THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release |
August 12, 1999 |
EXECUTIVE ORDER 13134
- - - - - - -
DEVELOPING AND PROMOTING BIOBASED PRODUCTS AND BIOENERGY
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), and in order to stimulate the
creation and early adoption of technologies needed to make biobased
products and bioenergy cost-competitive in large national and
international markets, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Current biobased product and bioenergy
technology has the potential to make renewable farm and forestry
resources major sources of affordable electricity, fuel, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, and other materials. Technical advances in these areas
can create an expanding array of exciting new business and employment
opportunities for farmers, foresters, ranchers, and other businesses in
rural America. These technologies can create new markets for farm and
forest waste products, new economic opportunities for underused land,
and new value-added business opportunities. They also have the
potential to reduce our Nation's dependence on foreign oil, improve air
quality, water quality, and flood control, decrease erosion, and help
minimize net production of greenhouse gases. It is the policy of this
Administration, therefore, to develop a comprehensive national strategy,
including research, development, and private sector incentives, to
stimulate the creation and early adoption of technologies needed to make
biobased products and bioenergy cost-competitive in large national and
international markets.
Sec. 2. Establishment of the Interagency Council on Biobased Products
and Bioenergy.
- There is established the Interagency Council on
Biobased Products and Bioenergy (the "Council"). The Council shall be
composed of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, and the
Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Assistant to the
President for Science and Technology, the Director of the National
Science Foundation, the Federal Environmental Executive, and the heads
of other relevant agencies as may be determined by the Co-Chairs of the
Council. Members may serve on the Council through designees. Designees
shall be senior officials who report directly to the agency head
(Assistant Secretary or equivalent).
- The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall
serve as Co-Chairs of the Council.
- The Council shall prepare annually a strategic plan for the
President outlining overall national goals in the development and use of
biobased products and bioenergy in an environmentally sound manner and
how these goals can best be achieved through Federal programs and
integrated planning. The goals shall include promoting national
economic growth with specific attention to rural economic interests,
energy security, and environmental sustainability and protection. These
stra-tegic plans shall be compatible with the national goal of
producing safe and affordable supplies of food, feed, and fiber in a way
that is sustainable and protects the environment, and shall include
measurable objectives. Specifically, these strategic plans shall cover
the following areas:
- biobased products, including commercial and industrial
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, products with large carbon sequestering
capacity, and other materials; and
- biomass used in the production of energy (electricity; liquid,
solid, and gaseous fuels; and heat).
- To ensure that the United States takes full advantage of the
potential economic and environmental benefits of bio-energy, these
strategic plans shall be based on analyses of: (1) the economic impacts
of expanded biomass production and use; and (2) the impacts on national
environmental objectives, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Specifically, these plans shall include:
- a description of priorities for research, development,
demonstration, and other investments in biobased products and
bioenergy;
- a coordinated Federal program of research, building on the
research budgets of each participating agency; and
- proposals for using existing agency authorities to encourage
the adoption and use of biobased products and bioenergy and
recommended legislation for modifying these authorities or
creating new authorities if needed.
- The first annual strategic plan shall be submitted to the
President within 8 months from the date of this order.
- The Council shall coordinate its activities with actions called
for in all relevant Executive orders and shall not be in conflict with
proposals advocated by other Executive orders.
Sec. 3. Establishment of Advisory Committee on Biobased Products and
Bioenergy.
- The Secretary of Energy shall establish an "Advisory
Committee on Biobased Products and Bioenergy" ("Committee"), under the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), to provide
information and advice for consideration by the Council. The Secretary
of Energy shall, in consultation with other members of the Council,
appoint up to 20 members of the advisory committee representing
stakeholders including representatives from the farm, forestry, chemical
manufacturing and other businesses, energy companies, electric
utilities, environmental organizations, conservation organizations, the
university research community, and other critical sectors. The
Secretary of Energy shall designate Co-Chairs from among the members of
the Committee.
- Among other things, the Committee shall provide the Council with
an independent assessment of:
- the goals established by the Federal agencies for developing
and promoting biobased products and bioenergy;
- the balance of proposed research and development activities;
- the effectiveness of programs designed to encourage adoption
and use of biobased products and bioenergy; and
- the environmental and economic consequences of biobased
products and bioenergy use.
Sec. 4. Administration of the Advisory Committee.
- To the extent
permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, the
Department of Energy shall serve as the secretariat for, and provide the
financial and administrative support to, the Committee.
- The heads of agencies shall, to the extent permitted by law,
provide to the Committee such information as it may reasonably require
for the purpose of carrying out its functions.
- The Committee Co-Chairs may, from time to time, invite experts to
submit information to the Committee and may form subcommittees or
working groups within the Committee to review specific issues.
Sec. 5. Duties of the Departments of Agriculture and Energy. The
Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture and Energy, to the extent
permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations,
shall each establish a working group on biobased products and biobased
activities in their respective Departments. Consistent with the Federal
biobased products and bioenergy strategic plans described in sections
2(c) and (d) of this order, the working groups shall:
- provide strategic planning and policy advice on the
Department's research, development, and commercialization of
biobased products and bioenergy; and
- identify research activities and demonstration projects to
address new opportunities in the areas of biomass production,
biobased product and bioenergy production, and related fundamental
research.
The chair of each Department's working group shall be a senior
official who reports directly to the agency head. If the Secretary of
Agriculture or Energy serves on the Interagency Council on Biobased
Products and Bioenergy through a designee, the designee should be the
chair of the Department's working group.
Sec. 6. Establishment of a National Biobased Products and Bioenergy
Coordination Office. Within 120 days of this order, the Secretaries of
Agriculture and Energy shall establish a joint National Biobased
Products and Bioenergy Coordination Office ("Office") to ensure
effective day-to-day coordination of actions designed to implement the
strategic plans and guidance provided by the Council and respond to
recommendations made by the Committee. All agencies represented on the
Council, or that have capabilities and missions related to the work of
the Council, shall be invited to participate in the operation of the
Office. The Office shall:
- serve as an executive secretariat and support the work of the
Council, as determined by the Council, including the coordination of
multi-agency, integrated research, development, and demonstration
("RD&D;") activities;
- use advanced communication and computational tools to facilitate
research coordination and collaborative research by participating
Federal and nonfederal research facilities and to perform activities in
support of RD&D; on biobased product and bioenergy development, including
strategic planning, program analysis and evaluation, communications
networking, information and data dissemination and technology transfer,
and collabora-tive team building for RD&D; projects; and
- facilitate use of new information technologies for rapid
dissemination of information on biobased products and bioenergy to and
among farm operators; agribusiness, chemical, forest products, energy,
and other business sectors; the university community; and public
interest groups that could benefit from timely and reliable information.
Sec. 7. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:
- The term "biomass" means any organic matter that is available on
a renewable or recurring basis (excluding old-growth timber), including
dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crop
residues, aquatic plants, wood and wood residues, animal wastes, and
other waste materials.
- The term "biobased product," as defined in Executive Order 13101,
means a commercial or industrial product (other than food or feed) that
utilizes biological products or renewable domestic agricultural (plant,
animal, and marine) or forestry materials.
- The term "bioenergy" means biomass used in the production of
energy (electricity; liquid, solid, and gaseous fuels; and heat).
- The term "old growth timber" means timber of a forest from the
late successional stage of forest development. The forest contains live
and dead trees of various sizes, species, composition, and age class
structure. The age and structure of old growth varies significantly by
forest type and from one biogeoclimatic zone to another.
Sec. 8. Judicial Review. This order does not create any
enforceable rights against the Unites States, its agencies, its
officers, or any person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 12, 1999.
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