. 10737, set out as a note under section 501 of Title 31, Money and Finance.
The Domestic Council was abolished by Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1977, § 3, 42 F.R. 56101, 91 Stat. 1633, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, effective on or before Apr. 1, 1978, at such time as specified by the President. Section 5D of Reorg. Plan No. 1 of 1977 transferred all functions vested in the Domestic Council to the President with power to delegate the performance of such transferred functions within the Executive Office of the President.
heading: Termination of Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality
text: For provisions relating to termination of Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality see Ex. Ord. No. 12007, Aug. 22, 1977, 42 F.R. 42839, formerly set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 11514. Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11514, Mar. 5, 1970, 35 F.R. 4247, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 11991, May 24, 1977, 42 F.R. 26967, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and in furtherance of the purpose and policy of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Public Law No. 91–190, approved January 1, 1970) [this chapter], it is ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. The Federal Government shall provide leadership in protecting and enhancing the quality of the Nation’s environment to sustain and enrich human life. Federal agencies shall initiate measures needed to direct their policies, plans and programs so as to meet national environmental goals. The Council on Environmental Quality, through the Chairman, shall advise and assist the President in leading this national effort.
Sec. 2. Responsibilities of Federal agencies. Consonant with Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.], hereafter referred to as the “Act”, the heads of Federal agencies shall:
(a) Monitor, evaluate, and control on a continuing basis their agencies’ activities so as to protect and enhance the quality of the environment. Such activities shall include those directed to controlling pollution and enhancing the environment and those designed to accomplish other program objectives which may affect the quality of the environment. Agencies shall develop programs and measures to protect and enhance environmental quality and shall assess progress in meeting the specific objectives of such activities. Heads of agencies shall consult with appropriate Federal, State and local agencies in carrying out their activities as they affect the quality of the environment.
(b) Develop procedures to ensure the fullest practicable provision of timely public information and understanding of Federal plans and programs with environmental impact in order to obtain the views of interested parties. These procedures shall include, whenever appropriate, provision for public hearings, and shall provide the public with relevant information, including information on alternative courses of action. Federal agencies shall also encourage State and local agencies to adopt similar procedures for informing the public concerning their activities affecting the quality of the environment.
(c) Insure that information regarding existing or potential environmental problems and control methods developed as part of research, development, demonstration, test, or evaluation activities is made available to Federal agencies, States, counties, municipalities, institutions, and other entities, as appropriate.
(d) Review their agencies’ statutory authority, administrative regulations, policies, and procedures, including those relating to loans, grants, contracts, leases, licenses, or permits, in order to identify any deficiencies or inconsistencies therein which prohibit or limit full compliance with the purposes and provisions of the Act. A report on this review and the corrective actions taken or planned, including such measures to be proposed to the President as may be necessary to bring their authority and policies into conformance with the intent, purposes, and procedures of the Act, shall be provided to the Council on Environmental Quality not later than September 1, 1970.
(e) Engage in exchange of data and research results, and cooperate with agencies of other governments to foster the purposes of the Act.
(f) Proceed, in coordination with other agencies, with actions required by section 102 of the Act [42 U.S.C. 4332].
(g) In carrying out their responsibilities under the Act and this Order, comply with the regulations issued by the Council except where such compliance would be inconsistent with statutory requirements.
Sec. 3. Responsibilities of Council on Environmental Quality. The Council on Environmental Quality shall:
(a) Evaluate existing and proposed policies and activities of the Federal Government directed to the control of pollution and the enhancement of the environment and to the accomplishment of other objectives which affect the quality of the environment. This shall include continuing review of procedures employed in the development and enforcement of Federal standards affecting environmental quality. Based upon such evaluations the Council shall, where appropriate, recommend to the President policies and programs to achieve more effective protection and enhancement of environmental quality and shall, where appropriate, seek resolution of significant environmental issues.
(b) Recommend to the President and to the agencies priorities among programs designed for the control of pollution and for enhancement of the environment.
(c) Determine the need for new policies and programs for dealing with environmental problems not being adequately addressed.
(d) Conduct, as it determines to be appropriate, public hearings or conferences on issues of environmental significance.
(e) Promote the development and use of indices and monitoring systems (1) to assess environmental conditions and trends, (2) to predict the environmental impact of proposed public and private actions, and (3) to determine the effectiveness of programs for protecting and enhancing environmental quality.
(f) Coordinate Federal programs related to environmental quality.
(g) Advise and assist the President and the agencies in achieving international cooperation for dealing with environmental problems, under the foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State.
(h) Issue regulations to Federal agencies for the implementation of the procedural provisions of the Act (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)). Such regulations shall be developed after consultation with affected agencies and after such public hearings as may be appropriate. They will be designed to make the environmental impact statement process more useful to decisionmakers and the public; and to reduce paperwork and the accumulation of extraneous background data, in order to emphasize the need to focus on real environmental issues and alternatives. They will require impact statements to be concise, clear, and to the point, and supported by evidence that agencies have made the necessary environmental analyses. The Council shall include in its regulations procedures (1) for the early preparation of environmental impact statements, and (2) for the referral to the Council of conflicts between agencies concerning the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended [this chapter], and Section 309 of the Clean Air Act, as amended [42 U.S.C. 7609], for the Council’s recommendation as to their prompt resolution.
(i) Issue such other instructions to agencies, and request such reports and other information from them, as may be required to carry out the Council’s responsibilities under the Act.
(j) Assist the President in preparing the annual Environmental Quality Report provided for in section 201 of the Act [42 U.S.C. 4341].
(k) Foster investigations, studies, surveys, research, and analyses relating to (i) ecological systems and environmental quality, (ii) the impact of new and changing technologies thereon, and (iii) means of preventing or reducing adverse effects from such technologies.
Sec. 4. Amendments of E.O. 11472. Executive Order No. 11472 of May 29, 1969, including the heading thereof, is hereby amended:
(1) By substituting for the term “the Environmental Quality Council”, wherever it occurs, the following: “the Cabinet Committee on the Environment”.
(2) By substituting for the term “the Council”, wherever it occurs, the following: “the Cabinet Committee”.
(3) By inserting in subsection (f) of section 101, after “Budget,”, the following: “the Director of the Office of Science and Technology,”.
(4) By substituting for subsection (g) of section 101 the following:
“(g) The Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (established by Public Law 91–190) [this chapter] shall assist the President in directing the affairs of the Cabinet Committee.”
(5) By deleting subsection (c) of section 102.
(6) By substituting for “the Office of Science and Technology”, in section 104, the following: “the Council on Environmental Quality (established by Public Law 91–190) [this chapter]”.
(7) By substituting for “(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Committee’)”, in section 201, the following: “(hereinafter referred to as the ‘Citizens’ Committee’)”.
(8) By substituting for the term “the Committee”, wherever it occurs, the following: “the Citizens’ Committee”.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 11523. National Industrial Pollution Control Council
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11523, eff. Apr. 9, 1970, 35 F.R. 5993, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and in furtherance of the purpose and policy of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Public Law 91–190, approved January 1, 1970) [this chapter], it is ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment of the Council. (a) There is hereby established the National Industrial Pollution Control Council (hereinafter referred to as “the Industrial Council”) which shall be composed of a Chairman, a Vice-chairman, and other representatives of business and industry appointed by the Secretary of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as “the Secretary”).
(b) The Secretary, with the concurrence of the Chairman, shall appoint an Executive Director of the Industrial Council.
Sec. 2. Functions of the Industrial Council. The Industrial Council shall advise the President and the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, through the Secretary, on programs of industry relating to the quality of the environment. In particular, the Industrial Council may—
(1) Survey and evaluate the plans and actions of industry in the field of environmental quality.
(2) Identify and examine problems of the effects on the environment of industrial practices and the needs of industry for improvements in the quality of the environment, and recommend solutions to those problems.
(3) Provide liaison among members of the business and industrial community on environmental quality matters.
(4) Encourage the business and industrial community to improve the quality of the environment.
(5) Advise on plans and actions of Federal, State, and local agencies involving environmental quality policies affecting industry which are referred to it by the Secretary, or by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality through the Secretary.
Sec. 3. Subordinate Committees. The Industrial Council may establish, with the concurrence of the Secretary, such subordinate committees as it may deem appropriate to assist in the performance of its functions. Each subordinate committee shall be headed by a chairman appointed by the Chairman of the Industrial Council with the concurrence of the Secretary.
Sec. 4. Assistance for the Industrial Council. In compliance with applicable law, and as necessary to serve the purposes of this order, the Secretary shall provide or arrange for administrative and staff services, support, and facilities for the Industrial Council and any of its subordinate committees.
Sec. 5. Expenses. Members of the Industrial Council or any of its subordinate committees shall receive no compensation from the United States by reason of their services hereunder, but may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5703) for persons in the Government service employed intermittently.
Sec. 6. Regulations. The provisions of Executive Order No. 11007 of February 26, 1962 (3 CFR 573) [see 5 U.S.C. 901 note] prescribing regulations for the formation and use of advisory committees, are hereby made applicable to the Industrial Council and each of its subordinate committees. The Secretary may exercise the discretionary powers set forth in that order.
Sec. 7. Construction. Nothing in this order shall be construed as subjecting any Federal agency, or any function vested by law in, or assigned pursuant to law to, any Federal agency to the authority of any other Federal agency or of the Industrial Council or of any of its subordinate committees, or as abrogating or restricting any such function in any manner.
Richard Nixon.
heading: Executive Order No. 11643
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11643, eff. Feb. 8, 1972, 37 F.R. 2875, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 11870, eff. July 18, 1975, 40 F.R. 30611; Ex. Ord. No. 11917, eff. May 28, 1976, 41 F.R. 22239, which related to environmental safeguards on activities for animal damage control on Federal lands, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12342, Jan. 27, 1982, 47 F.R. 4223.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 11644. Use of Off-Road Vehicles on Public Lands
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11644, Feb. 8, 1972, 37 F.R. 2877, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 11989, May 24, 1977, 42 F.R. 26959; Ex. Ord. No. 12608, Sept. 9, 1987, 52 F.R. 34617, provided:
An estimated 5 million off-road recreational vehicles—motorcycles, minibikes, trail bikes, snowmobiles, dunebuggies, all-terrain vehicles, and others—are in use in the United States today, and their popularity continues to increase rapidly. The widespread use of such vehicles on the public lands—often for legitimate purposes but also in frequent conflict with wise land and resource management practices, environmental values, and other types of recreational activity—has demonstrated the need for a unified Federal policy toward the use of such vehicles on the public lands.
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution of the United States and in furtherance of the purpose and policy of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321), it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. It is the purpose of this order to establish policies and provide for procedures that will ensure that the use of off-road vehicles on public lands will be controlled and directed so as to protect the resources of those lands, to promote the safety of all users of those lands, and to minimize conflicts among the various uses of those lands.
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this order, the term:
(1) “public lands” means (A) all lands under the custody and control of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, except Indian lands, (B) lands under the custody and control of the Tennessee Valley Authority that are situated in western Kentucky and Tennessee and are designated as “Land Between the Lakes,” and (C) lands under the custody and control of the Secretary of Defense;
(2) “respective agency head” means the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, with respect to public lands under the custody and control of each;
(3) “off-road vehicle” means any motorized vehicle designed for or capable of cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, sand, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, or other natural terrain; except that such term excludes (A) any registered motorboat, (B) any fire, military, emergency or law enforcement vehicle when used for emergency purposes, and any combat or combat support vehicle when used for national defense purposes, and (C) any vehicle whose use is expressly authorized by the respective agency head under a permit, lease, license, or contract; and
(4) “official use” means use by an employee, agent, or designated representative of the Federal Government or one of its contractors in the course of his employment, agency, or representation.
Sec. 3. Zones of Use. (a) Each respective agency head shall develop and issue regulations and administrative instructions, within six months of the date of this order, to provide for administrative designation of the specific areas and trails on public lands on which the use of off-road vehicles may be permitted, and areas in which the use of off-road vehicles may not be permitted, and set a date by which such designation of all public lands shall be completed. Those regulations shall direct that the designation of such areas and trails will be based upon the protection of the resources of the public lands, promotion of the safety of all users of those lands, and minimization of conflicts among the various uses of those lands. The regulations shall further require that the designation of such areas and trails shall be in accordance with the following—
(1) Areas and trails shall be located to minimize damage to soil, watershed, vegetation, or other resources of the public lands.
(2) Areas and trails shall be located to minimize harassment of wildlife or significant disruption of wildlife habitats.
(3) Areas and trails shall be located to minimize conflicts between off-road vehicle use and other existing or proposed recreational uses of the same or neighboring public lands, and to ensure the compatibility of such uses with existing conditions in populated areas, taking into account noise and other factors.
(4) Areas and trails shall not be located in officially designated Wilderness Areas or Primitive Areas. Areas and trails shall be located in areas of the National Park system, Natural Areas, or National Wildlife Refuges and Game Ranges only if the respective agency head determines that off-road vehicle use in such locations will not adversely affect their natural, aesthetic, or scenic values.
(b) The respective agency head shall ensure adequate opportunity for public participation in the promulgation of such regulations and in the designation of areas and trails under this section.
(c) The limitations on off-road vehicle use imposed under this section shall not apply to official use.
Sec. 4. Operating Conditions. Each respective agency head shall develop and publish, within one year of the date of this order, regulations prescribing operating conditions for off-road vehicles on the public lands. These regulations shall be directed at protecting resource values, preserving public health, safety, and welfare, and minimizing use conflicts.
Sec. 5. Public Information. The respective agency head shall ensure that areas and trails where off-road vehicle use is permitted are well marked and shall provide for the publication and distribution of information, including maps, describing such areas and trails and explaining the conditions on vehicle use. He shall seek cooperation of relevant State agencies in the dissemination of this information.
Sec. 6. Enforcement. The respective agency head shall, where authorized by law, prescribe appropriate penalties for violation of regulations adopted pursuant to this order, and shall establish procedures for the enforcement of those regulations. To the extent permitted by law, he may enter into agreements with State or local governmental agencies for cooperative enforcement of laws and regulations relating to off-road vehicle use.
Sec. 7. Consultation. Before issuing the regulations or administrative instructions required by this order or designating areas or trails are required by this order and those regulations and administrative instructions, the Secretary of the Interior shall, as appropriate, consult with the Secretary of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Sec. 8. Monitoring of Effects and Review. (a) The respective agency head shall monitor the effects of the use of off-road vehicles on lands under their jurisdictions. On the basis of the information gathered, they shall from time to time amend or rescind designation of areas or other actions taken pursuant to this order as necessary to further the policy of this order.
(b) The Council on Environmental Quality shall maintain a continuing review of the implementation of this order.
Sec. 9. Special Protection of the Public Lands. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3 of this Order, the respective agency head shall, whenever he determines that the use of off-road vehicles will cause or is causing considerable adverse effects on the soil, vegetation, wildlife, wildlife habitat or cultural or historic resources of particular areas or trails of the public lands, immediately close such areas or trails to the type of off-road vehicle causing such effects, until such time as he determines that such adverse effects have been eliminated and that measures have been implemented to prevent future recurrence.
(b) Each respective agency head is authorized to adopt the policy that portions of the public lands within his jurisdiction shall be closed to use by off-road vehicles except those areas or trails which are suitable and specifically designated as open to such use pursuant to Section 3 of this Order.
heading: Executive Order No. 11987
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11987, May 24, 1977, 42 F.R. 26949, which directed executive agencies, and encouraged States, local governments, and private citizens, to restrict the introduction of exotic species into the natural ecosystems on lands and waters under their control, and which directed executive agencies to restrict the exportation of native species for introduction of such species into ecosystems outside the United States where they do not naturally occur, unless such introduction or exportation was found not to have an adverse effect on natural ecosystems, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13112, § 6(b), Feb. 3, 1999, 64 F.R. 6186, set out below.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 11988. Floodplain Management
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11988, May 24, 1977, 42 F.R. 26951, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12148, July 20, 1979, 44 F.R. 43239; Ex. Ord. No. 13690, § 2, Jan. 30, 2015, 80 F.R. 6425, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and as President of the United States of America, in furtherance of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (Public Law 93–234, 87 Stat. 975) [see Short Title of 1973 Amendment note set out under 42 U.S.C. 4001], in order to avoid to the extent possible the long and short term adverse impacts associated with the occupancy and modification of floodplains and to avoid direct or indirect support of floodplain development wherever there is a practicable alternative, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Each agency shall provide leadership and shall take action to reduce the risk of flood loss, to minimize the impact of floods on human safety, health and welfare, and to restore and preserve the natural and beneficial values served by floodplains in carrying out its responsibilities for (1) acquiring, managing, and disposing of Federal lands and facilities; (2) providing Federally undertaken, financed, or assisted construction and improvements; and (3) conducting Federal activities and programs affecting land use, including but not limited to water and related land resources planning, regulating, and licensing activities.
Sec. 2. In carrying out the activities described in Section 1 of this Order, each agency has a responsibility to evaluate the potential effects of any actions it may take in a floodplain; to ensure that its planning programs and budget requests reflect consideration of flood hazards and floodplain management; and to prescribe procedures to implement the policies and requirements of this Order, as follows, to the extent permitted by law:
(a)(1) Before taking an action, each agency shall determine whether the proposed action will occur in a floodplain—for major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, the evaluation required below will be included in any statement prepared under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act [42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)]. To determine whether the action is located in a floodplain, the agency shall use one of the approaches in Section 6(c) of this Order based on the best-available information and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s effective Flood Insurance Rate Map.
(2) If an agency has determined to, or proposes to, conduct, support, or allow an action to be located in a floodplain, the agency shall consider alternatives to avoid adverse effects and incompatible development in the floodplains. Where possible, an agency shall use natural systems, ecosystem processes, and nature-based approaches when developing alternatives for consideration. If the head of the agency finds that the only practicable alternative consistent with the law and with the policy set forth in this Order requires siting in a floodplain, the agency shall, prior to taking action, (i) design or modify its action in order to minimize potential harm to or within the floodplain, consistent with regulations issued in accord with Section 2(d) of this Order, and (ii) prepare and circulate a notice containing an explanation of why the action is proposed to be located in the floodplain.
(3) For programs subject to the Office of Management and Budget Circular A–95, the agency shall send the notice, not to exceed three pages in length including a location map, to the state and areawide A–95 clearinghouses for the geographic areas affected. The notice shall include: (i) the reasons why the action is proposed to be located in a floodplain; (ii) a statement indicating whether the action conforms to applicable state or local floodplain protection standards and (iii) a list of the alternatives considered. Agencies shall endeavor to allow a brief comment period prior to taking any action.
(4) Each agency shall also provide opportunity for early public review of any plans or proposals for actions in floodplains, in accordance with Section 2(b) of Executive Order No. 11514, as amended [set out above], including the development of procedures to accomplish this objective for Federal actions whose impact is not significant enough to require the preparation of an environmental impact statement under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended [42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)].
(b) Any requests for new authorizations or appropriations transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget shall indicate, if an action to be proposed will be located in a floodplain, whether the proposed action is in accord with this Order.
(c) Each agency shall take floodplain management into account when formulating or evaluating any water and land use plans and shall require land and water resources use appropriate to the degree of hazard involved. Agencies shall include adequate provision for the evaluation and consideration of flood hazards in the regulations and operating procedures for the licenses, permits, loan or grants-in-aid programs that they administer. Agencies shall also encourage and provide appropriate guidance to applicants to evaluate the effects of their proposals in floodplains prior to submitting applications for Federal licenses, permits, loans or grants.
(d) As allowed by law, each agency shall issue or amend existing regulations and procedures within one year to comply with this Order. These procedures shall incorporate the Unified National Program for Floodplain Management of the Water Resources Council, and shall explain the means that the agency will employ to pursue the nonhazardous use of riverine, coastal and other floodplains in connection with the activities under its authority. To the extent possible, existing processes, such as those of the Council on Environmental Quality and the Water Resources Council, shall be utilized to fulfill the requirements of this Order. Agencies shall prepare their procedures in consultation with the Water Resources Council, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Council on Environmental Quality, and shall update such procedures as necessary.
Sec. 3. In addition to the requirements of Section 2, agencies with responsibilities for Federal real property and facilities shall take the following measures:
(a) The regulations and procedures established under Section 2(d) of this Order shall, at a minimum, require the construction of Federal structures and facilities to be in accordance with the standards and criteria and to be consistent with the intent of those promulgated under the National Flood Insurance Program. The regulations and procedures must also be consistent with the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). They shall deviate only to the extent that the standards of the Flood Insurance Program and FFRMS are demonstrably inappropriate for a given type of structure or facility.
(b) If, after compliance with the requirements of this Order, new construction of structures or facilities are to be located in a floodplain, accepted floodproofing and other flood protection measures shall be applied to new construction or rehabilitation. To achieve flood protection, agencies shall, wherever practicable, elevate structures above the elevation of the floodplain as defined in Section 6(c) of this Order rather than filling in land.
(c) If property used by the general public has suffered flood damage or is located in an identified flood hazard area, the responsible agency shall provide on structures, and other places where appropriate, conspicuous delineation of past and probable flood height in order to enhance public awareness of and knowledge about flood hazards.
(d) When property in floodplains is proposed for lease, easement, right-of-way, or disposal to non-Federal public or private parties, the Federal agency shall (1) reference in the conveyance those uses that are restricted under identified Federal, State or local floodplain regulations; and (2) attach other appropriate restrictions to the uses of properties by the grantee or purchaser and any successors, except where prohibited by law; or (3) withhold such properties from conveyance.
Sec. 4. In addition to any responsibilities under this Order and Sections 102, 202, and 205 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4012a, 4106, and 4128), agencies which guarantee, approve, regulate, or insure any financial transaction which is related to an area located in an area subject to the base flood shall, prior to completing action on such transaction, inform any private parties participating in the transaction of the hazards of locating structures in the area subject to the base flood.
Sec. 5. The head of each agency shall submit a report to the Council on Environmental Quality and to the Water Resources Council on June 30, 1978, regarding the status of their procedures and the impact of this Order on the agency’s operations. Thereafter, the Water Resources Council shall periodically evaluate agency procedures and their effectiveness.
Sec. 6. As used in this Order:
(a) The term “agency” shall have the same meaning as the term “Executive agency” in Section 105 of Title 5 of the United States Code and shall include the military departments; the directives contained in this Order, however, are meant to apply only to those agencies which perform the activities described in Section 1 which are located in or affecting floodplains.
(b) The term “base flood” shall mean that flood which has a one percent or greater chance of occurrence in any given year.
