[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 44 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Pages 2211-2213]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

October 30, 1999

    Good morning. Two weeks ago I reaffirmed our Nation's commitment to 
environmental protection and announced our plan to protect more than 40 
million acres of roadless area in our national forests. Today I'm 
announcing new actions we're taking to protect our air, our water, and 
some of our most precious lands.
    One of the simplest but most potent tools in our fight against 
pollution is public information. By requiring industries to tell 
communities how much they pollute the air and water, we empower citizens 
to fight back and create a powerful incentive for industry to pollute 
less. Remarkably, in the decades

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since the public's right-to-know about chemical releases became the law 
of the land, industry's toxic pollution has fallen nearly 50 percent.
    Today, my administration is again expanding the public's right-to-
know. We're acting to protect families against some of the most 
dangerous chemicals ever known, including mercury, dioxin, and PCB's. 
These chemicals are troubling for two reasons. First, they don't break 
down easily; instead, they build up in the environment and in our 
bodies. Second, many of them heighten the risk of cancer or other 
illness, even at very low doses.
    Right now companies are required to disclose their uses of these 
chemicals only if they handle huge quantities. Beginning January 1st, 
we'll require companies to inform the public even if they're using much 
smaller quantities--in some cases, just 10 pounds a year. In the case of 
dioxin, a chemical that can cause harm even in minute quantities, 
companies must report if they produce as little as a tenth of a gram.
    By posting this information for all to see, we can speed the day 
when families no longer need worry about hidden dangers in the air they 
breathe and the water they drink.
    As we step up our fight against pollution, we must work as well to 
preserve lands across America that are still pristine. Today I'm 
announcing a new effort to protect the incomparable California desert so 
future generations can enjoy it in all its splendor. Five years ago I 
signed the California Desert Act, preserving millions of acres of stark 
but fragile landscape, rich with history and precious wildlife.
    Today, to mark the anniversary, the nonprofit Wildlands Conservancy 
is donating to the Federal Government an additional 14,000 acres within 
the Joshua Tree National Park--lands that otherwise might be developed. 
It's through partnerships like this that we can protect vital pieces of 
our national endowment.
    We have also just completed our agreement to preserve New Mexico's 
spectacular Baca Ranch, home to one of the largest herds of wild elk 
anywhere in the world. I'm working closely with Congress to secure the 
funding to complete this purchase so that we can preserve this 
extraordinary land for all time.
    In my balanced budget for this year, I proposed a $1 billion lands 
legacy initiative to preserve other natural treasures and to help 
communities protect local green spaces. Regrettably, Congress has failed 
to provide even half the necessary funding.
    And even more troubling, the Interior bill that Congress has 
produced once again is laden with provisions that would benefit special 
interests at the expense of our public interest and our environment. One 
of these provisions would allow excessive logging on our national 
forests. Another would let mining companies dump more toxic wastes on 
public lands. A third would grant a windfall to major companies that 
produce oil on Federal lands.
    This makes no sense. Today, while I'm taking action to protect 
communities against toxic chemicals, Congress is giving special 
interests license to pollute our public lands. While I'm taking action 
to save some of our most treasured places, Congress is putting other 
precious lands at greater risk.
    So let me be clear: If Congress sends me this Interior bill, I'll 
veto it. Again, I urge Congress to work with me on a better bill that is 
unburdened by these anti-environmental provisions and that has adequate 
funding to protect our natural landscape through the lands legacy 
initiative.
    All though this century, since Theodore Roosevelt set us on the path 
of conservation, Americans have worked together across party lines to 
protect public health and restore and protect our environment. As we 
begin the new millennium, let our gift to the future be a new effort, 
together across party lines, to clean our air, to ensure safe water, and 
to preserve healthy, thriving lands.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 6:59 p.m. on October 29 at a private 
residence in Atlanta, GA, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on October 30. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
October 29 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.

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