White House Press Release
Executive Order
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For Immediate Release
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April 21, 1997
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Executive Order
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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
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