(c) The term “floodplain” shall mean the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters including floodprone areas of offshore islands. The floodplain shall be established using one of the following approaches:
(1) Unless an exception is made under paragraph (2), the floodplain shall be:
(i) the elevation and flood hazard area that result from using a climate-informed science approach that uses the best-available, actionable hydrologic and hydraulic data and methods that integrate current and future changes in flooding based on climate science. This approach will also include an emphasis on whether the action is a critical action as one of the factors to be considered when conducting the analysis;
(ii) the elevation and flood hazard area that result from using the freeboard value, reached by adding an additional 2 feet to the base flood elevation for non-critical actions and by adding an additional 3 feet to the base flood elevation for critical actions;
(iii) the area subject to flooding by the 0.2 percent annual chance flood; or
(iv) the elevation and flood hazard area that result from using any other method identified in an update to the FFRMS.
(2) The head of an agency may except an agency action from paragraph (1) where it is in the interest of national security, where the agency action is an emergency action, where application to a Federal facility or structure is demonstrably inappropriate, or where the agency action is a mission-critical requirement related to a national security interest or an emergency action. When an agency action is excepted from paragraph (1) because it is in the interest of national security, it is an emergency action, or it is a mission-critical requirement related to a national security interest or an emergency action, the agency head shall rely on the area of land subject to the base flood.
(d) The term “critical action” shall mean any activity for which even a slight chance of flooding would be too great.
Sec. 7. Executive Order No. 11296 of August 10, 1966, is hereby revoked. All actions, procedures, and issuances taken under that Order and still in effect shall remain in effect until modified by appropriate authority under the terms of this Order.
Sec. 8. Nothing in this Order shall apply to assistance provided for emergency work essential to save lives and protect property and public health and safety, performed pursuant to Sections 403 and 502 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 5170b and 5192).
Sec. 9. To the extent the provisions of Section 2(a) of this Order are applicable to projects covered by Section 104(h) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (88 Stat. 640, 42 U.S.C. 5304(h)), the responsibilities under those provisions may be assumed by the appropriate applicant, if the applicant has also assumed, with respect to such proj­ects, all of the responsibilities for environmental review, decisionmaking, and action pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended [42 U.S.C. 4321].
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 11990. Protection of Wetlands
text: Ex. Ord. No. 11990, May 24, 1977, 42 F.R. 26961, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12608, Sept. 9, 1987, 52 F.R. 34617, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, and as President of the United States of America, in furtherance of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), in order to avoid to the extent possible the long and short term adverse impacts associated with the destruction or modification of wetlands and to avoid direct or indirect support of new construction in wetlands wherever there is a practicable alternative, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. (a) Each agency shall provide leadership and shall take action to minimize the destruction, loss or degradation of wetlands, and to preserve and enhance the natural and beneficial values of wetlands in carrying out the agency’s responsibilities for (1) acquiring, managing, and disposing of Federal lands and facilities; and (2) providing Federally undertaken, financed, or assisted construction and improvements; and (3) conducting Federal activities and programs affecting land use, including but not limited to water and related land resources planning, regulating, and licensing activities.
(b) This Order does not apply to the issuance by Federal agencies of permits, licenses, or allocations to private parties for activities involving wetlands on non-Federal property.
Sec. 2. (a) In furtherance of Section 101(b)(3) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331(b)(3)) to improve and coordinate Federal plans, functions, programs and resources to the end that the Nation may attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment without degradation and risk to health or safety, each agency, to the extent permitted by law, shall avoid undertaking or providing assistance for new construction located in wetlands unless the head of the agency finds (1) that there is no practicable alternative to such construction, and (2) that the proposed action includes all practicable measures to minimize harm to wetlands which may result from such use. In making this finding the head of the agency may take into account economic, environmental and other pertinent factors.
(b) Each agency shall also provide opportunity for early public review of any plans or proposals for new construction in wetlands, in accordance with Section 2(b) of Executive Order No. 11514, as amended [set out above], including the development of procedures to accomplish this objective for Federal actions whose impact is not significant enough to require the preparation of an environmental impact statement under Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended [42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)].
Sec. 3. Any requests for new authorizations or appropriations transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget shall indicate, if an action to be proposed will be located in wetlands, whether the proposed action is in accord with this Order.
Sec. 4. When Federally-owned wetlands or portions of wetlands are proposed for lease, easement, right-of-way or disposal to non-Federal public or private parties, the Federal agency shall (a) reference in the conveyance those uses that are restricted under identified Federal, State or local wetlands regulations; and (b) attach other appropriate restrictions to the uses of properties by the grantee or purchaser and any successor, except where prohibited by law; or (c) withhold such properties from disposal.
Sec. 5. In carrying out the activities described in Section 1 of this Order, each agency shall consider factors relevant to a proposal’s effect on the survival and quality of the wetlands. Among these factors are:
(a) public health, safety, and welfare, including water supply, quality, recharge and discharge; pollution; flood and storm hazards; and sediment and erosion;
(b) maintenance of natural systems, including conservation and long term productivity of existing flora and fauna, species and habitat diversity and stability, hydrologic utility, fish, wildlife, timber, and food and fiber resources; and
(c) other uses of wetlands in the public interest, including recreational, scientific, and cultural uses.
Sec. 6. As allowed by law, agencies shall issue or amend their existing procedures in order to comply with this Order. To the extent possible, existing processes, such as those of the Council on Environmental Quality, shall be utilized to fulfill the requirements of this Order.
Sec. 7. As used in this Order:
(a) The term “agency” shall have the same meaning as the term “Executive agency” in Section 105 of Title 5 of the United States Code and shall include the military departments; the directives contained in this Order, however, are meant to apply only to those agencies which perform the activities described in Section 1 which are located in or affecting wetlands.
(b) The term “new construction” shall include draining, dredging, channelizing, filling, diking, impounding, and related activities and any structures or facilities begun or authorized after the effective date of this Order.
(c) The term “wetlands” means those areas that are inundated by surface or ground water with a frequency sufficient to support and under normal circumstances does or would support a prevalence of vegetative or aquatic life that requires saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas such as sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflows, mud flats, and natural ponds.
Sec. 8. This Order does not apply to projects presently under construction, or to projects for which all of the funds have been appropriated through Fiscal Year 1977, or to projects and programs for which a draft or final environmental impact statement will be filed prior to October 1, 1977. The provisions of Section 2 of this Order shall be implemented by each agency not later than October 1, 1977.
Sec. 9. Nothing in this Order shall apply to assistance provided for emergency work, essential to save lives and protect property and public health and safety, performed pursuant to Sections 305 and 306 of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 148, 42 U.S.C. 5145 and 5146).
Sec. 10. To the extent the provisions of Sections 2 and 5 of this Order are applicable to projects covered by Section 104(h) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (88 Stat. 640, 42 U.S.C. 5304(h)), the responsibilities under those provisions may be assumed by the appropriate applicant, if the applicant has also assumed, with respect to such projects, all of the responsibilities for environmental review, decisionmaking, and action pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.].
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 12088. Federal Compliance With Pollution Control Standards
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12088, Oct. 13, 1978, 43 F.R. 47707, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12580, Jan. 23, 1987, 52 F.R. 2928; Ex. Ord. No. 13148, § 901, Apr. 21, 2000, 65 F.R. 24604, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States of America, including Section 22 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2621), Section 313 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1323), Section 1447 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Safe Drinking Water Act [now Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974] (42 U.S.C. 300j–6), Section 118 of the Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7418(b)), Section 4 of the Noise Control Act of 1972 (42 U.S.C. 4903), Section 6001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6961), and Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, and to ensure Federal compliance with applicable pollution control standards, it is hereby ordered as follows:
heading: 1–1. Applicability of Pollution Control Standards
text: 1–101. The head of each Executive agency is responsible for ensuring that all necessary actions are taken for the prevention, control, and abatement of environmental pollution with respect to Federal facilities and activities under the control of the agency.
1–102. The head of each Executive agency is responsible for compliance with applicable pollution control standards, including those established pursuant to, but not limited to, the following:
(a) Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
(b) Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).
(c) Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Safe Drinking Water Act [now Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974] (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).
(d) Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
(e) Noise Control Act of 1972 (42 U.S.C. 4901 et seq.).
(f) Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).
(g) Radiation guidance pursuant to Section 274(h) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021(h); see also, the Radiation Protection Guidance to Federal Agencies for Diagnostic X Rays approved by the President on January 26, 1978 and published at page 4377 of the Federal Register on February 1, 1978).
(h) Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1401, 1402, 1411–1421, 1441–1444 and 16 U.S.C. 1431–1434) [16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq., 1447 et seq.; 33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq., 2801 et seq.].
(i) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.).
1–103. “Applicable pollution control standards” means the same substantive, procedural, and other requirements that would apply to a private person.
heading: 1–2. Agency Coordination
text: 1–201. Each Executive agency shall cooperate with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, hereinafter referred to as the Administrator, and State, interstate, and local agencies in the prevention, control, and abatement of environmental pollution.
1–202. Each Executive agency shall consult with the Administrator and with State, interstate, and local agencies concerning the best techniques and methods available for the prevention, control, and abatement of environmental pollution.
heading: 1–3. Technical Advice and Oversight
text: 1–301. The Administrator shall provide technical advice and assistance to Executive agencies in order to ensure their cost effective and timely compliance with applicable pollution control standards.
1–302. The administrator shall conduct such reviews and inspections as may be necessary to monitor compliance with applicable pollution control standards by Federal facilities and activities.
heading: 1–4. Pollution Control Plan
text: [Revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13148, § 901, Apr. 21, 2000, 65 F.R. 24604.]
heading: 1–5. Funding
text: 1–501. The head of each Executive agency shall ensure that sufficient funds for compliance with applicable pollution control standards are requested in the agency budget.
1–502. The head of each Executive agency shall ensure that funds appropriated and apportioned for the prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution are not used for any other purpose unless permitted by law and specifically approved by the Office of Management and Budget.
heading: 1–6. Compliance With Pollution Controls
text: 1–601. Whenever the Administrator or the appropriate State, interstate, or local agency notifies an Executive agency that it is in violation of an applicable pollution control standard (see Section 1–102 of this Order), the Executive agency shall promptly consult with the notifying agency and provide for its approval a plan to achieve and maintain compliance with the applicable pollution control standard. This plan shall include an implementation schedule for coming into compliance as soon as practicable.
1–602. The Administrator shall make every effort to resolve conflicts regarding such violation between Executive agencies and, on request of any party, such conflicts between an Executive agency and a State, interstate, or a local agency. If the Administrator cannot resolve a conflict, the Administrator shall request the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to resolve the conflict.
1–603. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall consider unresolved conflicts at the request of the Administrator. The Director shall seek the Administrator’s technological judgment and determination with regard to the applicability of statues and regulations.
1–604. These conflict resolution procedures are in addition to, not in lieu of, other procedures, including sanctions, for the enforcement of applicable pollution control standards.
1–605. Except as expressly provided by a Presidential exemption under this Order, nothing in this Order, nor any action or inaction under this Order, shall be construed to revise or modify any applicable pollution control standard.
heading: 1–7. Limitation on Exemptions
text: 1–701. Exemptions from applicable pollution control standards may only be granted under statues cited in Section 1–102(a) through 1–102(f) if the President makes the required appropriate statutory determination: that such exemption is necessary (a) in the interest of national security, or (b) in the paramount interest of the United States.
1–702. The head of an Executive agency may, from time to time, recommend to the President through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, that an activity or facility, or uses thereof, be exempt from an applicable pollution control standard.
1–703. The Administrator shall advise the President, through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, whether he agrees or disagrees with a recommendation for exemption and his reasons therefor.
1–704. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget must advise the President within sixty days of receipt of the Administrator’s views.
heading: 1–8. General Provisions
text: 1–801. The head of each Executive agency that is responsible for the construction or operation of Federal facilities outside the United States shall ensure that such construction or operation complies with the environmental pollution control standards of general applicability in the host country or jurisdiction.
1–802. Nothing in this Order shall create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.
1–803. Executive Order No. 11752 of December 17, 1973, is revoked.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 12114. Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12114, Jan. 4, 1979, 44 F.R. 1957, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, and as President of the United States, in order to further environmental objectives consistent with the foreign policy and national security policy of the United States, it is ordered as follows:
heading: Section 1
text: 1–1. Purpose and Scope. The purpose of this Executive Order is to enable responsible officials of Federal agencies having ultimate responsibility for authorizing and approving actions encompassed by this Order to be informed of pertinent environmental considerations and to take such considerations into account, with other pertinent considerations of national policy, in making decisions regarding such actions. While based on independent authority, this Order furthers the purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.] and the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act [16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. and 33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.] and the Deepwater Port Act [33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.] consistent with the foreign policy and national security policy of the United States, and represents the United States government’s exclusive and complete determination of the procedural and other actions to be taken by Federal agencies to further the purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act, with respect to the environment outside the United States, its territories and possessions.
heading: Section 2
text: 2–1. Agency Procedures. Every Federal agency taking major Federal actions encompassed hereby and not exempted herefrom having significant effects on the environment outside the geographical borders of the United States and its territories and possessions shall within eight months after the effective date of this Order have in effect procedures to implement this Order. Agencies shall consult with the Department of State and the Council on Environmental Quality concerning such procedures prior to placing them in effect.
2–2. Information Exchange. To assist in effectuating the foregoing purpose, the Department of State and the Council on Environmental Quality in collaboration with other interested Federal agencies and other nations shall conduct a program for exchange on a continuing basis of information concerning the environment. The objectives of this program shall be to provide information for use by decisionmakers, to heighten awareness of and interest in environmental concerns and, as appropriate, to facilitate environmental cooperation with foreign nations.
2–3. Actions Included. Agencies in their procedures under Section 2–1 shall establish procedures by which their officers having ultimate responsibility for authorizing and approving actions in one of the following categories encompassed by this Order, take into consideration in making decisions concerning such actions, a document described in Section 2–4(a):
(a) major Federal actions significantly affecting the environment of the global commons outside the jurisdiction of any nation (e.g., the oceans or Antarctica);
(b) major Federal actions significantly affecting the environment of a foreign nation not participating with the United States and not otherwise involved in the action;
(c) major Federal actions significantly affecting the environment of a foreign nation which provide to that nation:
(1) a product, or physical project producing a principal product or an emission or effluent, which is prohibited or strictly regulated by Federal law in the United States because its toxic effects on the environment create a serious public health risk; or
(2) a physical project which in the United States is prohibited or strictly regulated by Federal law to protect the environment against radioactive substances.
(d) major Federal actions outside the United States, its territories and possessions which significantly affect natural or ecological resources of global importance designated for protection under this subsection by the President, or, in the case of such a resource protected by international agreement binding on the United States, by the Secretary of State. Recommendations to the President under this subsection shall be accompanied by the views of the Council on Environmental Quality and the Secretary of State.
2–4. Applicable Procedures. (a) There are the following types of documents to be used in connection with actions described in Section 2–3:
(i) environmental impact statements (including generic, program and specific statements);
(ii) bilateral or multilateral environmental studies, relevant or related to the proposed action, by the United States and one [or more] more foreign nations, or by an international body or organization in which the United States is a member or participant; or
(iii) concise reviews of the environmental issues involved, including environmental assessments, summary environmental analyses or other appropriate documents.
(b) Agencies shall in their procedures provide for preparation of documents described in Section 2–4(a), with respect to actions described in Section 2–3, as follows:
(i) for effects described in Section 2–3(a), an environmental impact statement described in Section 2–4(a)(i);
(ii) for effects described in Section 2–3(b), a document described in Section 2–4(a)(ii) or (iii), as determined by the agency;
(iii) for effects described in Section 2–3(c), a document described in Section 2–4(a)(ii) or (iii), as determined by the agency;
(iv) for effects described in Section 2–3(d), a document described in Section 2–4(a)(i), (ii) or (iii), as determined by the agency.
Such procedures may provide that an agency need not prepare a new document when a document described in Section 2–4(a) already exists.
(c) Nothing in this Order shall serve to invalidate any existing regulations of any agency which have been adopted pursuant to court order or pursuant to judicial settlement of any case or to prevent any agency from providing in its procedures for measures in addition to those provided for herein to further the purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act [43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.] and other environmental laws, including the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act [16 U.S.C. 1431 et seq. and 33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.], and the Deepwater Port Act [33 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.], consistent with the foreign and national security policies of the United States.
(d) Except as provided in Section 2–5(b), agencies taking action encompassed by this Order shall, as soon as feasible, inform other Federal agencies with relevant expertise of the availability of environmental documents prepared under this Order.
Agencies in their procedures under Section 2–1 shall make appropriate provision for determining when an affected nation shall be informed in accordance with Section 3–2 of this Order of the availability of environmental documents prepared pursuant to those procedures.
In order to avoid duplication of resources, agencies in their procedures shall provide for appropriate utilization of the resources of other Federal agencies with relevant environmental jurisdiction or expertise.
2–5. Exemptions and Considerations. (a) Notwithstanding Section 2–3, the following actions are exempt from this Order:
(i) actions not having a significant effect on the environment outside the United States as determined by the agency;
(ii) actions taken by the President;
(iii) actions taken by or pursuant to the direction of the President or Cabinet officer when the national security or interest is involved or when the action occurs in the course of an armed conflict;
(iv) intelligence activities and arms transfers;
(v) export licenses or permits or export approvals, and actions relating to nuclear activities except actions providing to a foreign nation a nuclear production or utilization facility as defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 [42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.], as amended, or a nuclear waste management facility;
(vi) votes and other actions in international conferences and organizations;
(vii) disaster and emergency relief action.
(b) Agency procedures under Section 2–1 implementing Section 2–4 may provide for appropriate modifications in the contents, timing and availability of documents to other affected Federal agencies and affected nations, where necessary to:
(i) enable the agency to decide and act promptly as and when required;
(ii) avoid adverse impacts on foreign relations or infringement in fact or appearance of other nations’ sovereign responsibilities, or
(iii) ensure appropriate reflection of:
(1) diplomatic factors;
(2) international commercial, competitive and export promotion factors;
(3) needs for governmental or commercial confidentiality;
(4) national security considerations;
(5) difficulties of obtaining information and agency ability to analyze meaningfully environmental effects of a proposed action; and
(6) the degree to which the agency is involved in or able to affect a decision to be made.
(c) Agency procedure under Section 2–1 may provide for categorical exclusions and for such exemptions in addition to those specified in subsection (a) of this Section as may be necessary to meet emergency circumstances, situations involving exceptional foreign policy and national security sensitivities and other such special circumstances. In utilizing such additional exemptions agencies shall, as soon as feasible, consult with the Department of State and the Council on Environmental Quality.
(d) The provisions of Section 2–5 do not apply to actions described in Section 2–3(a) unless permitted by law.
heading: Section 3
text: 3–1. Rights of Action. This Order is solely for the purpose of establishing internal procedures for Federal agencies to consider the significant effects of their actions on the environment outside the United States, its territories and possessions, and nothing in this Order shall be construed to create a cause of action.
3–2. Foreign Relations. The Department of State shall coordinate all communications by agencies with foreign governments concerning environmental agreements and other arrangements in implementation of this Order.
3–3. Multi-Agency Actions. Where more than one Federal agency is involved in an action or program, a lead agency, as determined by the agencies involved, shall have responsibility for implementation of this Order.
3–4. Certain Terms. For purposes of this Order, “environment” means the natural and physical environment and excludes social, economic and other environments; and an action significantly affects the environment if it does significant harm to the environment even though on balance the agency believes the action to be beneficial to the environment. The term “export approvals” in Section 2–5(a)(v) does not mean or include direct loans to finance exports.
3–5. Multiple Impacts. If a major Federal action having effects on the environment of the United States or the global commons requires preparation of an environmental impact statement, and if the action also has effects on the environment of a foreign nation, an environmental impact statement need not be prepared with respect to the effects on the environment of the foreign nation.
Jimmy Carter.
heading: Executive Order No. 12194
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12194, Feb. 21, 1980, 45 F.R. 12209, which established the Radiation Policy Council and provided for its membership, functions, etc., was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12379, § 23, Aug. 17, 1982, 47 F.R. 36100, formerly set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
heading: Executive Order No. 12737
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12737, Dec. 12, 1990, 55 F.R. 51681, which established President’s Commission on Environmental Quality and provided for its functions and administration, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 12852, § 4(c), June 29, 1993, 58 F.R. 35841, formerly set out below.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 12761. Establishment of President’s Environment and Conservation Challenge Awards
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12761, May 21, 1991, 56 F.R. 23645, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish, in accordance with the goals and purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), and the National Environmental Education Act, Public Law 101–619, 104 Stat. 3325 (1990) [20 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.], an awards program to raise environmental awareness and to recognize outstanding achievements in the United States and in its territories in the areas of conservation and environmental protection by both the public and private sectors, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment. The President’s Environment and Conservation Challenge Awards program is established for the purposes of recognizing outstanding environmental achievements by U.S. citizens, enterprises, or programs; providing an incentive for environmental accomplishment; promoting cooperative partnerships between diverse groups working together to achieve common environmental goals; and identifying successful environmental programs that can be replicated.
Sec. 2. Administration. (a) The Council on Environmental Quality, with the assistance of the President’s Commission on Environmental Quality, shall organize, manage, and administer the awards program, including the development of selection criteria, the nomination of eligible individuals to receive the award, and the selection of award recipients.
(b) Any expenses of the program shall be paid from funds available for the expenses of the Council on Environmental Quality.
Sec. 3. Awards. (a) Up to three awards in each of the following four categories shall be made annually to eligible individuals, organizations, groups, or entities:
(i) Quality Environmental Management Awards (incorporation of environmental concerns into management decisions and practices);
(ii) Partnership Awards (successful coalition building efforts);
(iii) Innovation Awards (innovative technology programs, products, or processes); and
(iv) Education and Communication Awards (education and information programs contributing to the development of an ethic fostering conservation and environmental protection).
(b) Presidential citations shall be given to eligible program finalists who demonstrate notable or unique achievements, but who are not selected to receive awards.
Sec. 4. Eligibility. Only residents of the United States and organizations, groups, or entities doing business in the United States are eligible to receive an award under this program. An award under this program shall be given only for achievements in the United States or its territories. Organizations, groups, or entities may be profit or nonprofit, public or private entities.
Sec. 5. Information System. The Council on Environmental Quality shall establish and maintain a data bank with information about award nominees to catalogue and publicize model conservation or environmental protection programs which could be replicated.
