[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]


      

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Part IV





The President





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Executive Order 13134--Developing and Promoting Biobased Products and 
Bioenergy
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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 157 / Monday, August 16, 1999 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 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

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                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