THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 21, 1997

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:

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:

1. shall make it a high priority to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children; and
2. 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.

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:

1. 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
2. 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).

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:

1. Secretary of Health and Human Services, who shall serve as a Co-Chair of the Council;
2. Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who shall serve as a Co-Chair of the Council;
3. Secretary of Education;
4. Secretary of Labor;
5. Attorney General;
6. Secretary of Energy;
7. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
8. Secretary of Agriculture;
9. Secretary of Transportation;
10. Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
11. Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality;
12. Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission;
13. Assistant to the President for Economic Policy;
14. Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy;
15. Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
16. Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; and
17. 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:

1. statements of principles, general policy, and targeted annual priorities to guide the Federal approach to achieving the goals of this order;
2. a coordinated research agenda for the Federal Government, including steps to implement the review of research databases described in section 4 of this order;
3. recommendations for appropriate partnerships among Federal, State, local, and tribal governments and the private, academic, and nonprofit sectors;
4. proposals to enhance public outreach and communication to assist families in evaluating risks to children and in making informed consumer choices;
5. 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
6. 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.