George Bush.
heading: Executive Order No. 12852
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12852, June 29, 1993, 58 F.R. 35841, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12855, July 19, 1993, 58 F.R. 39107; Ex. Ord. No. 12965, June 27, 1995, 60 F.R. 34087; Ex. Ord. No. 12980, Nov. 17, 1995, 60 F.R. 57819; Ex. Ord. No. 13053, June 30, 1997, 62 F.R. 39945 [35945]; Ex. Ord. No. 13114, Feb. 25, 1999, 64 F.R. 10099, which established the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13138, § 3(f), Sept. 30, 1999, 64 F.R. 53880, formerly set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 12898. Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
text: Ex. Ord. No. 12898, Feb. 11, 1994, 59 F.R. 7629, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 12948, Jan. 30, 1995, 60 F.R. 6381; Ex. Ord. No. 14008, § 220, Jan. 27, 2021, 86 F.R. 7629; Ex. Ord. No. 14082, § 4(b), Sept. 12, 2022, 87 F.R. 56863; Ex. Ord. No. 14096, § 7, Apr. 21, 2023, 88 F.R. 25258, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1–1. IMPLEMENTATION.
1–101. Agency Responsibilities. To the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, and consistent with the principles set forth in the report on the National Performance Review, each Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States and its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands.
1–102. Creation of an Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice. (a) There is hereby created within the Executive Office of the President a White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (Interagency Council). The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall serve as Chair of the Interagency Council.
(b) Membership. The Interagency Council shall consist of the following additional members:
(i) the Secretary of State;
(ii) the Secretary of Defense;
(iii) the Attorney General;
(iv) the Secretary of the Interior;
(v) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(vi) the Secretary of Commerce;
(vii) the Secretary of Labor;
(viii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(ix) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(x) the Secretary of Transportation;
(xi) the Secretary of Energy;
(xii) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
(xiii) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(xiv) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(xv) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(xvi) the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers;
(xvii) the Administrator of General Services;
(xviii) the Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council;
(xix) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(xx) the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor;
(xxi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;
(xxii) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
(xxiii) the Executive Director of the White House Gender Policy Council;
(xxiv) the Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation; and
(xxv) other relevant agency heads as determined by the Chair of CEQ.
(c) At the direction of the Chair, the Interagency Council may establish subgroups consisting exclusively of Interagency Council members or their designees under this section, as appropriate.
(d) Mission and Work. The Interagency Council shall develop a strategy to address current and historic environmental injustice by consulting with the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and with local environmental justice leaders. The Interagency Council shall also develop clear performance metrics to ensure accountability, and publish an annual public performance scorecard on its implementation. The Interagency Council shall support and facilitate interagency collaboration on programs and activities related to environmental justice, including the development of materials for environmental justice training to build the capacity of Federal employees to advance environmental justice and to increase the meaningful participation of individuals from communities with environmental justice concerns in Federal activities.
(e) Administration. The Office of Administration within the Executive Office of the President shall provide funding and administrative support for the Interagency Council, to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations. To the extent permitted by law, including the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 1535), and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency shall provide administrative support as necessary.
(f) Meetings and Staff. The Chair shall convene regular meetings of the Council, determine its agenda, and direct its work. The Chair shall designate an Executive Director of the Council, who shall coordinate the work of the Interagency Council and head any staff assigned to the Council.
(g) Officers. The head of each agency on the Interagency Council shall designate an Environmental Justice Officer within the agency with the authority to represent the agency on the Interagency Council and with the responsibility for leading agency planning and implementation of the agency’s Environmental Justice Strategic Plan, coordinating with CEQ and other agencies, and performing such other duties related to advancing environmental justice as the head of the agency deems appropriate.
(h) Memorandum of Understanding. The Interagency Council shall adopt a Memorandum of Understanding among its members that sets forth the objectives, structure, and planned operations of the Interagency Council.
(i) Public meetings. In coordination with the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the Interagency Council shall hold at least one public meeting per year. The Interagency Council shall prepare, for public review, a summary of the comments and recommendations discussed at public meetings of the Interagency Council.
(j) Clearinghouse. The Administrator of EPA, in coordination with the Interagency Council, shall, no later than March 31, 2024, establish a public, internet-based, whole-of-government clearinghouse composed of culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible materials related to environmental justice, including:
(i) information describing the activities of the members of the Interagency Council to address issues relating to environmental justice;
(ii) information on technical assistance, tools, and resources to assist communities with environmental justice concerns in building capacity for public participation;
(iii) copies of training materials developed by the Interagency Council or its members to help individuals and employees understand and carry out environmental justice activities; and
(iv) any other information deemed appropriate by the Administrator, in coordination with the Interagency Council.
1–103. Development of Agency Strategies. (a) Except as provided in section 6–605 of this order, each Federal agency shall develop an agency-wide environmental justice strategy, as set forth in subsections (b)–(e) of this section that identifies and addresses disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations. The environmental justice strategy shall list programs, policies, planning and public participation processes, enforcement, and/or rulemakings related to human health or the environment that should be revised to, at a minimum: (1) promote enforcement of all health and environmental statutes in areas with minority populations and low-income populations; (2) ensure greater public participation; (3) improve research and data collection relating to the health of and environment of minority populations and low-income populations; and (4) identify differential patterns of consumption of natural resources among minority populations and low-income populations. In addition, the environmental justice strategy shall include, where appropriate, a timetable for undertaking identified revisions and consideration of economic and social implications of the revisions.
(b) Within 4 months of the date of this order, each Federal agency shall identify an internal administrative process for developing its environmental justice strategy, and shall inform the Working Group of the process.
(c) Within 6 months of the date of this order, each Federal agency shall provide the Working Group with an outline of its proposed environmental justice strategy.
(d) Within 10 months of the date of this order, each Federal agency shall provide the Working Group with its proposed environmental justice strategy.
(e) By March 24, 1995, each Federal agency shall finalize its environmental justice strategy and provide a copy and written description of its strategy to the Working Group. From the date of this order through March 24, 1995, each Federal agency, as part of its environmental justice strategy, shall identify several specific projects that can be promptly undertaken to address particular concerns identified during the development of the proposed environmental justice strategy, and a schedule for implementing those projects.
(f) Within 24 months of the date of this order, each Federal agency shall report to the Working Group on its progress in implementing its agency-wide environmental justice strategy.
(g) Federal agencies shall provide additional periodic reports to the Working Group as requested by the Working Group.
1–104. Reports to the President. Within 14 months of the date of this order, the Working Group shall submit to the President, through the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the President for Environmental Policy and the Office of the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, a report that describes the implementation of this order, and includes the final environmental justice strategies described in section 1–103(e) of this order.
Sec. 2–2. FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES FOR FEDERAL PROGRAMS. Each Federal agency shall conduct its programs, policies, and activities that substantially affect human health or the environment, in a manner that ensures that such programs, policies, and activities do not have the effect of excluding persons (including populations) from participation in, denying persons (including populations) the benefits of, or subjecting persons (including populations) to discrimination under, such programs, policies, and activities, because of their race, color, or national origin.
Sec. 3–3. RESEARCH, DATA COLLECTION, AND ANALYSIS.
3–301. Human Health and Environmental Research and Analysis. (a) Environmental human health research, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall include diverse segments of the population in epidemiological and clinical studies, including segments at high risk from environmental hazards, such as minority populations, low-income populations and workers who may be exposed to substantial environmental hazards.
(b) Environmental human health analyses, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall identify multiple and cumulative exposures.
(c) Federal agencies shall provide minority populations and low-income populations the opportunity to comment on the development and design of research strategies undertaken pursuant to this order.
3–302. Human Health and Environmental Data Collection and Analysis. To the extent permitted by existing law, including the Privacy Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. section 552a): (a) each Federal agency, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall collect, maintain, and analyze information assessing and comparing environmental and human health risks borne by populations identified by race, national origin, or income. To the extent practical and appropriate, Federal agencies shall use this information to determine whether their programs, policies, and activities have disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority populations and low-income populations;
(b) In connection with the development and implementation of agency strategies in section 1–103 of this order, each Federal agency, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall collect, maintain and analyze information on the race, national origin, income level, and other readily accessible and appropriate information for areas surrounding facilities or sites expected to have a substantial environmental, human health, or economic effect on the surrounding populations, when such facilities or sites become the subject of a substantial Federal environmental administrative or judicial action. Such information shall be made available to the public, unless prohibited by law; and
(c) Each Federal agency, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall collect, maintain, and analyze information on the race, national origin, income level, and other readily accessible and appropriate information for areas surrounding Federal facilities that are: (1) subject to the reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, 42 U.S.C. section 11001–11050 as mandated in Executive Order No. 12856 [former 42 U.S.C. 11001 note]; and (2) expected to have a substantial environmental, human health, or economic effect on surrounding populations. Such information shall be made available to the public, unless prohibited by law.
(d) In carrying out the responsibilities in this section, each Federal agency, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall share information and eliminate unnecessary duplication of efforts through the use of existing data systems and cooperative agreements among Federal agencies and with State, local, and tribal governments.
Sec. 4–4. SUBSISTENCE CONSUMPTION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE.
4–401. Consumption Patterns. In order to assist in identifying the need for ensuring protection of populations with differential patterns of subsistence consumption of fish and wildlife, Federal agencies, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall collect, maintain, and analyze information on the consumption patterns of populations who principally rely on fish and/or wildlife for subsistence. Federal agencies shall communicate to the public the risks of those consumption patterns.
4–402. Guidance. Federal agencies, whenever practicable and appropriate, shall work in a coordinated manner to publish guidance reflecting the latest scientific information available concerning methods for evaluating the human health risks associated with the consumption of pollutant-bearing fish or wildlife. Agencies shall consider such guidance in developing their policies and rules.
Sec. 5–5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) The public may submit recommendations to Federal agencies relating to the incorporation of environmental justice principles into Federal agency programs or policies. Each Federal agency shall convey such recommendations to the Interagency Council.
(b) Each Federal agency may, whenever practicable and appropriate, translate crucial public documents, notices, and hearings relating to human health or the environment for limited English speaking populations.
(c) Each Federal agency shall work to ensure that public documents, notices, and hearings relating to human health or the environment are concise, understandable, and readily accessible to the public.
(d) The Working Group shall hold public meetings, as appropriate, for the purpose of fact-finding, receiving public comments, and conducting inquiries concerning environmental justice. The Working Group shall prepare for public review a summary of the comments and recommendations discussed at the public meetings.
Sec. 6–6. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
6–601. Responsibility for Agency Implementation. The head of each Federal agency shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with this order. Each Federal agency shall conduct internal reviews and take such other steps as may be necessary to monitor compliance with this order.
6–602. Executive Order No. 12250. This Executive order is intended to supplement but not supersede Executive Order No. 12250 [42 U.S.C. 2000d–1 note], which requires consistent and effective implementation of various laws prohibiting discriminatory practices in programs receiving Federal financial assistance. Nothing herein shall limit the effect or mandate of Executive Order No. 12250.
6–603. Executive Order No. 12875. This Executive order is not intended to limit the effect or mandate of Executive Order No. 12875 [former 5 U.S.C. 601 note].
6–604. Scope. For purposes of this order, Federal agency means any agency on the Working Group, and such other agencies as may be designated by the President, that conducts any Federal program or activity that substantially affects human health or the environment. Independent agencies are requested to comply with the provisions of this order.
6–605. Petitions for Exemptions. The head of a Federal agency may petition the President for an exemption from the requirements of this order on the grounds that all or some of the petitioning agency’s programs or activities should not be subject to the requirements of this order.
6–606. Native American Programs. Each Federal agency responsibility set forth under this order shall apply equally to Native American programs. In addition, the Department of the Interior, in coordination with the Working Group, and, after consultation with tribal leaders, shall coordinate steps to be taken pursuant to this order that address Federally-recognized Indian Tribes.
6–607. Costs. Unless otherwise provided by law, Federal agencies shall assume the financial costs of complying with this order.
6–608. General. Federal agencies shall implement this order consistent with, and to the extent permitted by, existing law.
6–609. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch and is not intended to, nor does it create any right, benefit, or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person. This order shall not be construed to create any right to judicial review involving the compliance or noncompliance of the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any other person with this order.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 13045. Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13045, Apr. 21, 1997, 62 F.R. 19885, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13229, Oct. 9, 2001, 66 F.R. 52013; Ex. Ord. No. 13296, Apr. 18, 2003, 68 F.R. 19931, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy.
1–101. A growing body of scientific knowledge demonstrates that children may suffer disproportionately from environmental health risks and safety risks. These risks arise because: children’s neurological, immunological, digestive, and other bodily systems are still developing; children eat more food, drink more fluids, and breathe more air in proportion to their body weight than adults; children’s size and weight may diminish their protection from standard safety features; and children’s behavior patterns may make them more susceptible to accidents because they are less able to protect themselves. Therefore, to the extent permitted by law and appropriate, and consistent with the agency’s mission, each Federal agency:
(a) shall make it a high priority to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children; and
(b) shall ensure that its policies, programs, activities, and standards address disproportionate risks to children that result from environmental health risks or safety risks.
1–102. Each independent regulatory agency is encouraged to participate in the implementation of this order and comply with its provisions.
Sec. 2. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this order.
2–201. “Federal agency” means any authority of the United States that is an agency under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1) other than those considered to be independent regulatory agencies under 44 U.S.C. 3502(5). For purposes of this order, “military departments,” as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102, are covered under the auspices of the Department of Defense.
2–202. “Covered regulatory action” means any substantive action in a rulemaking, initiated after the date of this order or for which a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is published 1 year after the date of this order, that is likely to result in a rule that may:
(a) be “economically significant” under Executive Order 12866 [5 U.S.C. 601 note] (a rulemaking that has an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or would adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities); and
(b) concern an environmental health risk or safety risk that an agency has reason to believe may disproportionately affect children.
2–203. “Environmental health risks and safety risks” mean risks to health or to safety that are attributable to products or substances that the child is likely to come in contact with or ingest (such as the air we breath, the food we eat, the water we drink or use for recreation, the soil we live on, and the products we use or are exposed to).
Sec. 3. Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children.
3–301. There is hereby established the Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children (“Task Force”).
3–302. The Task Force will report to the President in consultation with the Domestic Policy Council, the National Science and Technology Council, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
3–303. Membership. The Task Force shall be composed of the:
(a) Secretary of Health and Human Services, who shall serve as a Co-Chair of the Council;
(b) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who shall serve as a Co-Chair of the Council;
(c) Secretary of Education;
(d) Secretary of Labor;
(e) Attorney General;
(f) Secretary of Energy;
(g) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(h) Secretary of Agriculture;
(i) Secretary of Transportation;
(j) Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(k) Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality;
(l) Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission;
(m) Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
(n) Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;
(o) Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(p) Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; and
(q) Such other officials of executive departments and agencies as the President may, from time to time, designate.
Members of the Task Force may delegate their responsibilities under this order to subordinates.
3–304. Functions. The Task Force shall recommend to the President Federal strategies for children’s environmental health and safety, within the limits of the Administration’s budget, to include the following elements:
(a) statements of principles, general policy, and targeted annual priorities to guide the Federal approach to achieving the goals of this order;
(b) a coordinated research agenda for the Federal Government, including steps to implement the review of research databases described in section 4 of this order;
(c) recommendations for appropriate partnerships among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and the private, academic, and nonprofit sectors;
(d) proposals to enhance public outreach and communication to assist families in evaluating risks to children and in making informed consumer choices;
(e) an identification of high-priority initiatives that the Federal Government has undertaken or will undertake in advancing protection of children’s environmental health and safety; and
(f) a statement regarding the desirability of new legislation to fulfill or promote the purposes of this order.
3–305. The Task Force shall prepare a biennial report on research, data, or other information that would enhance our ability to understand, analyze, and respond to environmental health risks and safety risks to children. For purposes of this report, executive departments, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies identified by the Task Force shall identify and specifically describe for the Task Force key data needs related to environmental health risks and safety risks to children that have arisen in the course of the agency’s programs and activities. Each report shall also detail the accomplishments of the Task Force from the date of the preceding report. The Task Force shall incorporate agency submissions into its report and ensure that this report is publicly available and widely disseminated. The Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science and Technology Council shall ensure that this report is fully considered in establishing research priorities.
3–306. The Task Force shall exist for 8 years from the date of this order.
Sec. 4. Research Coordination and Integration.
4–401. Within 6 months of the date of this order, the Task Force shall develop or direct to be developed a review of existing and planned data resources and a proposed plan for ensuring that researchers and Federal research agencies have access to information on all research conducted or funded by the Federal Government that is related to adverse health risks in children resulting from exposure to environmental health risks or safety risks. The National Science and Technology Council shall review the plan.
4–402. The plan shall promote the sharing of information on academic and private research. It shall include recommendations to encourage that such data, to the extent permitted by law, is available to the public, the scientific and academic communities, and all Federal agencies.
Sec. 5. Agency Environmental Health Risk or Safety Risk Regulations.
5–501. For each covered regulatory action submitted to OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review pursuant to Executive Order 12866 [5 U.S.C. 601 note], the issuing agency shall provide to OIRA the following information developed as part of the agency’s decisionmaking process, unless prohibited by law:
(a) an evaluation of the environmental health or safety effects of the planned regulation on children; and
(b) an explanation of why the planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the agency.
5–502. In emergency situations, or when an agency is obligated by law to act more quickly than normal review procedures allow, the agency shall comply with the provisions of this section to the extent practicable. For those covered regulatory actions that are governed by a court-imposed or statutory deadline, the agency shall, to the extent practicable, schedule any rulemaking proceedings so as to permit sufficient time for completing the analysis required by this section.
5–503. The analysis required by this section may be included as part of any other required analysis, and shall be made part of the administrative record for the covered regulatory action or otherwise made available to the public, to the extent permitted by law.
Sec. 6. Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.
6–601. The Director of the OMB (“Director”) shall convene an Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (“Forum”), which will include representatives from the appropriate Federal statistics and research agencies. The Forum shall produce a biennial compendium (“Report”) of the most important indicators of the well-being of the Nation’s children.
6–602. The Forum shall determine the indicators to be included in each Report and identify the sources of data to be used for each indicator. The Forum shall provide an ongoing review of Federal collection and dissemination of data on children and families, and shall make recommendations to improve the coverage and coordination of data collection and to reduce duplication and overlap.
6–603. The Report shall be published by the Forum in collaboration with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [now the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development]. The Forum shall present the first annual Report to the President, through the Director, by July 31, 1997. The Report shall be published biennially thereafter, using the most recently available data.
Sec. 7. General Provisions.
7–701. This order is intended only for internal management of the executive branch. This order is not intended, and should not be construed to create, any right, benefit, or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or its employees. This order shall not be construed to create any right to judicial review involving the compliance or noncompliance with this order by the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any other person.
7–702. Executive Order 12606 of September 2, 1987 is revoked.
7–703. Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 13061. Federal Support of Community Efforts Along American Heritage Rivers
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13061, Sept. 11, 1997, 62 F.R. 48445, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13093, July 27, 1998, 63 F.R. 40357, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (Public Law 91–190) [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.], and in order to protect and restore rivers and their adjacent communities, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policies.
(a) The American Heritage Rivers initiative has three objectives: natural resource and environmental protection, economic revitalization, and historic and cultural preservation.
(b) Executive agencies (“agencies”), to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their missions and resources, shall coordinate Federal plans, functions, programs, and resources to preserve, protect, and restore rivers and their associated resources important to our history, culture, and natural heritage.
(c) Agencies shall develop plans to bring increased efficiencies to existing and authorized programs with goals that are supportive of protection and restoration of communities along rivers.
(d) In accordance with Executive Order 12630 [5 U.S.C. 601 note], agencies shall act with due regard for the protection of private property provided for by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. No new regulatory authority is created as a result of the American Heritage Rivers initiative. This initiative will not interfere with matters of State, local, and tribal government jurisdiction.
(e) In furtherance of these policies, the President will designate rivers that meet certain criteria as “American Heritage Rivers.”
(f) It is the policy of the Federal Government that communities shall nominate rivers as American Heritage Rivers and the Federal role will be solely to support community-based efforts to preserve, protect, and restore these rivers and their communities.
(g) Agencies should, to the extent practicable, help identify resources in the private and nonprofit sectors to aid revitalization efforts.
(h) Agencies are encouraged, to the extent permitted by law, to develop partnerships with State, local, and tribal governments and community and nongovernmental organizations. Agencies will be responsive to the diverse needs of different kinds of communities from the core of our cities to remote rural areas and shall seek to ensure that the role played by the Federal Government is complementary to the plans and work being carried out by State, local, and tribal governments. To the extent possible, Federal resources will be strategically directed to complement resources being spent by these governments.
(i) Agencies shall establish a method for field offices to assess the success of the American Heritage River initiative and provide a means to recommend changes that will improve the delivery and accessibility of Federal services and programs. Agencies are directed, where appropriate, to reduce and make more flexible procedural requirements and paperwork related to providing assistance to communities along designated rivers.
(j) Agencies shall commit to a policy under which they will seek to ensure that their actions have a positive effect on the natural, historic, economic, and cultural resources of American Heritage River communities. The policy will require agencies to consult with American Heritage River communities early in the planning stages of Federal actions, take into account the communities’ goals and objectives and ensure that actions are compatible with the overall character of these communities. Agencies shall seek to ensure that their help for one community does not adversely affect neighboring communities. Additionally, agencies are encouraged to develop formal and informal partnerships to assist communities. Local Federal facilities, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with the agencies’ missions and resources, should provide public access, physical space, technical assistance, and other support for American Heritage River communities.
(k) In addition to providing support to designated rivers, agencies will work together to provide information and services to all communities seeking support.
Sec. 2. Process for Nominating an American Heritage River.
(a) Nomination. Communities, in coordination with their State, local, or tribal governments, can nominate their river, river stretch, or river confluence for designation as an American Heritage River. When several communities are involved in the nomination of the same river, nominations will detail the coordination among the interested communities and the role each will play in the process. Individuals living outside the community may not nominate a river.
(b) Selection Criteria. Nominations will be judged based on the following:
(1) the characteristics of the natural, economic, agricultural, scenic, historic, cultural, or recreational resources of the river that render it distinctive or unique;
(2) the effectiveness with which the community has defined its plan of action and the extent to which the plan addresses, either through planned actions or past accomplishments, all three American Heritage Rivers objectives, which are set forth in section 1(a) of this order;
(3) the strength and diversity of community support for the nomination as evidenced by letters from elected officials; landowners; private citizens; businesses; and especially State, local, and tribal governments. Broad community support is essential to receiving the American Heritage River designation; and
(4) willingness and capability of the community to forge partnerships and agreements to implement their plan to meet their goals and objectives.
(c) Recommendation Process.
