[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 157 (Monday, August 16, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 44639-44642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21392]
[[Page 44637]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part IV
The President
_______________________________________________________________________
Executive Order 13134--Developing and Promoting Biobased Products and
Bioenergy
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 157 / Monday, August 16, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 44639]]
Executive Order 13134 of August 12, 1999
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. (a) 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).
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary
of Energy shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Council.
(c) 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 strategic 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:
L(1) biobased products, including commercial and
industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, products with
large carbon sequestering capacity, and other
materials; and
[[Page 44640]]
L(2) biomass used in the production of energy
(electricity; liquid, solid, and gaseous fuels; and
heat).
(d) To ensure that the United States takes full
advantage of the potential economic and environmental
benefits of bioenergy, 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:
L(1) a description of priorities for research,
development, demonstration, and other investments in
biobased products and bioenergy;
L(2) a coordinated Federal program of research,
building on the research budgets of each participating
agency; and
L(3) 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.
(e) The first annual strategic plan shall be
submitted to the President within 8 months from the
date of this order.
(f) 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. (a) 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.
(b) Among other things, the Committee shall provide
the Council with an independent assessment of:
L(1) the goals established by the Federal agencies
for developing and promoting biobased products and
bioenergy;
L(2) the balance of proposed research and
development activities;
L(3) the effectiveness of programs designed to
encourage adoption and use of biobased products and
bioenergy; and
L(4) the environmental and economic consequences of
biobased products and bioenergy use.
Sec. 4. Administration of the Advisory Committee. (a)
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.
(b) 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.
(c) 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 bio
[[Page 44641]]
energy strategic plans described in sections 2(c) and
(d) of this order, the working groups shall:
L(1) provide strategic planning and policy advice
on the Department's research, development, and
commercialization of biobased products and bioenergy;
and
L(2) 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:
(a) 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;
(b) 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 collaborative team building
for RD&D projects; and
(c) 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:
(a) 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.
(b) 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.
(c) The term ``bioenergy'' means biomass used in
the production of energy (electricity; liquid, solid,
and gaseous fuels; and heat).
(d) 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.
[[Page 44642]]
Sec. 8. Judicial Review. This order does not create any
enforceable rights against the Unites States, its
agencies, its officers, or any person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 12, 1999.
[FR Doc. 99-21392
Filed 8-13-99; 11:04 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P