THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
| April 21, 1997 |
EXECUTIVE ORDER
PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISKS
AND SAFETY RISKS
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 (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) Assistant to the President and 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, cabinet agencies 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. 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 a period of 4 years from the
first
meeting. At least 6 months prior to the expiration of that period, the
member agencies shall assess the need for continuation of the Task
Force
or its functions, and make appropriate recommendations to the
President.
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 recom-mendations 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, 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 an annual 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. The Forum
shall present the first annual Report to the President, through the
Director,
by July 31, 1997. The Report shall be submitted annually 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.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 21, 1997.
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