The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) shall develop a fair and objective procedure to obtain the views of a diverse group of experts for the purpose of making recommendations to the President as to which rivers shall be designated. These experts shall reflect a variety of viewpoints, such as those representing natural, cultural, and historic resources; scenic, environmental, and recreation interests; tourism, transportation, and economic development interests; and industries such as agriculture, hydropower, manufacturing, mining, and forest management. The Chair of the CEQ will ensure that the rivers recommended represent a variety of stream sizes, diverse geographical locations, and a wide range of settings from urban to rural and ensure that relatively pristine, successful revitalization efforts are considered as well as degraded rivers in need of restoration.
(d) Designation.
(1) The President will designate certain rivers as American Heritage Rivers. Based on the receipt of a sufficient number of qualified nominations, up to 20 rivers will be designated in the first phase of the initiative.
(2) The Interagency Committee provided for in section 3 of this order shall develop a process by which any community that nominates and has its river designated may have this designation terminated at its request.
(3) Upon a determination by the Chair of the CEQ that a community has failed to implement its plan, the Chair may recommend to the President that a designation be revoked. The Chair shall notify the community at least 30 days prior to making such a recommendation to the President. Based on that recommendation, the President may revoke the designation.
Sec. 3. Establishment of an Interagency Committee. There is hereby established the American Heritage Rivers Interagency Committee (“Committee”). The Committee shall have two co-chairs. The Chair of the CEQ shall be a permanent co-chair. The other co-chair will rotate among the heads of the agencies listed below.
(a) The Committee shall be composed of the following members or their designees at the Assistant Secretary level or equivalent:
(1) The Secretary of Defense;
(2) The Attorney General;
(3) The Secretary of the Interior;
(4) The Secretary of Agriculture;
(5) The Secretary of Commerce;
(6) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(7) The Secretary of Transportation;
(8) The Secretary of Energy;
(9) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(10) The Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation;
(11) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts; and
(12) The Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Chair of the CEQ may invite to participate in meetings of the Committee, representatives of other agencies, as appropriate.
(b) The Committee shall:
(1) establish formal guidelines for designation as an American Heritage River;
(2) periodically review the actions of agencies in support of the American Heritage Rivers;
(3) report to the President on the progress, accomplishments, and effectiveness of the American Heritage Rivers initiative; and
(4) perform other duties as directed by the Chair of the CEQ.
Sec. 4. Responsibilities of the Federal Agencies. Consistent with Title I of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.], agencies shall:
(a) identify their existing programs and plans that give them the authority to offer assistance to communities involved in river conservation and community health and revitalization;
(b) to the extent practicable and permitted by law and regulation, refocus programs, grants, and technical assistance to provide support for communities adjacent to American Heritage Rivers;
(c) identify all technical tools, including those developed for purposes other than river conservation, that can be applied to river protection, restoration, and community revitalization;
(d) provide access to existing scientific data and information to the extent permitted by law and consistent with the agencies mission and resources;
(e) cooperate with State, local, and tribal governments and communities with respect to their activities that take place in, or affect the area around, an American Heritage River;
(f) commit to a policy, as set forth in section 1(j) of this order, in making decisions affecting the quality of an American Heritage River;
(g) select from among all the agencies a single individual called the “River Navigator,” for each river that is designated an American Heritage River, with whom the communities can communicate goals and needs and who will facilitate community-agency interchange;
(h) allow public access to the river, for agencies with facilities along American Heritage Rivers, to the extent practicable and consistent with their mission; and
(i) cooperate, as appropriate, with communities on projects that protect or preserve stretches of the river that are on Federal property or adjacent to a Federal facility.
Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Committee and the Council on Environmental Quality. The CEQ shall serve as Executive agent for the Committee, and the CEQ and the Committee shall ensure the implementation of the policies and purposes of this initiative.
Sec. 6. Definition. For the purposes of this order, Executive agency means any agency on the Committee and such other agency as may be designated by the President.
Sec. 7. Judicial Review. This order does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
William J. Clinton.
heading: Executive Order No. 13080
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13080, Apr. 7, 1998, 63 F.R. 17667, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13093, July 27, 1998, 63 F.R. 40357, which established the American Heritage Rivers Initiative Advisory Committee, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13225, § 3(b), Sept. 28, 2001, 66 F.R. 50292, formerly set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
heading: Proc. No. 7112. Designation of American Heritage Rivers
text: Proc. No. 7112, July 30, 1998, 63 F.R. 41949, provided:
In celebration of America’s rivers, and to recognize and reward grassroots efforts to restore them, last year I announced the American Heritage Rivers initiative. My goal was to help communities realize their visions for their rivers by making it easier for them to tap existing programs and resources of the Federal Government. From across the country, hundreds of communities answered my call for nominations, asking that their rivers be designated American Heritage Rivers. I applaud all of the communities that have drawn together and dedicated themselves to the goal of healthy rivers, now and forever.
Having reviewed the recommendations of the American Heritage Rivers Initiative Advisory Committee, I am pleased to be able to recognize a select group of rivers and communities that reflect the true diversity and splendor of America’s natural endowment, and the tremendous energy and commitment of its citizenry.
Pursuant to Executive Orders 13061 [set out above], 13080, and 13093 [set out above], I hereby designate the following American Heritage Rivers:
• The Blackstone and Woonasquatucket Rivers, in the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island;
• The Connecticut River, in the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont;
• The Cuyahoga River, in the State of Ohio;
• The Detroit River, in the State of Michigan;
• The Hanalei River, in the State of Hawaii;
• The Hudson River, in the State of New York;
• The Upper Mississippi River, in the States of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin;
• The Lower Mississippi River, in the States of Louisiana and Tennessee;
• The New River, in the States of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia;
• The Rio Grande, in the State of Texas;
• The Potomac River, in the District of Columbia and the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia;
• The St. Johns River, in the State of Florida;
• The Upper Susquehanna and Lackawanna Rivers, in the State of Pennsylvania;
• The Willamette River, in the State of Oregon.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-third.
William J. Clinton.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 13112. Invasive Species
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13112, Feb. 3, 1999, 64 F.R. 6183, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13286, § 15, Feb. 28, 2003, 68 F.R. 10623; Ex. Ord. No. 13751, §§ 2, 3, 5–9, Dec. 5, 2016, 81 F.R. 88610, 88612–88614, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990, as amended (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.), Lacey Act, as amended (18 U.S.C. 42), Federal Plant Pest Act (7 U.S.C. 150aa et seq.), Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974, as amended (7 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and other pertinent statutes, to prevent the introduction of invasive species and provide for their control and to minimize the economic, ecological, and human health impacts that invasive species cause, it is ordered as follows:
Section 1. Definitions. (a) “Control” means containing, suppressing, or reducing populations of invasive species.
(b) “Eradication” means the removal or destruction of an entire population of invasive species.
(c) “Federal agency” means an executive department or agency, but does not include independent establishments as defined by 5 U.S.C. 104.
(d) “Introduction” means, as a result of human activity, the intentional or unintentional escape, release, dissemination, or placement of an organism into an ecosystem to which it is not native.
(e) “Invasive species” means, with regard to a particular ecosystem, a non-native organism whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human, animal, or plant health.
(f) “Non-native species” or “alien species” means, with respect to a particular ecosystem, an organism, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material capable of propagating that species, that occurs outside of its natural range.
(g) “Pathway” means the mechanisms and processes by which non-native species are moved, intentionally or unintentionally, into a new ecosystem.
(h) “Prevention” means the action of stopping invasive species from being introduced or spreading into a new ecosystem.
(i) “United States” means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, all possessions, and the territorial sea of the United States as defined by Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 1988.
Sec. 2. Federal Agency Duties. (a) Each Federal agency for which that agency’s actions may affect the introduction, establishment, or spread of invasive species shall, to the extent practicable and permitted by law,
(1) identify such agency actions;
(2) subject to the availability of appropriations, and within administrative, budgetary, and jurisdictional limits, use relevant agency programs and authorities to:
(i) prevent the introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species;
(ii) detect and respond rapidly to eradicate or control populations of invasive species in a manner that is cost-effective and minimizes human, animal, plant, and environmental health risks;
(iii) monitor invasive species populations accurately and reliably;
(iv) provide for the restoration of native species, ecosystems, and other assets that have been impacted by invasive species;
(v) conduct research on invasive species and develop and apply technologies to prevent their introduction, and provide for environmentally sound methods of eradication and control of invasive species;
(vi) promote public education and action on invasive species, their pathways, and ways to address them, with an emphasis on prevention, and early detection and rapid response;
(vii) assess and strengthen, as appropriate, policy and regulatory frameworks pertaining to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species and address regulatory gaps, inconsistencies, and conflicts;
(viii) coordinate with and complement similar efforts of States, territories, federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiians, local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector; and
(ix) in consultation with the Department of State and with other agencies as appropriate, coordinate with foreign governments to prevent the movement and minimize the impacts of invasive species; and
(3) refrain from authorizing, funding, or implementing actions that are likely to cause or promote the introduction, establishment, or spread of invasive species in the United States unless, pursuant to guidelines that it has prescribed, the agency has determined and made public its determination that the benefits of such actions clearly outweigh the potential harm caused by invasive species; and that all feasible and prudent measures to minimize risk of harm will be taken in conjunction with the actions.
(c) [sic] Federal agencies shall pursue the duties set forth in this section in coordination, to the extent practicable, with other member agencies of the Council and staff, consistent with the National Invasive Species Council Management Plan, and in cooperation with State, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and stakeholders, as appropriate, and in consultation with the Department of State when Federal agencies are working with international organizations and foreign nations.
(d) Federal agencies that are members of the Council, and Federal interagency bodies working on issues relevant to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species, shall provide the Council with annual information on actions taken that implement these duties and identify barriers to advancing priority actions.
(e) To the extent practicable, Federal agencies shall also expand the use of new and existing technologies and practices; develop, share, and utilize similar metrics and standards, methodologies, and databases and, where relevant, platforms for monitoring invasive species; and, facilitate the interoperability of information systems, open data, data analytics, predictive modeling, and data reporting necessary to inform timely, science-based decision making.
Sec. 3. National Invasive Species Council. (a) A National Invasive Species Council (Council) is hereby established. The mission of the Council is to provide the vision and leadership to coordinate, sustain, and expand Federal efforts to safeguard the interests of the United States through the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species, and through the restoration of ecosystems and other assets impacted by invasive species.
(b) The Council’s membership shall be composed of the following officials, who may designate a senior-level representative to perform the functions of the member:
(i) Secretary of State;
(ii) Secretary of the Treasury;
(iii) Secretary of Defense;
(iv) Secretary of the Interior;
(v) Secretary of Agriculture;
(vi) Secretary of Commerce;
(vii) Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(viii) Secretary of Transportation;
(ix) Secretary of Homeland Security;
(x) Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(xi) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(xii) Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development;
(xiii) United States Trade Representative;
(xiv) Director or Chair of the following components of the Executive Office of the President: the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Management and Budget; and
(xv) Officials from such other departments, agencies, offices, or entities as the agencies set forth above, by consensus, deem appropriate.
(c) The Council shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce, who shall meet quarterly or more frequently if needed, and who may designate a senior-level representative to perform the functions of the Co-Chair. The Council shall meet no less than once each year. The Secretary of the Interior shall, after consultation with the Co-Chairs, appoint an Executive Director of the Council to oversee a staff that supports the duties of the Council. Within 1 year of the date of this order, the Co-Chairs of the Council shall, with consensus of its members, complete a charter, which shall include any administrative policies and processes necessary to ensure the Council can satisfy the functions and responsibilities described in this order.
(d) The Secretary of the Interior shall maintain the current Invasive Species Advisory Committee established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, [former] 5 U.S.C. App. [see 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.], to provide information and advice for consideration by the Council. The Secretary shall, after consultation with other members of the Council, appoint members of the advisory committee who represent diverse stakeholders and who have expertise to advise the Council.
(e) Administration of the Council. The Department of the Interior shall provide funding and administrative support for the Council and the advisory committee consistent with existing authorities. To the extent permitted by law, including the Economy Act, and within existing appropriations, participating agencies may detail staff to the Department of the Interior to support the Council’s efforts.
Sec. 4. Duties of the National Invasive Species Council. The Council shall provide national leadership regarding invasive species and shall:
(a) with regard to the implementation of this order, work to ensure that the Federal agency and interagency activities concerning invasive species are coordinated, complementary, cost-efficient, and effective;
(b) undertake a National Invasive Species Assessment in coordination with the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s periodic national assessment, that evaluates the impact of invasive species on major U.S. assets, including food security, water resources, infrastructure, the environment, human, animal, and plant health, natural resources, cultural identity and resources, and military readiness, from ecological, social, and economic perspectives;
(c) advance national incident response, data collection, and rapid reporting capacities that build on existing frameworks and programs and strengthen early detection of and rapid response to invasive species, including those that are vectors, reservoirs, or causative agents of disease;
(d) publish an assessment by 2020 that identifies the most pressing scientific, technical, and programmatic coordination challenges to the Federal Government’s capacity to prevent the introduction of invasive species, and that incorporate recommendations and priority actions to overcome these challenges into the National Invasive Species Council Management Plan, as appropriate;
(e) support and encourage the development of new technologies and practices, and promote the use of existing technologies and practices, to prevent, eradicate, and control invasive species, including those that are vectors, reservoirs, and causative agents of disease;
(f) convene annually to discuss and coordinate interagency priorities and report annually on activities and budget requirements for programs that contribute directly to the implementation of this order; and
(g) publish a National Invasive Species Council Management Plan as set forth in section 5 of this order.
Sec. 5. National Invasive Species Council Management Plan. (a) By December 31, 2019, the Council shall publish a National Invasive Species Council Management Plan (Management Plan), which shall, among other priorities identified by the Council, include actions to further the implementation of the duties of the National Invasive Species Council.
(b) The Management Plan shall recommend strategies to:
(1) provide institutional leadership and priority setting;
(2) achieve effective interagency coordination and cost-efficiency;
(3) raise awareness and motivate action, including through the promotion of appropriate transparency, community-level consultation, and stakeholder outreach concerning the benefits and risks to human, animal, or plant health when controlling or eradicating an invasive species;
(4) remove institutional and policy barriers;
(5) assess and strengthen capacities; and
(6) foster scientific, technical, and programmatic innovation.
(c) The Council shall evaluate the effectiveness of the Management Plan implementation and update the Plan every 3 years. The Council shall provide an annual report of its achievements to the public.
(d) Council members may complement the Management Plan with invasive species policies and plans specific to their respective agency’s roles, responsibilities, and authorities.
Sec. 6. Judicial Review and Administration. (a) This order is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch and is not intended to create any right, benefit, or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any other person.
(b) Executive Order 11987 of May 24, 1977, is hereby revoked.
(c) The requirements of this order do not affect the obligations of Federal agencies under 16 U.S.C. 4713 with respect to ballast water programs.
(d) The duties of section 3(a)(2) [probably means 2(a)(2)] and section 3(a)(3) [2(a)(3)] of this order shall not apply to any action of the Department of State if the Secretary of State finds that exemption from such requirements is necessary for foreign policy, readiness, or national security reasons. The duties of section 3(a)(2) [2(a)(2)] and section 3(a)(3) [2(a)(3)] of this order shall not apply to any action of the Department of Defense if the Secretary of Defense finds that exemption from such requirements is necessary for foreign policy, readiness, or national security reasons.
(e) The requirements of this order do not affect the obligations of the Department of Health and Human Services under the Public Health Service Act or the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
heading: Extension of Term of Invasive Species Advisory Committee
text: Term of Invasive Species Advisory Committee extended until Sept. 30, 2023, by Ex. Ord. No. 14048, Sept. 30, 2021, 86 F.R. 55465, set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Previous extensions of term of Invasive Species Advisory Committee were contained in the following prior Executive Orders:
Ex. Ord. No. 13811, Sept. 29, 2017, 82 F.R. 46363, extended term until Sept. 30, 2019.
Ex. Ord. No. 13708, Sept. 30, 2015, 80 F.R. 60271, extended term until Sept. 30, 2017.
heading: Executive Order No. 13148
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13148, Apr. 21, 2000, 65 F.R. 24595, which directed Federal agencies to establish strategies that supported environmental leadership programs, policies, and procedures and to implement environmental compliance audit programs and policies that emphasized pollution prevention, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13423, § 11(a)(iv), Jan. 24, 2007, 72 F.R. 3923, formerly set out below.
heading: Executive Order No. 13423
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13423, Jan. 24, 2007, 72 F.R. 3919, which set out various goals and duties for Federal Agencies to conduct their environmental, transportation, and energy-related activities under the law in support of their respective missions in an environmentally, economically and fiscally sound, integrated, continuously improving, efficient, and sustainable manner, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13693, § 16(a), Mar. 19, 2015, 80 F.R. 15880, formerly set out below.
heading: Executive Order No. 13514
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13514, Oct. 5, 2009, 74 F.R. 52117, which related to environmental sustainability in the Federal Government, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13693, § 16(b), Mar. 19, 2015, 80 F.R. 15880, formerly set out below.
heading: Executive Order No. 13653
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13653, Nov. 1, 2013, 78 F.R. 66819, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13683, § 2, Dec. 11, 2014, 79 F.R. 75041; Ex. Ord. No. 13693, § 16(f), Mar. 19, 2015, 80 F.R. 15881, which related to preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13783, § 3(a)(i), Mar. 28, 2017, 82 F.R. 16094, formerly set out as a note under section 13201 of this title.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 13690. Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13690, Jan. 30, 2015, 80 F.R. 6425, revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13807, § 6, Aug. 15, 2017, 82 F.R. 40469, reinstated by Ex. Ord. No. 14030, § 5(e), May 20, 2021, 86 F.R. 27969, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to improve the Nation’s resilience to current and future flood risk, I hereby direct the following:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to improve the resilience of communities and Federal assets against the impacts of flooding. These impacts are anticipated to increase over time due to the effects of climate change and other threats. Losses caused by flooding affect the environment, our economic prosperity, and public health and safety, each of which affects our national security.
The Federal Government must take action, informed by the best-available and actionable science, to improve the Nation’s preparedness and resilience against flooding. Executive Order 11988 of May 24, 1977 (Floodplain Management) [set out above], requires executive departments and agencies (agencies) to avoid, to the extent possible, the long- and short-term adverse impacts associated with the occupancy and modification of floodplains and to avoid direct or indirect support of floodplain development wherever there is a practicable alternative. The Federal Government has developed processes for evaluating the impacts of Federal actions in or affecting floodplains to implement Executive Order 11988.
As part of a national policy on resilience and risk reduction consistent with my Climate Action Plan, the National Security Council staff coordinated an interagency effort to create a new flood risk reduction standard for federally funded projects. The views of Governors, mayors, and other stakeholders were solicited and considered as efforts were made to establish a new flood risk reduction standard for federally funded projects. The result of these efforts is the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (Standard), a flexible framework to increase resilience against flooding and help preserve the natural values of floodplains. Incorporating this Standard will ensure that agencies expand management from the current base flood level to a higher vertical elevation and corresponding horizontal floodplain to address current and future flood risk and ensure that projects funded with taxpayer dollars last as long as intended.
This order establishes the Standard and sets forth a process for further solicitation and consideration of public input, including from Governors, mayors, and other stakeholders, prior to implementation of the Standard.
Sec. 2. Amendments to Executive Order 11988. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 11988, set out above.]
Sec. 3. Agency Action. (a) Prior to any action to implement the Standard, additional input from stakeholders shall be solicited and considered. To carry out this process:
(i) the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on behalf of the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group, shall publish for public comment draft amended Floodplain Management Guidelines for Implementing Executive Order 11988 (Guidelines) to provide guidance to agencies on the implementation of Executive Order 11988, as amended, consistent with the Standard;
(ii) during the comment period, the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group shall host public meetings with stakeholders to solicit input; and
(iii) after the comment period closes, and based on the comments received on the draft Guidelines during the comment period, in accordance with subsections (a)(i) and (ii) of this section, the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group shall provide recommendations to the Water Resources Council.
(b) After additional input from stakeholders has been solicited and considered as set forth in subsections (a)(i) and (ii) of this section and after consideration of the recommendations made by the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group pursuant to subsection (a)(iii) of this section, the Water Resources Council shall issue amended Guidelines to provide guidance to agencies on the implementation of Executive Order 11988, as amended, consistent with the Standard.
(c) To the extent permitted by law, each agency shall, in consultation with the Water Resources Council, Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Council on Environmental Quality, issue or amend existing regulations and procedures to comply with this order, and update those regulations and procedures as warranted. Within 30 days of the closing of the public comment period for the draft amendments to the Guidelines as described in subsection (a) of this section, each agency shall submit an implementation plan to the National Security Council staff that contains milestones and a timeline for implementation of this order and the Standard, by the agency as it applies to the agency’s processes and mission. Agencies shall not issue or amend existing regulations and procedures pursuant to this subsection until after the Water Resources Council has issued amended Guidelines pursuant to subsection (b) of this order [sic].
Sec. 4. Reassessment. (a) The Water Resources Council shall issue any further amendments to the Guidelines as warranted.
(b) The Mitigation Framework Leadership Group in consultation with the Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force shall reassess the Standard annually, after seeking stakeholder input, and provide recommendations to the Water Resources Council to update the Standard if warranted based on accurate and actionable science that takes into account changes to climate and other changes in flood risk. The Water Resources Council shall issue an update to the Standard at least every 5 years.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The Water Resources Council shall carry out its responsibilities under this order in consultation with the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group.
[Barack Obama.]
heading: Executive Order No. 13693
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13693, Mar. 19, 2015, 80 F.R. 15871, which related to planning by executive departments and agencies for environmental sustainability, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 13834, § 8, May 17, 2018, 83 F.R. 23773, formerly set out below.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 13751. Safeguarding the Nation From the Impacts of Invasive Species
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13751, Dec. 5, 2016, 81 F.R. 88609, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and to ensure the faithful execution of the laws of the United States of America, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990, (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.), the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), the Lacey Act, as amended (18 U.S.C. 42, 16 U.S.C. 3371–3378 et seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Noxious Weed Control and Eradication Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 7781 et seq.), and other pertinent statutes, to prevent the introduction of invasive species and provide for their control, and to minimize the economic, plant, animal, ecological, and human health impacts that invasive species cause, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to prevent the introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species, as well as to eradicate and control populations of invasive species that are established. Invasive species pose threats to prosperity, security, and quality of life. They have negative impacts on the environment and natural resources, agriculture and food production systems, water resources, human, animal, and plant health, infrastructure, the economy, energy, cultural resources, and military readiness. Every year, invasive species cost the United States billions of dollars in economic losses and other damages.
Of substantial growing concern are invasive species that are or may be vectors, reservoirs, and causative agents of disease, which threaten human, animal, and plant health. The introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species create the potential for serious public health impacts, especially when considered in the context of changing climate conditions. Climate change influences the establishment, spread, and impacts of invasive species.
