[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 32 (Monday, August 16, 1999)]
[Pages 1623-1626]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13134--Developing and Promoting Biobased Products and 
Bioenergy

August 12, 1999

    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

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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:
    (1) biobased products, including commercial and industrial 
      chemicals, pharmaceuticals, products with large carbon 
      sequestering capacity, and other materials; and
    (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:
    (1) a description of priorities for research, development, 
      demonstration, and other investments in biobased products and 
      bioenergy;
    (2) a coordinated Federal program of research, building on the 
      research budgets of each participating agency; and
    (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

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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:
    (1) the goals established by the Federal agencies for developing and 
      promoting biobased products and bioenergy;
    (2) the balance of proposed research and development activities;
    (3) the effectiveness of programs designed to encourage adoption and 
      use of biobased products and bioenergy; and
    (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 bioenergy strategic plans described in sections 
2(c) and (d) of this order, the working groups shall:
    (1) provide strategic planning and policy advice on the Department's 
      research, development, and commercialization of biobased products 
      and bioenergy; and
    (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,

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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.
    Sec. 8. Judicial Review. This order does not create any enforceable 
rights against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any 
person.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
August 12, 1999.

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:04 a.m., August 13, 
1999]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
August 16.