Source: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2008-title42/html/USCODE-2008-title42-chap55.htm
Timestamp: 2014-04-21 10:03:15
Document Index: 649704342

Matched Legal Cases: ['§4321', '§2', '§102', '§1', '§317', '§2', '§2', '§3']

CHAPTER 55—NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
4321.Congressional declaration of purpose.
4331.Congressional declaration of national environmental policy.
4332.Cooperation of agencies; reports; availability of information; recommendations; international and national coordination of efforts.
4333.Conformity of administrative procedures to national environmental policy.
4334.Other statutory obligations of agencies.
4335.Efforts supplemental to existing authorizations.
4341.Omitted.
4342.Establishment; membership; Chairman; appointments.
4343.Employment of personnel, experts and consultants.
4344.Duties and functions.
4345.Consultation with Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality and other representatives.
4346.Tenure and compensation of members.
4346a.Travel reimbursement by private organizations and Federal, State, and local governments.
4346b.Expenditures in support of international activities.
4347.Authorization of appropriations.
4361b.Implementation by Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency of recommendations of “CHESS” Investigative Report; waiver; inclusion of status of implementation requirements in annual revisions of plan for research, development, and demonstration.
4361c.Staff management.
4362.Interagency cooperation on prevention of environmental cancer and heart and lung disease.
4362a.Membership of Task Force on Environmental Cancer and Heart and Lung Disease.
4363.Continuing and long-term environmental research and development.
4363a.Pollution control technologies demonstrations.
4364.Expenditure of funds for research and development related to regulatory program activities.
4365.Science Advisory Board.
4366.Identification and coordination of research, development, and demonstration activities.
4366a.Omitted.
4367.Reporting requirements of financial interests of officers and employees of Environmental Protection Agency.
4368.Grants to qualified citizens groups.
4368a.Utilization of talents of older Americans in projects of pollution prevention, abatement, and control.
4368b.General assistance program.
4369.Miscellaneous reports.
4369a.Reports on environmental research and development activities of Agency.
4370.Reimbursement for use of facilities.
4370a.Assistant Administrators of Environmental Protection Agency; appointment; duties.
4370b.Availability of fees and charges to carry out Agency programs.
4370c.Environmental Protection Agency fees.
4370d.Percentage of Federal funding for organizations owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
4370e.Working capital fund in Treasury.
4370f.Availability of funds after expiration of period for liquidating obligations.
§4321. Congressional declaration of purpose
(Pub. L. 91–190, §2, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852.)
Section 1 Pub. L. 91–190 provided: “That this Act [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘National Environmental Policy Act of 1969’.”
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.
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.”
Pub. L. 101–593, title II, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2962, provided that:
“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.”
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
(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.
(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.]
(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.
(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)).
(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.
(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.
(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)).
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.
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.”
Richard Nixon. The White House, July 9, 1970.
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.
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.
—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.
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).
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.
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 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.
roles and functions of epa
—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.
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.
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.
components of noaa
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:
THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
(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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ex. Ord. No. 11472. Cabinet Committee on the Environment and Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality
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:
Part I—Cabinet Committee on the Environment
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:
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 [16 U.S.C. 460l et seq.], 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.
Part II—Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality
[Revoked. Ex. Ord. No. 12007, Aug. 22, 1977, 42 F.R. 42839.]
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.
Termination of Cabinet Committee on the Environment
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.
Termination of Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality
For provisions relating to termination of Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality see Ex. Ord. No. 12007, Aug. 22, 1977, 42 F.R. 42839, set out as a note under section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Ex. Ord. No. 11514. Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality
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:
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.
(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.
(f) Proceed, in coordination with other agencies, with actions required by section 102 of the Act [42 U.S.C. 4332].
(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.
(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