Executive Order 13112 of February 3, 1999 (Invasive Species), called upon executive departments and agencies to take steps to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species, and to support efforts to eradicate and control invasive species that are established. Executive Order 13112 also created a coordinating body—the Invasive Species Council, also referred to as the National Invasive Species Council—to oversee implementation of the order, encourage proactive planning and action, develop recommendations for international cooperation, and take other steps to improve the Federal response to invasive species. Past efforts at preventing, eradicating, and controlling invasive species demonstrated that collaboration across Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial government; stakeholders; and the private sector is critical to minimizing the spread of invasive species and that coordinated action is necessary to protect the assets and security of the United States.
This order amends Executive Order 13112 and directs actions to continue coordinated Federal prevention and control efforts related to invasive species. This order maintains the National Invasive Species Council (Council) and the Invasive Species Advisory Committee; expands the membership of the Council; clarifies the operations of the Council; incorporates considerations of human and environmental health, climate change, technological innovation, and other emerging priorities into Federal efforts to address invasive species; and strengthens coordinated, cost-efficient Federal action.
Sec. 2. Definitions. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 3. Federal Agency Duties. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 4. Emerging Priorities. Federal agencies that are members of the Council and Federal interagency bodies working on issues relevant to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species shall take emerging priorities into consideration, including:
(a) Federal agencies shall consider the potential public health and safety impacts of invasive species, especially those species that are vectors, reservoirs, and causative agents of disease. The Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination and consultation with relevant agencies as appropriate, shall within 1 year of this order, and as requested by the Council thereafter, provide the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council a report on public health impacts associated with invasive species. That report shall describe the disease, injury, immunologic, and safety impacts associated with invasive species, including any direct and indirect impacts on low-income, minority, and tribal communities.
(b) Federal agencies shall consider the impacts of climate change when working on issues relevant to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive species, including in research and monitoring efforts, and integrate invasive species into Federal climate change coordinating frameworks and initiatives.
(c) Federal agencies shall consider opportunities to apply innovative science and technology when addressing the duties identified in section 2 of Executive Order 13112, as amended, including, but not limited to, promoting open data and data analytics; harnessing technological advances in remote sensing technologies, molecular tools, cloud computing, and predictive analytics; and using tools such as challenge prizes, citizen science, and crowdsourcing.
Sec. 5. National Invasive Species Council. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 6. Duties of the National Invasive Species Council. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 7. National Invasive Species Council Management Plan. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 8. Actions of the Department of State and Department of Defense. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 9. Obligations of the Department of Health and Human Services. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 13112, set out as a note above.]
Sec. 10. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(1) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(2) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Barack Obama.
heading: Executive Order No. 13834
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13834, May 17, 2018, 83 F.R. 23771, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 13990, § 7(a), Jan. 20, 2021, 86 F.R. 7041, which required executive departments and agencies to meet statutory requirements related to energy and environmental performance by prioritizing actions that reduce waste, cut costs, enhance the resilience of Federal infrastructure and operations, and enable more effective accomplishment of its mission, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 14057, § 604, Dec. 8, 2021, 86 F.R. 70943, set out below.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 13990. Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis
text: Ex. Ord. No. 13990, Jan. 20, 2021, 86 F.R. 7037, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Our Nation has an abiding commitment to empower our workers and communities; promote and protect our public health and the environment; and conserve our national treasures and monuments, places that secure our national memory. Where the Federal Government has failed to meet that commitment in the past, it must advance environmental justice. In carrying out this charge, the Federal Government must be guided by the best science and be protected by processes that ensure the integrity of Federal decision-making. It is, therefore, the policy of my Administration to listen to the science; to improve public health and protect our environment; to ensure access to clean air and water; to limit exposure to dangerous chemicals and pesticides; to hold polluters accountable, including those who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities; to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; to restore and expand our national treasures and monuments; and to prioritize both environmental justice and the creation of the well-paying union jobs necessary to deliver on these goals.
To that end, this order directs all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to immediately review and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, take action to address the promulgation of Federal regulations and other actions during the last 4 years that conflict with these important national objectives, and to immediately commence work to confront the climate crisis.
Sec. 2. Immediate Review of Agency Actions Taken Between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021. (a) The heads of all agencies shall immediately review all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions (agency actions) promulgated, issued, or adopted between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021, that are or may be inconsistent with, or present obstacles to, the policy set forth in section 1 of this order. For any such actions identified by the agencies, the heads of agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider suspending, revising, or rescinding the agency actions. In addition, for the agency actions in the 4 categories set forth in subsections (i) through (iv) of this section, the head of the relevant agency, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall consider publishing for notice and comment a proposed rule suspending, revising, or rescinding the agency action within the time frame specified.
(i) Reducing Methane Emissions in the Oil and Gas Sector: “Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources Reconsideration,” 85 FR 57398 (September 15, 2020), by September 2021.
(ii) Establishing Ambitious, Job-Creating Fuel Economy Standards: “The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule Part One: One National Program,” 84 FR 51310 (September 27, 2019), by April 2021; and “The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021–2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks,” 85 FR 24174 (April 30, 2020), by July 2021. In considering whether to propose suspending, revising, or rescinding the latter rule, the agency should consider the views of representatives from labor unions, States, and industry.
(iii) Job-Creating Appliance- and Building-Efficiency Standards: “Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Procedures for Use in New or Revised Energy Conservation Standards and Test Procedures for Consumer Products and Commercial/Industrial Equipment,” 85 FR 8626 (February 14, 2020), with major revisions proposed by March 2021 and any remaining revisions proposed by June 2021; “Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Procedures for Evaluating Statutory Factors for Use in New or Revised Energy Conservation Standards,” 85 FR 50937 (August 19, 2020), with major revisions proposed by March 2021 and any remaining revisions proposed by June 2021; “Final Determination Regarding Energy Efficiency Improvements in the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC),” 84 FR 67435 (December 10, 2019), by May 2021; “Final Determination Regarding Energy Efficiency Improvements in ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1–2016: Energy Standard for Buildings, Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings,” 83 FR 8463 (February 27, 2018), by May 2021.
(iv) Protecting Our Air from Harmful Pollution: “National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units—Reconsideration of Supplemental Finding and Residual Risk and Technology Review,” 85 FR 31286 (May 22, 2020), by August 2021; “Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process,” 85 FR 84130 (December 23, 2020), as soon as possible; “Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information,” 86 FR 469 (January 6, 2021), as soon as possible.
(b) Within 30 days of the date of this order [Jan. 20, 2021], heads of agencies shall submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a preliminary list of any actions being considered pursuant to section (2)(a) of this order that would be completed by December 31, 2021, and that would be subject to OMB review. Within 90 days of the date of this order, heads of agencies shall submit to the Director of OMB an updated list of any actions being considered pursuant to section (2)(a) of this order that would be completed by December 31, 2025, and that would be subject to OMB review. At the time of submission to the Director of OMB, heads of agencies shall also send each list to the National Climate Advisor. In addition, and at the same time, heads of agencies shall send to the National Climate Advisor a list of additional actions being considered pursuant to section (2)(a) of this order that would not be subject to OMB review.
(c) Heads of agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider whether to take any additional agency actions to fully enforce the policy set forth in section 1 of this order. With respect to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the following specific actions should be considered:
(i) proposing new regulations to establish comprehensive standards of performance and emission guidelines for methane and volatile organic compound emissions from existing operations in the oil and gas sector, including the exploration and production, transmission, processing, and storage segments, by September 2021; and
(ii) proposing a Federal Implementation Plan in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Findings of Failure To Submit State Implementation Plan Revisions in Response to the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas Industry Control Techniques Guidelines for the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and for States in the Ozone Transport Region,” 85 FR 72963 (November 16, 2020), for California, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas by January 2022.
(d) The Attorney General may, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, provide notice of this order and any actions taken pursuant to section 2(a) of this order to any court with jurisdiction over pending litigation related to those agency actions identified pursuant to section (2)(a) of this order, and may, in his discretion, request that the court stay or otherwise dispose of litigation, or seek other appropriate relief consistent with this order, until the completion of the processes described in this order.
(e) In carrying out the actions directed in this section, heads of agencies shall seek input from the public and stakeholders, including State local, Tribal, and territorial officials, scientists, labor unions, environmental advocates, and environmental justice organizations.
Sec. 3. Restoring National Monuments. (a) The Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, including the Antiquities Act [of 1906], 54 U.S.C. 320301 et seq., shall, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and Tribal governments, conduct a review of the monument boundaries and conditions that were established by Proclamation 9681 of December 4, 2017 (Modifying the Bears Ears National Monument) [54 U.S.C. 320301 note]; Proclamation 9682 of December 4, 2017 (Modifying the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument) [54 U.S.C. 320301 note]; and Proclamation 10049 of June 5, 2020 (Modifying the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument) [54 U.S.C. 320301 note], to determine whether restoration of the monument boundaries and conditions that existed as of January 20, 2017, would be appropriate.
(b) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit a report to the President summarizing the findings of the review conducted pursuant to subsection (a), which shall include recommendations for such Presidential actions or other actions consistent with law as the Secretary may consider appropriate to carry out the policy set forth in section 1 of this order.
(c) The Attorney General may, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, provide notice of this order to any court with jurisdiction over pending litigation related to the Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bears Ears, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monuments, and may, in his discretion, request that the court stay the litigation or otherwise delay further litigation, or seek other appropriate relief consistent with this order, pending the completion of the actions described in subsection (a) of this section.
Sec. 4. Arctic Refuge. (a) In light of the alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program, including the inadequacy of the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act [of 1969; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.], the Secretary of the Interior shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, place a temporary moratorium on all activities of the Federal Government relating to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, as established by the Record of Decision signed August 17, 2020, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Secretary shall review the program and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program.
(b) In Executive Order 13754 of December 9, 2016 (Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience) [15 U.S.C. 4101 note], and in the Presidential Memorandum of December 20, 2016 (Withdrawal of Certain Portions of the United States Arctic Outer Continental Shelf From Mineral Leasing), President Obama withdrew areas in Arctic waters and the Bering Sea from oil and gas drilling and established the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area. Subsequently, the order was revoked and the memorandum was amended in Executive Order 13795 of April 28, 2017 (Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy) [former 43 U.S.C. 1331 note]. Pursuant to section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1341(a), Executive Order 13754 and the Presidential Memorandum of December 20, 2016, are hereby reinstated in their original form, thereby restoring the original withdrawal of certain offshore areas in Arctic waters and the Bering Sea from oil and gas drilling.
(c) The Attorney General may, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, provide notice of this order to any court with jurisdiction over pending litigation related to the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other related programs, and may, in his discretion, request that the court stay the litigation or otherwise delay further litigation, or seek other appropriate relief consistent with this order, pending the completion of the actions described in subsection (a) of this section.
Sec. 5. Accounting for the Benefits of Reducing Climate Pollution. (a) It is essential that agencies capture the full costs of greenhouse gas emissions as accurately as possible, including by taking global damages into account. Doing so facilitates sound decision-making, recognizes the breadth of climate impacts, and supports the international leadership of the United States on climate issues. The “social cost of carbon” (SCC), “social cost of nitrous oxide” (SCN), and “social cost of methane” (SCM) are estimates of the monetized damages associated with incremental increases in greenhouse gas emissions. They are intended to include changes in net agricultural productivity, human health, property damage from increased flood risk, and the value of ecosystem services. An accurate social cost is essential for agencies to accurately determine the social benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when conducting cost-benefit analyses of regulatory and other actions.
(b) There is hereby established an Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (the “Working Group”). The Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Director of OMB, and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Working Group.
(i) Membership. The Working Group shall also include the following other officers, or their designees: the Secretary of the Treasury; the Secretary of the Interior; the Secretary of Agriculture; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of Transportation; the Secretary of Energy; the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality; the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor; and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council.
(ii) Mission and Work. The Working Group shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law:
(A) publish an interim SCC, SCN, and SCM within 30 days of the date of this order, which agencies shall use when monetizing the value of changes in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from regulations and other relevant agency actions until final values are published;
(B) publish a final SCC, SCN, and SCM by no later than January 2022;
(C) provide recommendations to the President, by no later than September 1, 2021, regarding areas of decision-making, budgeting, and procurement by the Federal Government where the SCC, SCN, and SCM should be applied;
(D) provide recommendations, by no later than June 1, 2022, regarding a process for reviewing, and, as appropriate, updating, the SCC, SCN, and SCM to ensure that these costs are based on the best available economics and science; and
(E) provide recommendations, to be published with the final SCC, SCN, and SCM under subparagraph (A) if feasible, and in any event by no later than June 1, 2022, to revise methodologies for calculating the SCC, SCN, and SCM, to the extent that current methodologies do not adequately take account of climate risk, environmental justice, and intergenerational equity.
(iii) Methodology. In carrying out its activities, the Working Group shall consider the recommendations of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine as reported in Valuing Climate Damages: Updating Estimation of the Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide (2017) and other pertinent scientific literature; solicit public comment; engage with the public and stakeholders; seek the advice of ethics experts; and ensure that the SCC, SCN, and SCM reflect the interests of future generations in avoiding threats posed by climate change.
Sec. 6. Revoking the March 2019 Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. (a) On March 29, 2019, the President granted to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. a Presidential permit (the “Permit”) [84 F.R. 13101] to construct, connect, operate, and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada (the “Keystone XL pipeline”), subject to express conditions and potential revocation in the President’s sole discretion. The Permit is hereby revoked in accordance with Article 1(1) of the Permit.
(b) In 2015, following an exhaustive review, the Department of State and the President determined that approving the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the U.S. national interest. That analysis, in addition to concluding that the significance of the proposed pipeline for our energy security and economy is limited, stressed that the United States must prioritize the development of a clean energy economy, which will in turn create good jobs. The analysis further concluded that approval of the proposed pipeline would undermine U.S. climate leadership by undercutting the credibility and influence of the United States in urging other countries to take ambitious climate action.
(c) Climate change has had a growing effect on the U.S. economy, with climate-related costs increasing over the last 4 years. Extreme weather events and other climate-related effects have harmed the health, safety, and security of the American people and have increased the urgency for combatting climate change and accelerating the transition toward a clean energy economy. The world must be put on a sustainable climate pathway to protect Americans and the domestic economy from harmful climate impacts, and to create well-paying union jobs as part of the climate solution.
(d) The Keystone XL pipeline disserves the U.S. national interest. The United States and the world face a climate crisis. That crisis must be met with action on a scale and at a speed commensurate with the need to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory. At home, we will combat the crisis with an ambitious plan to build back better, designed to both reduce harmful emissions and create good clean-energy jobs. Our domestic efforts must go hand in hand with U.S. diplomatic engagement. Because most greenhouse gas emissions originate beyond our borders, such engagement is more necessary and urgent than ever. The United States must be in a position to exercise vigorous climate leadership in order to achieve a significant increase in global climate action and put the world on a sustainable climate pathway. Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my Administration’s economic and climate imperatives.
Sec. 7. Other Revocations. (a) Executive Order 13766 of January 24, 2017 (Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals For High Priority Infrastructure Projects) [former 42 U.S.C. 4370m note], Executive Order 13778 of February 28, 2017 (Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the “Waters of the United States” Rule) [82 F.R. 12497], Executive Order 13783 of March 28, 2017 (Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth) [former 42 U.S.C. 13201 note], Executive Order 13792 of April 26, 2017 (Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act) [82 F.R. 20429], Executive Order 13795 of April 28, 2017 (Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy) [former 43 U.S.C. 1331 note], Executive Order 13868 of April 10, 2019 (Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth) [former 42 U.S.C. 13201 note], and Executive Order 13927 of June 4, 2020 (Accelerating the Nation’s Economic Recovery from the COVID–19 Emergency by Expediting Infrastructure Investments and Other Activities) [former 5 U.S.C. 601 note], are hereby revoked. Executive Order 13834 of May 17, 2018 (Efficient Federal Operations) [formerly set out above], is hereby revoked except for sections 6, 7, and 11.
(b) Executive Order 13807 of August 15, 2017 (Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects) [former 42 U.S.C. 4370m note], is hereby revoked. The Director of OMB and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall jointly consider whether to recommend that a replacement order be issued.
(c) Executive Order 13920 of May 1, 2020 (Securing the United States Bulk-Power System) [50 U.S.C. 1621 note], is hereby suspended for 90 days. The Secretary of Energy and the Director of OMB shall jointly consider whether to recommend that a replacement order be issued.
(d) The Presidential Memorandum of April 12, 2018 (Promoting Domestic Manufacturing and Job Creation Policies and Procedures Relating to Implementation of Air Quality Standards) [former 42 U.S.C. 7401 note], the Presidential Memorandum of October 19, 2018 (Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West) [former 33 U.S.C. 2201 note], and the Presidential Memorandum of February 19, 2020 (Developing and Delivering More Water Supplies in California), are hereby revoked.
(e) The Council on Environmental Quality shall rescind its draft guidance entitled, “Draft National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” 84 FR 30097 (June 26, 2019). The Council, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall review, revise, and update its final guidance entitled, “Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews,” 81 FR 51866 (August 5, 2016).
(f) The Director of OMB and the heads of agencies shall promptly take steps to rescind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies, or portions thereof, including, if necessary, by proposing such rescissions through notice-and-comment rulemaking, implementing or enforcing the Executive Orders, Presidential Memoranda, and draft guidance identified in this section, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 14008. Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad
text: Ex. Ord. No. 14008, Jan. 27, 2021, 86 F.R. 7619, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 14082, § 4(a), Sept. 12, 2022, 87 F.R. 56862, provided:
The United States and the world face a profound climate crisis. We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents. Domestic action must go hand in hand with United States international leadership, aimed at significantly enhancing global action. Together, we must listen to science and meet the moment.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
PART I—PUTTING THE CLIMATE CRISIS AT THE CENTER OF UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY AND NATIONAL SECURITY
Section 101. Policy. United States international engagement to address climate change—which has become a climate crisis—is more necessary and urgent than ever. The scientific community has made clear that the scale and speed of necessary action is greater than previously believed. There is little time left to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory. Responding to the climate crisis will require both significant short-term global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero global emissions by mid-century or before.
It is the policy of my Administration that climate considerations shall be an essential element of United States foreign policy and national security. The United States will work with other countries and partners, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to put the world on a sustainable climate pathway. The United States will also move quickly to build resilience, both at home and abroad, against the impacts of climate change that are already manifest and will continue to intensify according to current trajectories.
Sec. 102. Purpose. This order builds on and reaffirms actions my Administration has already taken to place the climate crisis at the forefront of this Nation’s foreign policy and national security planning, including submitting the United States instrument of acceptance to rejoin the Paris Agreement. In implementing—and building upon—the Paris Agreement’s three overarching objectives (a safe global temperature, increased climate resilience, and financial flows aligned with a pathway toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development), the United States will exercise its leadership to promote a significant increase in global climate ambition to meet the climate challenge. In this regard:
(a) I will host an early Leaders’ Climate Summit aimed at raising climate ambition and making a positive contribution to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and beyond.
(b) The United States will reconvene the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, beginning with the Leaders’ Climate Summit. In cooperation with the members of that Forum, as well as with other partners as appropriate, the United States will pursue green recovery efforts, initiatives to advance the clean energy transition, sectoral decarbonization, and alignment of financial flows with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, including with respect to coal financing, nature-based solutions, and solutions to other climate-related challenges.
(c) I have created a new Presidentially appointed position, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, to elevate the issue of climate change and underscore the commitment my Administration will make toward addressing it.
(d) Recognizing that climate change affects a wide range of subjects, it will be a United States priority to press for enhanced climate ambition and integration of climate considerations across a wide range of international fora, including the Group of Seven (G7), the Group of Twenty (G20), and fora that address clean energy, aviation, shipping, the Arctic, the ocean, sustainable development, migration, and other relevant topics. The Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and others, as appropriate, are encouraged to promote innovative approaches, including international multi-stakeholder initiatives. In addition, my Administration will work in partnership with States, localities, Tribes, territories, and other United States stakeholders to advance United States climate diplomacy.
(e) The United States will immediately begin the process of developing its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement. The process will include analysis and input from relevant executive departments and agencies (agencies), as well as appropriate outreach to domestic stakeholders. The United States will aim to submit its nationally determined contribution in advance of the Leaders’ Climate Summit.
(f) The United States will also immediately begin to develop a climate finance plan, making strategic use of multilateral and bilateral channels and institutions, to assist developing countries in implementing ambitious emissions reduction measures, protecting critical ecosystems, building resilience against the impacts of climate change, and promoting the flow of capital toward climate-aligned investments and away from high-carbon investments. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, shall lead a process to develop this plan, with the participation of the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the head of any other agency providing foreign assistance and development financing, as appropriate. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit the plan to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, within 90 days of the date of this order [Jan. 27, 2021].
(g) The Secretary of the Treasury shall:
(i) ensure that the United States is present and engaged in relevant international fora and institutions that are working on the management of climate-related financial risks;
(ii) develop a strategy for how the voice and vote of the United States can be used in international financial institutions, including the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, to promote financing programs, economic stimulus packages, and debt relief initiatives that are aligned with and support the goals of the Paris Agreement; and
(iii) develop, in collaboration with the Secretary of State, the Administrator of USAID, and the Chief Executive Officer of the DFC, a plan for promoting the protection of the Amazon rainforest and other critical ecosystems that serve as global carbon sinks, including through market-based mechanisms.
(h) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Energy shall work together and with the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Chief Executive Officer of the DFC, and the heads of other agencies and partners, as appropriate, to identify steps through which the United States can promote ending international financing of carbon-intensive fossil fuel-based energy while simultaneously advancing sustainable development and a green recovery, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
(i) The Secretary of Energy, in cooperation with the Secretary of State and the heads of other agencies, as appropriate, shall identify steps through which the United States can intensify international collaborations to drive innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection.
(j) The Secretary of State shall prepare, within 60 days of the date of this order [Jan. 27, 2021], a transmittal package seeking the Senate’s advice and consent to ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, regarding the phasedown of the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons.
Sec. 103. Prioritizing Climate in Foreign Policy and National Security. To ensure that climate change considerations are central to United States foreign policy and national security:
(a) Agencies that engage in extensive international work shall develop, in coordination with the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, within 90 days of the date of this order, strategies and implementation plans for integrating climate considerations into their international work, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. These strategies and plans should include an assessment of:
(i) climate impacts relevant to broad agency strategies in particular countries or regions;
(ii) climate impacts on their agency-managed infrastructure abroad (e.g., embassies, military installations), without prejudice to existing requirements regarding assessment of such infrastructure;
(iii) how the agency intends to manage such impacts or incorporate risk mitigation into its installation master plans; and
(iv) how the agency’s international work, including partner engagement, can contribute to addressing the climate crisis.
