[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 51 (Monday, December 20, 2004)]
[Pages 2987-2989]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13366--Committee on Ocean Policy

December 17, 2004

    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:
    Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the United States to:
    (a) coordinate the activities of executive departments and agencies 
regarding ocean-related matters in an integrated and effective

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manner to advance the environmental, economic, and security interests of 
present and future generations of Americans; and
    (b) facilitate, as appropriate, coordination and consultation 
regarding ocean-related matters among Federal, State, tribal, local 
governments, the private sector, foreign governments, and international 
organizations.
    Sec. 2. Definition. For purposes of this order the term ``ocean-
related matters'' means matters involving the oceans, the Great Lakes, 
the coasts of the United States (including its territories and 
possessions), and related seabed, subsoil, and natural resources.
    Sec. 3. Establishment of Committee on Ocean Policy.
    (a) There is hereby established, as a part of the Council on 
Environmental Quality and for administrative purposes only, the 
Committee on Ocean Policy (Committee).
    (b) The Committee shall consist exclusively of the following:
 (i)         the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, who 
            shall be the Chairman of the Committee;
 (ii)        the Secretaries of State, Defense, the Interior, 
            Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Labor, 
            Transportation, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Attorney 
            General, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
            Agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
            the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
            Administration, the Director of National Intelligence, the 
            Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the 
            Director of the National Science Foundation, and the 
            Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
 (iii)       the Assistants to the President for National Security 
            Affairs, Homeland Security, Domestic Policy, and Economic 
            Policy;
 (iv)        an employee of the United States designated by the Vice 
            President; and
 (v)         such other officers or employees of the United States as 
            the Chairman of the Committee may from time to time 
            designate.
    (c) The Chairman of the Committee, after coordination with the 
Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs and Homeland 
Security, shall regularly convene and preside at meetings of the 
Committee, determine its agenda, direct its work, and, as appropriate to 
deal with particular subject matters, establish and direct subcommittees 
of the Committee that shall consist exclusively of members of the 
Committee. The Committee shall coordinate its advice in a timely 
fashion.
    (d) A member of the Committee may designate, to perform the 
Committee or subcommittee functions of the member, any person who is 
within such member's department, agency, or office and who is (i) an 
officer of the United States appointed by the President, (ii) a member 
of the Senior Executive Service or the Senior Intelligence Service, 
(iii) an officer or employee within the Executive Office of the 
President, or (iv) an employee of the Vice President.
    (e) Consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability 
of appropriations, the Council on Environmental Quality shall provide 
the funding, including through the Office of Environmental Quality as 
permitted by law and as appropriate, and administrative support for the 
Committee necessary to implement this order.
    Sec. 4. Functions of the Committee. To implement the policy set 
forth in section 1 of this order, the Committee shall:
    (a) provide advice on establishment or implementation of policies 
concerning ocean-related matters to:
 (i)         the President; and
 (ii)        the heads of executive departments and agencies from time 
            to time as appropriate;
    (b) obtain information and advice concerning ocean-related matters 
from:
 (i)         State, local, and tribal elected and appointed officials in 
            a manner that seeks their individual advice and does not 
            involve collective judgment or consensus advice or 
            deliberation; and
 (ii)        representatives of private entities or other individuals in 
            a manner that seeks their individual advice and does not 
            involve collective judgment or consensus advice or 
            deliberation;

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    (c) at the request of the head of any department or agency who is a 
member of the Committee, unless the Chairman of the Committee declines 
the request, promptly review and provide advice on a policy or policy 
implementation action on ocean-related matters proposed by that 
department or agency;
    (d) provide and obtain information and advice to facilitate:
 (i)         development and implementation of common principles and 
            goals for the conduct of governmental activities on ocean-
            related matters;
 (ii)        voluntary regional approaches with respect to ocean-related 
            matters;
 (iii)       use of science in establishment of policy on ocean-related 
            matters; and
 (iv)        collection, development, dissemination, and exchange of 
            information on ocean-related matters; and
    (e) ensure coordinated government development and implementation of 
the ocean component of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.
    Sec. 5. Cooperation. To the extent permitted by law and applicable 
presidential guidance, executive departments and agencies shall provide 
the Committee such information, support, and assistance as the 
Committee, through the Chairman, may request.
    Sec. 6. Coordination. The Chairman of the Council on Environmental 
Quality, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, 
the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, and, with respect 
to the interagency task force established by Executive Order 13340 of 
May 18, 2004, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 
shall ensure appropriate coordination of the activities of the Committee 
under this order and other policy coordination structures relating to 
ocean or maritime issues pursuant to Presidential guidance.
    Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be 
construed to impair or otherwise affect:
 (i)         authority granted by law to a executive department or 
            agency or the head thereof; or
 (ii)        functions assigned by the President to the National 
            Security Council or Homeland Security Council (including 
            subordinate bodies) relating to matters affecting foreign 
            affairs, national security, homeland security, or 
            intelligence.
    (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise 
affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.
    (c) This order is intended only to improve the internal management 
of the Federal Government and is not intended to, and does not, create 
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or 
in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, 
agencies, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 December 17, 2004.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:46 a.m., December 
20, 2004]

Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on 
December 21.