(b) The Director of National Intelligence shall prepare, within 120 days of the date of this order, a National Intelligence Estimate on the national and economic security impacts of climate change.
(c) The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the heads of other agencies as appropriate, shall develop and submit to the President, within 120 days of the date of this order, an analysis of the security implications of climate change (Climate Risk Analysis) that can be incorporated into modeling, simulation, war-gaming, and other analyses.
(d) The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall consider the security implications of climate change, including any relevant information from the Climate Risk Analysis described in subsection (c) of this section, in developing the National Defense Strategy, Defense Planning Guidance, Chairman’s Risk Assessment, and other relevant strategy, planning, and programming documents and processes. Starting in January 2022, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall provide an annual update, through the National Security Council, on the progress made in incorporating the security implications of climate change into these documents and processes.
(e) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider the implications of climate change in the Arctic, along our Nation’s borders, and to National Critical Functions, including any relevant information from the Climate Risk Analysis described in subsection (c) of this section, in developing relevant strategy, planning, and programming documents and processes. Starting in January 2022, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide an annual update, through the National Security Council, on the progress made in incorporating the homeland security implications of climate change into these documents and processes.
Sec. 104. Reinstatement. The Presidential Memorandum of September 21, 2016 (Climate Change and National Security), is hereby reinstated.
PART II—TAKING A GOVERNMENT-WIDE APPROACH TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS
Sec. 201. Policy. Even as our Nation emerges from profound public health and economic crises borne of a pandemic, we face a climate crisis that threatens our people and communities, public health and economy, and, starkly, our ability to live on planet Earth. Despite the peril that is already evident, there is promise in the solutions—opportunities to create well-paying union jobs to build a modern and sustainable infrastructure, deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.
We must listen to science—and act. We must strengthen our clean air and water protections. We must hold polluters accountable for their actions. We must deliver environmental justice in communities all across America. The Federal Government must drive assessment, disclosure, and mitigation of climate pollution and climate-related risks in every sector of our economy, marshaling the creativity, courage, and capital necessary to make our Nation resilient in the face of this threat. Together, we must combat the climate crisis with bold, progressive action that combines the full capacity of the Federal Government with efforts from every corner of our Nation, every level of government, and every sector of our economy.
It is the policy of my Administration to organize and deploy the full capacity of its agencies to combat the climate crisis to implement a Government-wide approach that reduces climate pollution in every sector of the economy; increases resilience to the impacts of climate change; protects public health; conserves our lands, waters, and biodiversity; delivers environmental justice; and spurs well-paying union jobs and economic growth, especially through innovation, commercialization, and deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Successfully meeting these challenges will require the Federal Government to pursue such a coordinated approach from planning to implementation, coupled with substantive engagement by stakeholders, including State, local, and Tribal governments.
Sec. 202. White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. There is hereby established the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy (Climate Policy Office) within the Executive Office of the President, which shall coordinate the policy-making process with respect to domestic climate-policy issues; coordinate domestic climate-policy advice to the President; ensure that domestic climate-policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s stated goals and that those goals are being effectively pursued; and monitor implementation of the President’s domestic climate-policy agenda. The Climate Policy Office shall have a staff headed by the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor (National Climate Advisor) and shall include the Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Climate Advisor. The Climate Policy Office shall have such staff and other assistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this order, subject to the availability of appropriations, and may work with established or ad hoc committees or interagency groups. All agencies shall cooperate with the Climate Policy Office and provide such information, support, and assistance to the Climate Policy Office as it may request, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 203. National Climate Task Force. There is hereby established a National Climate Task Force (Task Force). The Task Force shall be chaired by the Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. The National Climate Advisor shall serve as Vice Chair.
(a) Membership. The Task Force shall consist of the following additional members:
(i) the Secretary of the Treasury;
(ii) the Secretary of Defense;
(iii) the Attorney General;
(iv) the Secretary of the Interior;
(v) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(vi) the Secretary of Commerce;
(vii) the Secretary of Labor;
(viii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(ix) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(x) the Secretary of Transportation;
(xi) the Secretary of Energy;
(xii) the Secretary of Education;
(xiii) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(xiv) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(xv) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(xvi) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(xvii) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration;
(xviii) the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality;
(xix) the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs;
(xx) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;
(xxi) the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism;
(xxii) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
(xxiii) the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(xxiv) the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service;
(xxv) the Administrator of General Services;
(xxvi) the White House Infrastructure Coordinator; and
(xxvii) the heads of such other departments, agencies, and offices as the Chair or Vice Chair may from time to time invite to participate.
(b) Mission and Work. The Task Force shall facilitate the organization and deployment of a Government-wide approach to combat the climate crisis. This Task Force shall facilitate planning and implementation of key Federal actions to reduce climate pollution; increase resilience to the impacts of climate change; protect public health; conserve our lands, waters, oceans, and biodiversity; deliver environmental justice; spur well-paying union jobs and economic growth; coordinate effective implementation of Public Law 117–169, commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 [see Tables for classification], in coordination with the Infrastructure Implementation Task Force established in Executive Order 14052 of November 15, 2021 (Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) [23 U.S.C. 101 note], as appropriate; and accelerate clean energy innovation and deployment. As necessary and appropriate, members of the Task Force will engage on these matters with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments; workers and communities; and leaders across the various sectors of our economy.
(c) Prioritizing Actions. To the extent permitted by law, Task Force members shall prioritize action on climate change in their policy-making and budget processes, in their contracting and procurement, and in their engagement with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments; workers and communities; and leaders across all the sectors of our economy.
USE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S BUYING POWER AND REAL PROPERTY AND ASSET MANAGEMENT
Sec. 204. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration to lead the Nation’s effort to combat the climate crisis by example—specifically, by aligning the management of Federal procurement and real property, public lands and waters, and financial programs to support robust climate action. By providing an immediate, clear, and stable source of product demand, increased transparency and data, and robust standards for the market, my Administration will help to catalyze private sector investment into, and accelerate the advancement of America’s industrial capacity to supply, domestic clean energy, buildings, vehicles, and other necessary products and materials.
Sec. 205. Federal Clean Electricity and Vehicle Procurement Strategy. (a) The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Administrator of General Services, and the Director of the Office and Management and Budget, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall assist the National Climate Advisor, through the Task Force established in section 203 of this order, in developing a comprehensive plan to create good jobs and stimulate clean energy industries by revitalizing the Federal Government’s sustainability efforts.
(b) The plan shall aim to use, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, all available procurement authorities to achieve or facilitate:
(i) a carbon pollution-free electricity sector no later than 2035; and
(ii) clean and zero-emission vehicles for Federal, State, local, and Tribal government fleets, including vehicles of the United States Postal Service.
(c) If necessary, the plan shall recommend any additional legislation needed to accomplish these objectives.
(d) The plan shall also aim to ensure that the United States retains the union jobs integral to and involved in running and maintaining clean and zero-emission fleets, while spurring the creation of union jobs in the manufacture of those new vehicles. The plan shall be submitted to the Task Force within 90 days of the date of this order [Jan. 27, 2021].
Sec. 206. Procurement Standards. Consistent with the Executive Order of January 25, 2021, entitled, “Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers,” [Ex. Ord. No. 14005, 41 U.S.C. 8301 note] agencies shall adhere to the requirements of the Made in America Laws in making clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean energy procurement decisions. Agencies shall, consistent with applicable law, apply and enforce the Davis-Bacon Act [see 40 U.S.C. 3141–3144, 3146, and 3147] and prevailing wage and benefit requirements. The Secretary of Labor shall take steps to update prevailing wage requirements. The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall consider additional administrative steps and guidance to assist the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council in developing regulatory amendments to promote increased contractor attention on reduced carbon emission and Federal sustainability.
Sec. 207. Renewable Energy on Public Lands and in Offshore Waters. The Secretary of the Interior shall review siting and permitting processes on public lands and in offshore waters to identify to the Task Force steps that can be taken, consistent with applicable law, to increase renewable energy production on those lands and in those waters, with the goal of doubling offshore wind by 2030 while ensuring robust protection for our lands, waters, and biodiversity and creating good jobs. In conducting this review, the Secretary of the Interior shall consult, as appropriate, with the heads of relevant agencies, including the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of Energy, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, State and Tribal authorities, project developers, and other interested parties. The Secretary of the Interior shall engage with Tribal authorities regarding the development and management of renewable and conventional energy resources on Tribal lands.
Sec. 208. Oil and Natural Gas Development on Public Lands and in Offshore Waters. To the extent consistent with applicable law, the Secretary of the Interior shall pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or in offshore waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of Federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices in light of the Secretary of the Interior’s broad stewardship responsibilities over the public lands and in offshore waters, including potential climate and other impacts associated with oil and gas activities on public lands or in offshore waters. The Secretary of the Interior shall complete that review in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Secretary of Energy. In conducting this analysis, and to the extent consistent with applicable law, the Secretary of the Interior shall consider whether to adjust royalties associated with coal, oil, and gas resources extracted from public lands and offshore waters, or take other appropriate action, to account for corresponding climate costs.
Sec. 209. Fossil Fuel Subsidies. The heads of agencies shall identify for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the National Climate Advisor any fossil fuel subsidies provided by their respective agencies, and then take steps to ensure that, to the extent consistent with applicable law, Federal funding is not directly subsidizing fossil fuels. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall seek, in coordination with the heads of agencies and the National Climate Advisor, to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies from the budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 and thereafter.
Sec. 210. Clean Energy in Financial Management. The heads of agencies shall identify opportunities for Federal funding to spur innovation, commercialization, and deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure for the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the National Climate Advisor, and then take steps to ensure that, to the extent consistent with applicable law, Federal funding is used to spur innovation, commercialization, and deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with agency heads and the National Climate Advisor, shall seek to prioritize such investments in the President’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 and thereafter.
Sec. 211. Climate Action Plans and Data and Information Products to Improve Adaptation and Increase Resilience. (a) The head of each agency shall submit a draft action plan to the Task Force and the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer within 120 days of the date of this order that describes steps the agency can take with regard to its facilities and operations to bolster adaptation and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change. Action plans should, among other things, describe the agency’s climate vulnerabilities and describe the agency’s plan to use the power of procurement to increase the energy and water efficiency of United States Government installations, buildings, and facilities and ensure they are climate-ready. Agencies shall consider the feasibility of using the purchasing power of the Federal Government to drive innovation, and shall seek to increase the Federal Government’s resilience against supply chain disruptions. Such disruptions put the Nation’s manufacturing sector at risk, as well as consumer access to critical goods and services. Agencies shall make their action plans public, and post them on the agency website, to the extent consistent with applicable law.
(b) Within 30 days of an agency’s submission of an action plan, the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall review the plan to assess its consistency with the policy set forth in section 204 of this order and the priorities issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
(c) After submitting an initial action plan, the head of each agency shall submit to the Task Force and Federal Chief Sustainability Officer progress reports annually on the status of implementation efforts. Agencies shall make progress reports public and post them on the agency website, to the extent consistent with applicable law. The heads of agencies shall assign their respective agency Chief Sustainability Officer the authority to perform duties relating to implementation of this order within the agency, to the extent consistent with applicable law.
(d) To assist agencies and State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, communities, and businesses in preparing for and adapting to the impacts of climate change, the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in coordination with the heads of other agencies, as appropriate, shall provide to the Task Force a report on ways to expand and improve climate forecast capabilities and information products for the public. In addition, the Secretary of the Interior and the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget, in their capacities as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, shall assess and provide to the Task Force a report on the potential development of a consolidated Federal geographic mapping service that can facilitate public access to climate-related information that will assist Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments in climate planning and resilience activities.
EMPOWERING WORKERS THROUGH REBUILDING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
Sec. 212. Policy. This Nation needs millions of construction, manufacturing, engineering, and skilled-trades workers to build a new American infrastructure and clean energy economy. These jobs will create opportunities for young people and for older workers shifting to new professions, and for people from all backgrounds and communities. Such jobs will bring opportunity to communities too often left behind—places that have suffered as a result of economic shifts and places that have suffered the most from persistent pollution, including low-income rural and urban communities, communities of color, and Native communities.
Sec. 213. Sustainable Infrastructure. (a) The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall take steps, consistent with applicable law, to ensure that Federal infrastructure investment reduces climate pollution, and to require that Federal permitting decisions consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. In addition, they shall review, and report to the National Climate Advisor on, siting and permitting processes, including those in progress under the auspices of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, and identify steps that can be taken, consistent with applicable law, to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and transmission projects in an environmentally stable manner.
(b) Agency heads conducting infrastructure reviews shall, as appropriate, consult from an early stage with State, local, and Tribal officials involved in permitting or authorizing proposed infrastructure projects to develop efficient timelines for decision-making that are appropriate given the complexities of proposed projects.
EMPOWERING WORKERS BY ADVANCING CONSERVATION, AGRICULTURE, AND REFORESTATION
Sec. 214. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration to put a new generation of Americans to work conserving our public lands and waters. The Federal Government must protect America’s natural treasures, increase reforestation, improve access to recreation, and increase resilience to wildfires and storms, while creating well-paying union jobs for more Americans, including more opportunities for women and people of color in occupations where they are underrepresented. America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners have an important role to play in combating the climate crisis and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by sequestering carbon in soils, grasses, trees, and other vegetation and sourcing sustainable bioproducts and fuels. Coastal communities have an essential role to play in mitigating climate change and strengthening resilience by protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems, such as wetlands, seagrasses, coral and oyster reefs, and mangrove and kelp forests, to protect vulnerable coastlines, sequester carbon, and support biodiversity and fisheries.
Sec. 215. Civilian Climate Corps. In furtherance of the policy set forth in section 214 of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, in collaboration with the Secretary of Agriculture and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall submit a strategy to the Task Force within 90 days of the date of this order for creating a Civilian Climate Corps Initiative, within existing appropriations, to mobilize the next generation of conservation and resilience workers and maximize the creation of accessible training opportunities and good jobs. The initiative shall aim to conserve and restore public lands and waters, bolster community resilience, increase reforestation, increase carbon sequestration in the agricultural sector, protect biodiversity, improve access to recreation, and address the changing climate.
Sec. 216. Conserving Our Nation’s Lands and Waters. (a) The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall submit a report to the Task Force within 90 days of the date of this order recommending steps that the United States should take, working with State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, and other key stakeholders, to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.
(i) The Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall, as appropriate, solicit input from State, local, Tribal, and territorial officials, agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, and other key stakeholders in identifying strategies that will encourage broad participation in the goal of conserving 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.
(ii) The report shall propose guidelines for determining whether lands and waters qualify for conservation, and it also shall establish mechanisms to measure progress toward the 30-percent goal. The Secretary of the Interior shall subsequently submit annual reports to the Task Force to monitor progress.
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall:
(i) initiate efforts in the first 60 days from the date of this order to collect input from Tribes, farmers, ranchers, forest owners, conservation groups, firefighters, and other stakeholders on how to best use Department of Agriculture programs, funding and financing capacities, and other authorities, and how to encourage the voluntary adoption of climate-smart agricultural and forestry practices that decrease wildfire risk fueled by climate change and result in additional, measurable, and verifiable carbon reductions and sequestration and that source sustainable bioproducts and fuels; and
(ii) submit to the Task Force within 90 days of the date of this order a report making recommendations for an agricultural and forestry climate strategy.
(c) The Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall initiate efforts in the first 60 days from the date of this order to collect input from fishermen, regional ocean councils, fishery management councils, scientists, and other stakeholders on how to make fisheries and protected resources more resilient to climate change, including changes in management and conservation measures, and improvements in science, monitoring, and cooperative research.
EMPOWERING WORKERS THROUGH REVITALIZING ENERGY COMMUNITIES
Sec. 217. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration to improve air and water quality and to create well-paying union jobs and more opportunities for women and people of color in hard-hit communities, including rural communities, while reducing methane emissions, oil and brine leaks, and other environmental harms from tens of thousands of former mining and well sites. Mining and power plant workers drove the industrial revolution and the economic growth that followed, and have been essential to the growth of the United States. As the Nation shifts to a clean energy economy, Federal leadership is essential to foster economic revitalization of and investment in these communities, ensure the creation of good jobs that provide a choice to join a union, and secure the benefits that have been earned by workers.
Such work should include projects that reduce emissions of toxic substances and greenhouse gases from existing and abandoned infrastructure and that prevent environmental damage that harms communities and poses a risk to public health and safety. Plugging leaks in oil and gas wells and reclaiming abandoned mine land can create well-paying union jobs in coal, oil, and gas communities while restoring natural assets, revitalizing recreation economies, and curbing methane emissions. In addition, such work should include efforts to turn properties idled in these communities, such as brownfields, into new hubs for the growth of our economy. Federal agencies should therefore coordinate investments and other efforts to assist coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities, and achieve substantial reductions of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as quickly as possible.
Sec. 218. Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. There is hereby established an Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Interagency Working Group). The National Climate Advisor, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Interagency Working Group.
(a) Membership. The Interagency Working Group shall consist of the following additional members:
(i) the Secretary of the Treasury;
(ii) the Secretary of the Interior;
(iii) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(iv) the Secretary of Commerce;
(v) the Secretary of Labor;
(vi) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(vii) the Secretary of Transportation;
(viii) the Secretary of Energy;
(ix) the Secretary of Education;
(x) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(xi) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(xii) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Director of the Domestic Policy Council; and
(xiii) the Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
(b) Mission and Work.
(i) The Interagency Working Group shall coordinate the identification and delivery of Federal resources to revitalize the economies of coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities; develop strategies to implement the policy set forth in section 217 of this order and for economic and social recovery; assess opportunities to ensure benefits and protections for coal and power plant workers; and submit reports to the National Climate Advisor and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy on a regular basis on the progress of the revitalization effort.
(ii) As part of this effort, within 60 days of the date of this order, the Interagency Working Group shall submit a report to the President describing all mechanisms, consistent with applicable law, to prioritize grantmaking, Federal loan programs, technical assistance, financing, procurement, or other existing programs to support and revitalize the economies of coal and power plant communities, and providing recommendations for action consistent with the goals of the Interagency Working Group.
(c) Consultation. Consistent with the objectives set out in this order and in accordance with applicable law, the Interagency Working Group shall seek the views of State, local, and Tribal officials; unions; environmental justice organizations; community groups; and other persons it identifies who may have perspectives on the mission of the Interagency Working Group.
(d) Administration. The Interagency Working Group shall be housed within the Department of Energy. The Chairs shall convene regular meetings of the Interagency Working Group, determine its agenda, and direct its work. The Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Chairs, shall designate an Executive Director of the Interagency Working Group, who shall coordinate the work of the Interagency Working Group and head any staff assigned to the Interagency Working Group.
(e) Officers. To facilitate the work of the Interagency Working Group, the head of each agency listed in subsection (a) of this section shall assign a designated official within the agency the authority to represent the agency on the Interagency Working Group and perform such other duties relating to the implementation of this order within the agency as the head of the agency deems appropriate.
SECURING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND SPURRING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Sec. 219. Policy. To secure an equitable economic future, the United States must ensure that environmental and economic justice are key considerations in how we govern. That means investing and building a clean energy economy that creates well-paying union jobs, turning disadvantaged communities—historically marginalized and overburdened—into healthy, thriving communities, and undertaking robust actions to mitigate climate change while preparing for the impacts of climate change across rural, urban, and Tribal areas. Agencies shall make achieving environmental justice part of their missions by developing programs, policies, and activities to address the disproportionately high and adverse human health, environmental, climate-related and other cumulative impacts on disadvantaged communities, as well as the accompanying economic challenges of such impacts. It is therefore the policy of my Administration to secure environmental justice and spur economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment in housing, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure, and health care.
Sec. 220. White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council. (a) [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 12898, set out above.]
(b) The Interagency Council shall, within 120 days of the date of this order, submit to the President, through the National Climate Advisor, a set of recommendations for further updating Executive Order 12898.
Sec. 221. White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. There is hereby established, within the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (Advisory Council), which shall advise the Interagency Council and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
(a) Membership. Members shall be appointed by the President, shall be drawn from across the political spectrum, and may include those with knowledge about or experience in environmental justice, climate change, disaster preparedness, racial inequity, or any other area determined by the President to be of value to the Advisory Council.
(b) Mission and Work. The Advisory Council shall be solely advisory. It shall provide recommendations to the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council established in section 220 of this order on how to increase the Federal Government’s efforts to address current and historic environmental injustice, including recommendations for updating Executive Order 12898.
(c) Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency shall provide funding and administrative support for the Advisory Council to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations. Members of the Advisory Council shall serve without either compensation or reimbursement of expenses.
(d) Federal Advisory Committee Act. Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended ([former] 5 U.S.C. App.) [see 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.], may apply to the Advisory Council, any functions of the President under the Act, except for those in section 6 of the Act [see 5 U.S.C. 1005], shall be performed by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the guidelines that have been issued by the Administrator of General Services.
Sec. 222. Agency Responsibilities. In furtherance of the policy set forth in section 219:
(a) The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall, within 6 months of the date of this order, create a geospatial Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and shall annually publish interactive maps highlighting disadvantaged communities.
(b) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, within existing appropriations and consistent with applicable law:
(i) strengthen enforcement of environmental violations with disproportionate impact on underserved communities through the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; and
(ii) create a community notification program to monitor and provide real-time data to the public on current environmental pollution, including emissions, criteria pollutants, and toxins, in frontline and fenceline communities—places with the most significant exposure to such pollution.
(c) The Attorney General shall, within existing appropriations and consistent with applicable law:
(i) consider renaming the Environment and Natural Resources Division the Environmental Justice and Natural Resources Division;
(ii) direct that division to coordinate with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, through the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, as well as with other client agencies as appropriate, to develop a comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy, which shall seek to provide timely remedies for systemic environmental violations and contaminations, and injury to natural resources; and
(iii) ensure comprehensive attention to environmental justice throughout the Department of Justice, including by considering creating an Office of Environmental Justice within the Department to coordinate environmental justice activities among Department of Justice components and United States Attorneys’ Offices nationwide.
(d) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, consistent with applicable law and within existing appropriations:
(i) establish an Office of Climate Change and Health Equity to address the impact of climate change on the health of the American people; and
(ii) establish an Interagency Working Group to Decrease Risk of Climate Change to Children, the Elderly, People with Disabilities, and the Vulnerable as well as a biennial Health Care System Readiness Advisory Council, both of which shall report their progress and findings regularly to the Task Force.
(e) The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall, in consultation with the National Climate Advisor, within existing appropriations, and within 100 days of the date of this order, publish a report identifying the climate strategies and technologies that will result in the most air and water quality improvements, which shall be made public to the maximum extent possible and published on the Office’s website.
Sec. 223. Justice40 Initiative. (a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Climate Advisor, in consultation with the Advisory Council, shall jointly publish recommendations on how certain Federal investments might be made toward a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits flow to disadvantaged communities. The recommendations shall focus on investments in the areas of clean energy and energy efficiency; clean transit; affordable and sustainable housing; training and workforce development; the remediation and reduction of legacy pollution; and the development of critical clean water infrastructure. The recommendations shall reflect existing authorities the agencies may possess for achieving the 40-percent goal as well as recommendations on any legislation needed to achieve the 40-percent goal.
(b) In developing the recommendations, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Climate Advisor shall consult with affected disadvantaged communities.
(c) Within 60 days of the recommendations described in subsection (a) of this section, agency heads shall identify applicable program investment funds based on the recommendations and consider interim investment guidance to relevant program staff, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
(d) By February 2022, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Administrator of the United States Digital Service, and other relevant agency heads, shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law, publish on a public website an annual Environmental Justice Scorecard detailing agency environmental justice performance measures.
PART III—GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 301. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
heading: Extension of Term of White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council
text: Term of White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council extended until Sept. 30, 2023, by Ex. Ord. No. 14048, Sept. 30, 2021, 86 F.R. 55465, set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 14057. Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability
text: Ex. Ord. No. 14057, Dec. 8, 2021, 86 F.R. 70935, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to reestablish the Federal Government as a leader in sustainability, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 101. Policy. The Federal Government faces broad exposure to the mounting risks and costs already posed by the climate crisis. In responding to this crisis, we have a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity to create and sustain jobs, including well-paying union jobs; support a just transition to a more sustainable economy for American workers; strengthen America’s communities; protect public health; and advance environmental justice. As the single largest land owner, energy consumer, and employer in the Nation, the Federal Government can catalyze private sector investment and expand the economy and American industry by transforming how we build, buy, and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings, and other operations to be clean and sustainable.
We also must build on past progress and pursue new strategies to improve the Nation’s preparedness and resilience to the effects of a changing climate, including advancing the Federal Government’s strategic planning, governance, financial management, and procurement to ensure climate resilient operations.
It is therefore the policy of my Administration for the Federal Government to lead by example in order to achieve a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050. Through a whole-of-government approach, we will demonstrate how innovation and environmental stewardship can protect our planet, safeguard Federal investments against the effects of climate change, respond to the needs of all of America’s communities, and expand American technologies, industries, and jobs.
Sec. 102. Government-wide Goals. (a) Leading the Nation on a firm path to net-zero emissions by 2050 and achieving the policy set forth in section 101 of this order will require bold action to transform Federal procurement and operations and secure a transition to clean, zero-emission technologies. Through a coordinated whole-of-government approach, the Federal Government shall use its scale and procurement power to achieve:
(i) 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity on a net annual basis by 2030, including 50 percent 24/7 carbon pollution-free electricity, as defined in section 603(a) of this order;
(ii) 100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035, including 100 percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027;
(iii) a net-zero emissions building portfolio by 2045, including a 50 percent emissions reduction by 2032;
(iv) a 65 percent reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined by the Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Guidance, from Federal operations by 2030 from 2008 levels;
(v) net-zero emissions from Federal procurement, including a Buy Clean policy to promote use of construction materials with lower embodied emissions;
(vi) climate resilient infrastructure and operations; and
(vii) a climate- and sustainability-focused Federal workforce.
(b) The actions and investment required to achieve these goals will protect the environment, drive innovation, spur private sector investment, improve public infrastructure, and create new economic opportunity. Pursuant to section 511 of this order, agencies shall implement this order in accordance with my Administration’s policies to combat the climate crisis; help American businesses compete in strategic industries; create and sustain well-paying union jobs that allow workers to thrive; maximize the use of American goods, products, materials, and services; and promote a secure, just, and equitable future for all Americans.
Sec. 201. Agency Goals and Targets. (a) In implementing the policy set forth in section 101 of this order and to support the achievement of the government-wide goals of section 102 of this order, the head of each agency shall propose targets, including annual progress targets as applicable, to meet the requirements of sections 202 through 206 of this order.
(b) The Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall review the targets, and agencies shall incorporate such targets into the performance management systems described under section 503 of this order, as appropriate.
Sec. 202. Reducing Agency Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Each agency shall reduce its scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined by the Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Guidance, by setting and meeting targets for fiscal year 2030 measured from a fiscal year 2008 baseline.
Sec. 203. Transitioning to 100 Percent Carbon Pollution-Free Electricity. Each agency shall increase its percentage use of carbon pollution-free electricity, so that it constitutes 100 percent of facility electrical energy use on an annual basis, and seek to match use on an hourly basis to achieve 50 percent 24/7 carbon pollution-free electricity, by fiscal year 2030. In addition, agencies shall facilitate new carbon pollution-free electricity generation and energy storage capacity by authorizing use of their real property assets, such as rooftops, parking structures, and adjoining land, for the development of new carbon pollution-free electricity generation and energy storage through leases, grants, permits, or other mechanisms, to the extent permitted by law.
Sec. 204. Transitioning to a Zero-Emission Fleet. Each agency’s light-duty vehicle acquisitions shall be zero-emission vehicles by the end of fiscal year 2027. Each agency with a fleet comprising at least 20 vehicles shall develop and annually update a zero-emission fleet strategy that shall include optimizing fleet size and composition; deploying zero-emission vehicle re-fueling infrastructure; and maximizing acquisition and deployment of zero-emission light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles where the General Services Administration (GSA) offers one or more zero-emission vehicle options for that vehicle class.
Sec. 205. Achieving Net-Zero Emissions Buildings, Campuses, and Installations. (a) Each agency shall achieve net-zero emissions across its portfolio of buildings, campuses, and installations by 2045 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from buildings, campuses, and installations by 2032 from 2008 levels, prioritizing improvement of energy efficiency and the elimination of onsite fossil fuel use.
(b) To prioritize reductions in scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined by the Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Guidance, agencies should use the Federal building performance standards issued pursuant to section 510 of this order.
(c) To reduce scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, as defined by the Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Guidance, to achieve net-zero emissions buildings, agencies shall:
(i) pursue building electrification strategies in conjunction with carbon pollution-free energy use, deep-energy retrofits, whole-building commissioning, energy and water conservation measures, and space reduction and consolidation;
(ii) design new construction and modernization projects greater than 25,000 gross square feet to be net-zero emissions by 2030;
(iii) implement CEQ’s Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings in building design, construction, and operation of all new Federal buildings and renovated existing buildings; and
(iv) use performance contracting, in accordance with the provisions of section 1002 of the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–133 [116–260], division Z) [amending sections 8253, 8258, 8259, 8287, 8287a, and 8287c of this title], to improve efficiency and resilience of Federal facilities, deploy clean and innovative technologies, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from building operations.
Sec. 206. Increasing Energy and Water Efficiency. Each agency shall increase facility energy efficiency and water efficiency and shall establish targets for fiscal year 2030 for agency-wide facility energy use intensity and potable water use intensity, with consideration of performance benchmarks for categories of building types (e.g., hospitals, office buildings) and the composition of the agency’s building portfolio.
Sec. 207. Reducing Waste and Pollution. Each agency shall minimize waste, including the generation of wastes requiring treatment and disposal; advance pollution prevention; support markets for recycled products; and promote a transition to a circular economy, as defined in section 2 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224) [33 U.S.C. 4201], by annually diverting from landfills at least 50 percent of non-hazardous solid waste, including food and compostable material, and construction and demolition waste and debris by fiscal year 2025; and 75 percent by fiscal year 2030.
Sec. 208. Sustainable Acquisition and Procurement. (a) Agencies shall reduce emissions, promote environmental stewardship, support resilient supply chains, drive innovation, and incentivize markets for sustainable products and services by prioritizing products that can be reused, refurbished, or recycled; maximizing environmental benefits and cost savings through use of full lifecycle cost methodologies; purchasing products that contain recycled content, are biobased, or are energy and water efficient, in accordance with relevant statutory requirements; and, to the maximum extent practicable, purchasing sustainable products and services identified or recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
(b) The Chair of CEQ shall consider establishing Federal food procurement policies to reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions and drive sustainability in the Federal food supply chain.
Sec. 209. Adapting the Federal Government to the Impacts of Climate Change. Consistent with its mission, each agency shall:
(a) develop or revise polices and processes to promote climate resilient investment that advances adaptation to climate change and protects public health and the environment;
(b) conduct climate adaptation analysis and planning for climate-informed financial and management decisions and program implementation;
(c) reform agency policies and funding programs that are maladaptive to climate change and increase the vulnerability of communities, natural or built systems, economic sectors, and natural resources to climate impacts, or related risks; and
(d) develop and enhance tools that assess climate change impacts and support climate adaptation planning and implementation.
Sec. 301. Federal Supply Chain Sustainability. Federal supply chains should support a Government and economy that serves all Americans by creating and sustaining well-paying union jobs, protecting public health, advancing environmental justice, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and building resilience to climate change. Consistent with applicable law, agencies shall pursue procurement strategies to reduce contractor emissions and embodied emissions in products acquired or used in Federal projects.
Sec. 302. Supplier Emissions Tracking. The Administrator of GSA shall track disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, emissions reduction targets, climate risk, and other sustainability-related actions by major Federal suppliers, based on information and data collected through supplier disclosure pursuant to the requirements of section 5(b)(i) of Executive Order 14030 of May 20, 2021 (Climate-Related Financial Risk) [15 U.S.C. 2901 note], and shall assist the Chair of CEQ in assessing the results of efforts to reduce Federal supply chain emissions.
Sec. 303. Buy Clean. The Buy Clean Task Force established pursuant to section 508 of this order shall provide recommendations to the Chair of CEQ and the Director of OMB, through the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, on policies and procedures to expand consideration of embodied emissions and pollutants of construction materials in Federal procurement and federally funded projects, to include:
(a) identifying and prioritizing pollutants and materials, such as concrete and steel, to be covered under a Buy Clean policy, taking into account the availability of relevant data, including from environmental product declarations, and consistency with existing environmental reporting requirements;
(b) providing recommendations to increase transparency of embodied emissions, including supplier reporting; procedures for auditing environmental product declarations and verifying accuracy of reported emissions data; and recommendations for grants, loans, technical assistance, or alternative mechanisms to support domestic manufacturers in enhancing capabilities to report and reduce embodied emissions in priority materials they produce; and
(c) recommending pilot programs that incentivize Federal procurement of construction materials with lower embodied emissions.
Sec. 401. Engaging, Educating, and Training the Federal Workforce. Meeting the challenges of climate change and achieving the goals of this order requires an investment in the Federal Government’s employees and a workforce with the knowledge and skills to effectively apply sustainability, climate adaptation, and environmental stewardship across disciplines and functions. Agencies shall foster a culture of sustainability and climate action; build employees’ skills and knowledge through engagement, education, and training; and incorporate environmental stewardship values and, where appropriate, sustainability goals and objectives into performance plans of executives, managers, and staff. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), within 90 days of the date of this order [Dec. 8, 2021], shall prepare a report for the Chair of CEQ that outlines opportunities for including or expanding environmental sustainability and climate adaptation training content in existing Federal training programs, including OPM leadership training programs, and strategies for incorporating sustainability into performance plans. In developing this report, the Director of OPM shall coordinate with the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the EPA, the Administrator of GSA, and, as appropriate, the heads of other agencies, as well as Federal employee unions.
Sec. 402. Incorporating Environmental Justice. Environmental justice can only be achieved by ensuring that all those affected by agency operations enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards. Accordingly, it is critical that the Federal Government incorporate environmental justice considerations into sustainability and climate adaptation planning, programs, and operations. Consistent with applicable law, agencies shall consider incorporating recommendations of the Justice40 Initiative, required by section 223 of Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad) [set out above], on how Federal investments might be made toward a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits flow to disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment in housing, transportation, energy, water, wastewater infrastructure, and health care, into operational planning and decision-making regarding Federal facilities, fleets, and operations. Agencies shall address actions taken to advance environmental justice as part of sustainable operations within the annual Sustainability Plans and Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plans required under section 503 of this order.
Sec. 403. Accelerating Progress Through Public, Private, and Non-profit Sector Engagement. (a) Through strong partnerships with the public, private, and non-profit sectors and labor unions and worker organizations, we can more effectively catalyze the growth of clean energy industries and jobs. The Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, reestablished in section 501 of this order, and the heads of agencies shall seek to engage with stakeholders and partners in achieving the goals of this order.
(b) In coordination with the Chair of CEQ and the heads of other agencies, as appropriate, the Director of OPM shall facilitate establishment of a Presidential Sustainability Executives Program to place senior leaders from the private and non-profit sectors into term-limited appointments to bring innovative perspectives and expertise to Federal Government and assist agencies in efforts related to climate action and sustainability.
Sec. 501. Establishment of the Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. The Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer is reestablished within CEQ. The EPA shall provide funding and administrative support for the Office.
(a) The Office shall be headed by a Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, who shall be appointed by the President. The Federal Chief Sustainability Officer shall lead the development of policies, programs, and partnerships to achieve the policies set forth in this order, advance sustainability and climate resilient Federal operations, and ensure the Federal Government leads by example in combating the climate crisis.
(b) The heads of all agencies shall cooperate with the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer and provide such information, support, and assistance as the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer may request, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 502. Designation and Duties of Agency Chief Sustainability Officers. Within 30 days of the date of this order or 30 days of an Agency Chief Sustainability Officer leaving that position, heads of agencies shall designate an Agency Chief Sustainability Officer, and assign to the designated official the responsibility for leading agency planning, implementation, and related actions, to include establishment of internal metrics and performance management systems, to achieve the policy in section 101 and the goals set forth in and targets established under sections 201–209 of this order. Agency Chief Sustainability Officers shall provide to the Director of OMB, the Chair of CEQ, and the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer any information and assistance necessary to implement this order, consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 503. Agency Planning and Performance Management. (a) The heads of principal agencies shall develop and implement annual Sustainability Plans, based on annual guidance provided by CEQ, describing actions and progress toward the goals and requirements of this order.
(b) The heads of principal agencies shall develop, implement, and update Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plans that build on the agency’s plan submitted pursuant to section 211 of Executive Order 14008.
(c) The Chair of CEQ and the Director of OMB shall conduct management reviews with each principal agency, at least annually or more frequently as appropriate, to assess implementation and progress on agency plans developed pursuant to this order, the goals set forth in this order, and targets established under this order.
(d) The heads of agencies other than principal agencies are encouraged to develop, implement, or update plans and participate in management reviews under this section.
Sec. 504. Duties of the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. In coordination with the Director of OMB, the Chair of CEQ shall:
(a) issue guidance, including the guidance required by section 510(b) of this order, or revise existing guidance, as necessary, for agency implementation of this order,
(b) establish a Chief Sustainability Officer Council that shall advise the Director of OMB and the Chair of CEQ on the performance of agency responsibilities under this order. The Federal Chief Sustainability Officer shall chair the Council. Members of the Council shall include those Agency Chief Sustainability Officers invited by the Chair of CEQ, as well as representatives designated by the heads of other agencies at the invitation of CEQ, including representatives from OMB, the Federal Energy Management Program within the Department of Energy, the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings within GSA, and a Federal expert on environmental justice. [sic]
(c) establish, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, committees, interagency groups, or task forces to provide information, recommendations, and assistance to CEQ and OMB in implementing this order.
Sec. 505. Duties of the Director of OMB. The Director of OMB shall coordinate with the Chair of CEQ on implementation of the duties contained in section 504 of this order and, after consultation with the Chair of CEQ and the National Climate Advisor, issue instructions to the heads of agencies concerning periodic performance evaluation of agency implementation of this order and prepare scorecards providing periodic evaluation of principal agency performance in implementing this order.
Sec. 506. Duties of the National Climate Advisor. The National Climate Advisor shall monitor and evaluate progress toward the government-wide goals set forth in section 102 of this order in coordination with the National Climate Task Force established pursuant to section 203 of Executive Order 14008.
Sec. 507. Duties of Heads of Agencies. (a) To ensure successful implementation of the policy established in section 101 of this order and the goals set forth in section 102 of this order, the head of each agency shall:
(i) develop an agency-wide strategic process that coordinates appropriate agency functions and programs to ensure that those functions and programs consider and address the goals of this order; and
(ii) issue or revise existing agency policies, directives, and guidance, as appropriate.
(b) To support a whole-of-government approach to achieve the policy in section 101 of this order, independent agencies are encouraged to implement the policy, goals, and provisions of this order, consistent with applicable law.
Sec. 508. Establishment of Federal Leaders Working Groups. The following Federal Leaders working groups are hereby established, to be housed within CEQ: 100 Percent 24/7 Carbon Pollution-Free Electricity; Zero-Emission Vehicle Fleets; Net-Zero Emissions Buildings; Net-Zero Emissions Procurement, including a Buy Clean Task Force; and Climate Adaptation and Resilience. The Chair of CEQ shall designate the chair or co-chairs for each working group and provide guidance on their membership and responsibilities. The working groups shall provide semiannual reports to the National Climate Task Force on actions, findings, and progress toward government-wide goals.
Sec. 509. Government-wide Support and Collaboration. Achieving the government-wide goals of section 102 and the agency goals of sections 201 through 209 of this order requires transforming how we build, buy, and manage across the Federal Government. To support a whole-of-government approach:
(a) Consistent with applicable law, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy, and the Administrator of GSA shall use the scale of the Federal Government’s electricity use to aggregate and accelerate new carbon pollution-free electricity generation capacity to meet Federal energy needs.
(b) The Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of GSA shall coordinate with States, Tribes, and local governments to facilitate wider adoption of zero-emission vehicles and, where appropriate, use the Federal Government’s acquisition programs for non-Federal Government purchasers.
(c) In coordination with the Chair of CEQ and the Director of OMB, the Secretary of Energy shall provide tools and technical support to agencies to develop targets for greenhouse gas emissions, zero-emission vehicle fleets, energy, and water required under section 201 of this order; and shall collect, analyze, and report agency data for the purposes of monitoring and evaluating performance toward the goals of this order.
Sec. 510. Additional Guidance and Instructions for Agencies. (a) The Director of OMB, in coordination with the Chair of CEQ and the National Climate Advisor, shall issue a memorandum for agencies that provides direction on immediate actions and further requirements to meet the policies and goals of this order.
(b) To assist agencies in complying with this order, the Chair of CEQ, in consultation with the Director of OMB, shall:
(i) within 120 days of the date of this order, issue and, as needed, update implementing guidance for agencies that provide directions, strategies, and recommended actions to meet the policies and goals of this order;
(ii) issue building performance standards to support achievement of net-zero emissions in the Federal building portfolio under section 205 of this order; and
(iii) consider issuing guidance for agencies to promote sustainable locations for Federal facilities and strengthen the vitality and livability of the communities in which Federal facilities are located.
Sec. 511. Coordination of Administration Priorities. The heads of agencies shall implement this order consistent with my Administration’s policies to spur growth of domestic industry and well-paying union jobs, address the climate crisis, and deliver equity and environmental justice. These policies include those contained in Executive Order 13990 of January 20, 2021 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis) [set out above], Executive Order 14008, and Executive Order 14030, which have placed our public health, the environment, and the climate crisis at the forefront of national policy and planning, along with environmental justice, expanding the economy, and the creation of the well-paying union jobs critical to delivering on those goals; Executive Order 14005 of January 25, 2021 (Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers) [41 U.S.C. 8301 note], which establishes that Federal agencies shall maximize the use of goods, products, and materials that are made in America; Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government) [5 U.S.C. 601 note], which directs action with the goal of making Government contracting and procurement opportunities available on an equal basis; and Executive Order 14017 of February 24, 2021 (America’s Supply Chains) [86 F.R. 11849], which establishes the policy to strengthen the resilience of America’s supply chains to fight climate change, create well-paying jobs, and secure our economic prosperity and national security.
Sec. 601. Limitations. (a) This order applies to an agency’s activities, personnel, resources, and facilities located within the United States. The head of an agency may apply this order, in whole or in part, to the activities, personnel, resources, and facilities of the agency located outside the United States if the head of the agency determines that such application is in the interest of the United States.
(b) To the extent the head of an agency does not apply this order to activities, personnel, resources, and facilities outside of the United States, the head of the agency shall manage, to the extent practicable, such activities, personnel, resources, and facilities in a manner consistent with the policy set forth in section 101 of this order.
Sec. 602. Exemption Authority. (a) The head of an agency may exempt particular agency activities and related personnel, resources, and facilities from the provisions of this order when it is in the interest of national security, to protect intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure, or where necessary to protect undercover law enforcement operations from unauthorized disclosure. If the head of an agency issues an exemption under this section, the agency shall notify the Chair of CEQ in writing within 30 days of issuance of the exemption under this section. To the maximum extent practicable and without compromising national security, each agency shall strive to comply with the purposes, goals, and implementation steps in this order.
(b) The head of an agency may exempt from the provisions of this order any vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or non-road equipment that is used in combat support, combat service support, military tactical or relief operations, or training for such operations or spaceflight vehicles, including associated ground-support equipment.
(c) The head of an agency may submit to the President, through the Chair of CEQ, a request for an exemption of an agency activity and related personnel, resources, and facilities from this order for any reason not otherwise addressed by subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
Sec. 603. Definitions. As used in this order:
(a) “24/7 carbon pollution-free electricity” means carbon pollution-free electricity procured to match actual electricity consumption on an hourly basis and produced within the same regional grid where the energy is consumed;
(b) “Agency” means an executive agency as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, excluding the Government Accountability Office and independent regulatory agencies, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5);
(c) “Buy clean” means a policy to promote purchase of construction materials with lower embodied emissions, taking into account the life-cycle emissions associated with the production of those materials;
(d) “Carbon pollution-free electricity” means electrical energy produced from resources that generate no carbon emissions, including marine energy, solar, wind, hydrokinetic (including tidal, wave, current, and thermal), geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, renewably sourced hydrogen, and electrical energy generation from fossil resources to the extent there is active capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions that meets EPA requirements;
(e) “Embodied emissions” means the quantity of emissions, accounting for all stages of production including upstream processing and extraction of fuels and feedstocks, emitted to the atmosphere due to the production of a product per unit of such product;
(f) “Federal Leaders working group” means a working group, composed of Deputy Secretaries or equivalents, that provides recommendations to the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer and National Climate Task Force on implementation and reports on actions and progress toward the goals of this order;
(g) “National Climate Task Force” means the National Climate Task Force established pursuant to section 203 of Executive Order 14008;
(h) “Principal agencies” means the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense (including the United States Army Corps of Engineers), Justice, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Small Business Administration; the Social Security Administration; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the Office of Personnel Management; the General Services Administration; and the National Archives and Records Administration.
Sec. 604. Revocation. Executive Order 13834 of May 17, 2018 (Efficient Federal Operations) [formerly set out above], is revoked.
Sec. 605. Determination. Pursuant to section 742(b) of Public Law 111–117 [set out above], I have determined that this order will achieve equal or better environmental or energy efficiency results than Executive Order 13423 of January 24, 2007 (Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management) [formerly set out above].
Sec. 606. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.
heading: Ex. Ord. No. 14096. Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All
text: Ex. Ord. No. 14096, Apr. 21, 2023, 88 F.R. 25251, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to advance environmental justice, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. To fulfill our Nation’s promises of justice, liberty, and equality, every person must have clean air to breathe; clean water to drink; safe and healthy foods to eat; and an environment that is healthy, sustainable, climate-resilient, and free from harmful pollution and chemical exposure. Restoring and protecting a healthy environment—wherever people live, play, work, learn, grow, and worship—is a matter of justice and a fundamental duty that the Federal Government must uphold on behalf of all people.
We must advance environmental justice for all by implementing and enforcing the Nation’s environmental and civil rights laws, preventing pollution, addressing climate change and its effects, and working to clean up legacy pollution that is harming human health and the environment. Advancing environmental justice will require investing in and supporting culturally vibrant, sustainable, and resilient communities in which every person has safe, clean, and affordable options for housing, energy, and transportation. It is also necessary to prioritize building an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable economy that offers economic opportunities, workforce training, and high-quality and well-paying jobs, including union jobs, and facilitating an equitable transition of the workforce as part of a clean energy future. Achieving this vision will also require improving equitable access to parks, tree cover, playgrounds, sports fields, rivers, ponds, beaches, lakes, and all of the benefits provided by nature, including America’s public lands and waters. Pursuing these and other objectives integral to advancing environmental justice can successfully occur only through meaningful engagement and collaboration with underserved and overburdened communities to address the adverse conditions they experience and ensure they do not face additional disproportionate burdens or underinvestment.
We have more work to do to make environmental justice a reality for our Nation, both for today and for the generations that will follow us. Even as many communities in the United States have prospered and thrived in recent decades, many other communities have been left behind. Communities with environmental justice concerns face entrenched disparities that are often the legacy of racial discrimination and segregation, redlining, exclusionary zoning, and other discriminatory land use decisions or patterns. These decisions and patterns may include the placement of polluting industries, hazardous waste sites, and landfills in locations that cause cumulative impacts to the public health of communities and the routing of highways and other transportation corridors in ways that divide neighborhoods. These remnants of discrimination persist today. Communities with environmental justice concerns exist in all areas of the country, including urban and rural areas and areas within the boundaries of Tribal Nations and United States Territories. Such communities are found in geographic locations that have a significant proportion of people who have low incomes or are otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Such communities are also found in places with a significant proportion of people of color, including individuals who are Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander. Communities with environmental justice concerns also include geographically dispersed and mobile populations, such as migrant farmworkers.
Communities with environmental justice concerns experience disproportionate and adverse human health or environmental burdens. These burdens arise from a number of causes, including inequitable access to clean water, clean air, natural places, and resources for other basic human health and environmental needs; the concentration of pollution, hazardous waste, and toxic exposures; and underinvestment in affordable housing that is safe and healthy and in basic infrastructure and services to support such housing, including safe drinking water and effective sewage management. The cumulative impacts of exposure to those types of burdens and other stressors, including those related to climate change and the environment, further disadvantage communities with environmental justice concerns. People in these communities suffer from poorer health outcomes and have lower life expectancies than those in other communities in our Nation. Moreover, gaps in environmental and human health data can conceal these harms from public view, and, in doing so, are themselves a persistent and pernicious driver of environmental injustice.
Nearly three decades after the issuance of Executive Order 12898 of February 11, 1994 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations) [set out above], the Federal Government must build upon and strengthen its commitment to deliver environmental justice to all communities across America. Our Nation needs an ambitious approach to environmental justice that is informed by scientific research, high-quality data, and meaningful Federal engagement with communities with environmental justice concerns and that uses the tools available to the Federal Government, including enforcement of civil rights and environmental laws. Our Nation must also take further steps to dismantle racial discrimination and institutional bias that disproportionately affect the health, environment, safety, and resiliency of communities with environmental justice concerns.
To ensure that the Nation’s policies and investments respond to the needs of every community, all people should be afforded the opportunity to meaningfully participate in agency decision-making processes that may affect the health of their community or environment. The Federal Government must continue to remove barriers to the meaningful involvement of the public in such decision-making, particularly those barriers that affect members of communities with environmental justice concerns, including those related to disability, language access, and lack of resources. The Federal Government must also continue to respect Tribal sovereignty and support self-governance by ensuring that Tribal Nations are consulted on Federal policies that have Tribal implications. In doing so, we must recognize, honor, and respect the different cultural practices—including subsistence practices, ways of living, Indigenous Knowledge, and traditions—in communities across America. As our Nation reaffirms our commitment to environmental justice, the Federal Government must continue to be transparent about, and accountable for, its actions.
It is the policy of my Administration to pursue a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice. This order builds upon my Administration’s ongoing efforts to advance environmental justice and equity consistent with Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government) [5 U.S.C. 601 note], Executive Order 13990 of January 20, 2021 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis) [set out above], Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad) [set out above], Executive Order 14052 of November 15, 2021 (Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) [23 U.S.C. 101 note], Executive Order 14057 of December 8, 2021 (Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability) [set out above], Executive Order 14082 of September 12, 2022 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) [26 U.S.C. 1 note], and Executive Order 14091 of February 16, 2023 (Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government) [5 U.S.C. 601 note]. This order also supplements the foundational efforts of Executive Order 12898 to address environmental justice. In partnership with State, Tribal, territorial, and local governments, as well as community organizations, businesses, and members of the public, the Federal Government will advance environmental justice and help create a more just and sustainable future for all.
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this order:
(a) “Agency” means an executive agency as defined by 5 U.S.C. 105, excluding the Government Accountability Office and independent regulatory agencies, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5).
(b) “Environmental justice” means the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that affect human health and the environment so that people:
(i) are fully protected from disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards, including those related to climate change, the cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens, and the legacy of racism or other structural or systemic barriers; and
(ii) have equitable access to a healthy, sustainable, and resilient environment in which to live, play, work, learn, grow, worship, and engage in cultural and subsistence practices.
(c) “Federal activity” means any agency rulemaking, guidance, policy, program, practice, or action that affects or has the potential to affect human health and the environment, including an agency action related to climate change. Federal activities may include agency actions related to: assuring compliance with applicable laws; licensing, permitting, and the reissuance of licenses and permits; awarding, conditioning, or oversight of Federal funds; and managing Federal resources and facilities. This may also include such activities in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other Territories and possessions of the United States.
(d) “Tribal Nation” means an American Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges as a federally recognized Tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, 25 U.S.C. 5130, 5131.
Sec. 3. Government-Wide Approach to Environmental Justice. (a) Consistent with section 1-101 of Executive Order 12898 and each agency’s statutory authority, each agency should make achieving environmental justice part of its mission. Each agency shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law:
(i) identify, analyze, and address disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards of Federal activities, including those related to climate change and cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens on communities with environmental justice concerns;
(ii) evaluate relevant legal authorities and, as available and appropriate, take steps to address disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards unrelated to Federal activities, including those related to climate change and cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens on communities with environmental justice concerns;
(iii) identify, analyze, and address historical inequities, systemic barriers, or actions related to any Federal regulation, policy, or practice that impair the ability of communities with environmental justice concerns to achieve or maintain a healthy and sustainable environment;
(iv) identify, analyze, and address barriers related to Federal activities that impair the ability of communities with environmental justice concerns to receive equitable access to human health or environmental benefits, including benefits related to natural disaster recovery and climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience;
(v) evaluate relevant legal authorities and, as available and appropriate, take steps to provide, in consultation with unions and employers, opportunities for workforce training and to support the creation of high-quality and well-paying jobs, including union jobs, for people who are part of communities with environmental justice concerns;
(vi) evaluate relevant legal authorities and, where available and appropriate, consider adopting or requiring measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate disproportionate and adverse human health and environmental effects (including risks) and hazards of Federal activities on communities with environmental justice concerns, to the maximum extent practicable, and to address any contribution of such Federal activities to adverse effects—including cumulative impacts of environmental and other burdens—already experienced by such communities;
(vii) provide opportunities for the meaningful engagement of persons and communities with environmental justice concerns who are potentially affected by Federal activities, including by:
(A) providing timely opportunities for members of the public to share information or concerns and participate in decision-making processes;
(B) fully considering public input provided as part of decision-making processes;
(C) seeking out and encouraging the involvement of persons and communities potentially affected by Federal activities by:
(1) ensuring that agencies offer or provide information on a Federal activity in a manner that provides meaningful access to individuals with limited English proficiency and is accessible to individuals with disabilities;
(2) providing notice of and engaging in outreach to communities or groups of people who are potentially affected and who are not regular participants in Federal decision-making; and
(3) addressing, to the extent practicable and appropriate, other barriers to participation that individuals may face; and
(D) providing technical assistance, tools, and resources to assist in facilitating meaningful and informed public participation, whenever practicable and appropriate;
(viii) continue to engage in consultation on Federal activities that have Tribal implications and potentially affect human health or the environment, pursuant to Executive Order 13175 of November 6, 2000 (Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments) [25 U.S.C. 5301 note], the Presidential Memorandum of January 26, 2021 (Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships) [25 U.S.C. 5301 note], and the Presidential Memorandum of November 30, 2022 (Uniform Standards for Tribal Consultation) [25 U.S.C. 5301 note], and fulfill obligations established pursuant to Executive Order 13007 of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites) [42 U.S.C. 1996 note];
(ix) carry out environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., consistent with the statute and its implementing regulations and through the exercise of the agency’s expertise and technical judgment, in a manner that:
(A) analyzes direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of Federal actions on communities with environmental justice concerns;
(B) considers best available science and information on any disparate health effects (including risks) arising from exposure to pollution and other environmental hazards, such as information related to the race, national origin, socioeconomic status, age, disability, and sex of the individuals exposed; and
(C) provides opportunities for early and meaningful involvement in the environmental review process by communities with environmental justice concerns potentially affected by a proposed action, including when establishing or revising agency procedures under NEPA;
(x) in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d, and agency regulations, ensure that all programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance that potentially affect human health or the environment do not directly, or through contractual or other arrangements, use criteria, policies, practices, or methods of administration that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin;
(xi) ensure that the public, including members of communities with environmental justice concerns, has adequate access to information on Federal activities, including planning, regulatory actions, implementation, permitting, compliance, and enforcement related to human health or the environment, when required under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552; the Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b; the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.; the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), 42 U.S.C. 11001 et seq.; or other environmental statutes with public information provisions;
(xii) improve collaboration and communication with State, Tribal, territorial, and local governments on programs and activities to advance environmental justice;
(xiii) encourage and, to the extent permitted by law, ensure that Government-owned, contractor-operated facilities take appropriate steps to implement the directives of this order;
(xiv) consider ways to encourage and, as appropriate, ensure that recipients of Federal funds—including recipients of block grant funding—and entities subject to contractual, licensing, or other arrangements with Federal agencies advance environmental justice;
(xv) develop internal mechanisms to achieve the goals of this order, including by:
(A) creating performance metrics and other means of accountability;
(B) identifying and dedicating staff, funding, and other resources; and
(C) providing appropriate professional development and training of agency staff; and
(xvi) consistent with section 2-2 of Executive Order 12898, ensure that Federal activities do not have the effect of:
(A) excluding persons, including populations, from participation in Federal activities on the basis of their race, color, or national origin;
(B) denying persons, including populations, the benefits of Federal activities on the basis of their race, color, or national origin; or
(C) subjecting persons, including populations, to discrimination on the basis of their race, color, or national origin.
(b) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall:
(i) in carrying out responsibilities under section 309 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7609, assess whether each agency analyzes and avoids or mitigates disproportionate human health and environmental effects on communities with environmental justice concerns; and
(ii) report annually to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council (Interagency Council) described in section 7 of this order on EPA’s Clean Air Act section 309 reviews regarding communities with environmental justice concerns and provide recommendations on legislative, regulatory, or policy options to advance environmental justice in Federal decision-making.
(c) In carrying out assigned responsibilities under Executive Order 12250 of November 2, 1980 (Leadership and Coordination of Nondiscrimination Laws) [42 U.S.C. 2000d–1 note], the Attorney General shall assess agency efforts to ensure compliance with civil rights laws in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance that potentially affect human health or the environment and shall report annually based on publicly available information to the Chair of CEQ regarding any relevant pending or closed litigation.
Sec. 4. Environmental Justice Strategic Plans. (a) No later than 18 months after the date of this order [Apr. 21, 2023] and every 4 years thereafter, each agency shall submit to the Chair of CEQ and make available to the public online an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan.
(b) Each Environmental Justice Strategic Plan shall, based on guidance provided by the Chair of CEQ under section 9 of this order, set forth the agency’s vision, goals, priority actions, and metrics to address and advance environmental justice and to fulfill the directives of this order, including through the identification of new staffing, policies, regulations, or guidance documents.
(c) Each Environmental Justice Strategic Plan shall also identify and address opportunities through regulations, policies, permits, or other means to improve accountability and compliance with any statute the agency administers that affects the health and environment of communities with environmental justice concerns. Such measures may include:
(i) increasing public reporting by regulated entities;
(ii) expanding use of pollution measurement and other environmental impact or compliance assessment tools such as fenceline monitoring;
(iii) improving the effectiveness of remedies to provide relief to individuals and communities with environmental justice concerns, such as remedies that penalize and deter violations and promote future compliance, including harm mitigation and corrective action; and
(iv) considering whether to remove exemptions or waivers that may undermine the achievement of human health or environmental standards.
(d) No later than 2 years after the submission of an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan, each agency shall submit to the Chair of CEQ, and make available to the public, an Environmental Justice Assessment that evaluates, based on guidance provided by the Chair of CEQ under section 9 of this order, the effectiveness of the agency’s Environmental Justice Strategic Plan. The Environmental Justice Assessment shall include an evaluation of:
(i) the agency’s progress in implementing its Environmental Justice Strategic Plan;
(ii) any barriers to implementing the agency’s Environmental Justice Strategic Plan; and
(iii) steps taken to address any barriers identified.
(e) An agency’s completion of an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan and Environmental Justice Assessment shall satisfy the requirements of section 1-103 of Executive Order 12898.
(f) The Environmental Justice Scorecard established under section 223(d) of Executive Order 14008 shall address agency progress toward achieving the goals outlined in this order and shall include, among other items, a section on agencies’ Environmental Justice Strategic Plans and Environmental Justice Assessments.
(g) The Chair of CEQ may request additional periodic reports, information, or evaluations on environmental justice issues from agencies.
(h) Independent regulatory agencies are strongly encouraged to comply with the provisions of this order and to provide a notice to the Chair of CEQ of their intention to do so. The Chair of CEQ shall make such notices publicly available and maintain a list online of such agencies.
Sec. 5. Research, Data Collection, and Analysis to Advance Environmental Justice. (a) To address the need for a coordinated Federal strategy to identify and address gaps in science, data, and research related to environmental justice, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) shall establish an Environmental Justice Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council (Environmental Justice Subcommittee).
(i) The Director of OSTP, in consultation with the Chair of CEQ, shall designate at least two co-chairs of the Environmental Justice Subcommittee and may designate additional co-chairs as appropriate. The membership of the Subcommittee shall consist of representatives of agencies invited by the Director, in consultation with the Chair of CEQ.
(ii) The Environmental Justice Subcommittee and the Interagency Council described in section 7 of this order shall hold an annual summit on the connection of science, data, and research with policy and action on environmental justice.
(iii) The Environmental Justice Subcommittee shall prepare, and update biennially, an Environmental Justice Science, Data, and Research Plan (Research Plan) to:
(A) analyze any gaps and inadequacies in data collection and scientific research related to environmental justice, with a focus on gaps and inadequacies that may affect agencies’ ability to advance environmental justice, including through the Environmental Justice Strategic Plans required under section 4 of this order;
(B) identify opportunities for agencies to coordinate with the research efforts of State, Tribal, territorial, and local governments; academic institutions; communities; the private sector; the non-profit sector; and other relevant actors to accelerate the development of data, research, and techniques—including consideration of Indigenous Knowledge—to address gaps and inadequacies in data collection and scientific research that may affect agencies’ ability to advance environmental justice;
(C) provide recommendations to agencies on the development and use of science, data, and research to support environmental justice policy and the agency responsibilities outlined in section 3 of this order;
(D) provide recommendations to the Chair of CEQ on data sources to include in the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool established pursuant to section 222(a) of Executive Order 14008;
(E) provide recommendations to agencies on ethical standards, privacy protections, and other requirements for the development and use of science, data, and research addressed in the Research Plan, including recommendations with respect to engaging in consultation with and obtaining consent of Tribal Nations; and
(F) provide recommendations to agencies on:
(1) encouraging participatory science, such as research or data collection undertaken by communities or the public, and, as appropriate, integrating such science into agency decision-making processes;
(2) taking steps to ensure or encourage, as appropriate, that collections of data related to environmental justice include data from the Territories and possessions of the United States;
(3) improving the public accessibility of research and information produced or distributed by the Federal Government, including through the use of machine-readable formats, where appropriate;
(4) disaggregating environmental risk, exposure, and health data by race, national origin, income, socioeconomic status, age, sex, disability, and other readily accessible and appropriate categories;
(5) identifying and addressing data collection challenges related to patterns of historical or ongoing racial discrimination and bias;
(6) analyzing cumulative impacts (including risks) from multiple sources, pollutants or chemicals, and exposure pathways, and accounting for non-chemical stressors and current and anticipated climate change;
(7) in collaboration with Tribal Nations, as appropriate, collecting, maintaining, and analyzing information on consumption patterns of fish, wildlife, and plants related to subsistence and cultural practices of Tribal and Indigenous populations;
(8) providing opportunities for meaningful engagement for communities with environmental justice concerns on the development and design of data collection and research strategies relevant to those communities; and
(9) implementing sections 3-3 and 4-4 of Executive Order 12898 in an efficient and effective manner.
(b) Consistent with sections 3-3 and 4-4 of Executive Order 12898, each agency shall take appropriate steps, considering the recommendations of the Environmental Justice Subcommittee, to promote the development of research and data related to environmental justice, including enhancing the collection of data, supporting the creation of tools to improve the consideration of environmental justice in decision-making, providing analyses of cumulative impacts and risks, and promoting science needed to inform decisions that advance environmental justice.
(c) When conducting research and data collection in furtherance of the directives in this order and Executive Order 12898, agencies shall comply with applicable regulations and directives, including those related to standards of ethics for the protection of human subjects, such as those set forth in Executive Order 12975 of October 3, 1995 (Protection of Human Research Subjects and Creation of National Bioethics Advisory Commission) [former 42 U.S.C. 6601 note], and the Presidential Memorandum of January 27, 2021 (Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking) [42 U.S.C. 6601 note].
Sec. 6. Community Notification on Toxic Chemical Releases. To ensure that the public, including members of communities with environmental justice concerns, receives timely information about releases of toxic chemicals that may affect them and health and safety measures available to address such releases:
(a) Each agency shall report in accordance with sections 301 through 313 of EPCRA [42 U.S.C. 11001 to 11023] after considering applicable EPA guidance and without regard to the Standard Industrial Classification or North American Industry Classification System delineations.
(b) No later than 6 weeks following a release requiring notification by an agency under section 304(a) of EPCRA, the notifying agency shall hold a public meeting providing the information required under section 304(b)(2) of EPCRA [42 U.S.C. 11004(b)(2)], including information on the nature of the release, known or anticipated health risks, and the proper precautions to take as a result. The agency shall provide notice of a public meeting no later than 72 hours after a release.
(c) The Administrator of EPA shall evaluate available legal authorities and consider any additional steps it may require or encourage non-Federal facilities that report releases under EPCRA to undertake in connection with the report.
(d) The Administrator of EPA shall provide the Environmental Justice Subcommittee established by section 5 of this order with an annual report on trends in data in the Toxic Release Inventory established by section 313 of EPCRA [42 U.S.C. 11023] to inform the development of the Research Plan required under section 5(a)(iii) of this order.
Sec. 7. White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council. [Amended Ex. Ord. No. 12898, set out above]
Sec. 8. White House Office of Environmental Justice. (a) The White House Office of Environmental Justice is hereby established within CEQ.
(b) The Office shall be headed by a Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer, who shall be appointed by the President. The Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer shall advance environmental justice initiatives, including by coordinating the development of policies, programs, and partnerships to achieve the policies set forth in this order; identifying opportunities for collaboration and coordination with State, Tribal, territorial, and local governments; supporting the Interagency Council; and advising the Chair of CEQ and the Interagency Council on environmental justice matters.
(c) The heads of all agencies shall cooperate with the Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer and provide such information, support, and assistance as the Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer may request, as appropriate.
Sec. 9. Guidance. Within 6 months of the date of this order, the Chair of CEQ shall issue interim guidance, in consultation with the Interagency Council, to inform agency implementation of this order, and shall request recommendations on the guidance from the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council established by Executive Order 14008 (Advisory Council). To reduce redundancy and streamline reporting obligations, the interim guidance shall identify ways for agencies to align other related efforts, such as obligations that agencies may have under Executive Order 13985 and Executive Order 14008. Within 18 months of the date of this order, the Chair of CEQ shall issue final guidance after considering any recommendations of the Advisory Council. The Chair of CEQ may revise any guidance, or issue additional guidance under this order, as appropriate, and shall consider any additional recommendations made by the Advisory Council in issuing or revising guidance under this section.
Sec. 10. Reports to the President. Within 1 year of the date for the submission of agency Environmental Justice Strategic Plans to the Chair of CEQ under section 4(a) of this order, the Chair shall, after consultation with the Interagency Council and after considering recommendations from the Advisory Council, submit to the President a report that describes the implementation of this order, includes each agency’s Environmental Justice Strategic Plan, provides recommendations for additional steps to advance environmental justice, and, beginning with the second report, also provides any insights gathered from each agency’s Environmental Justice Assessment required under section 4(d) of this order.
Sec. 11. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
J.R. Biden, Jr.