THE WHITE HOUSE

                        Office of the Press Secretary
  _____________________________________________________________
  For Immediate Release                     August 12, 1999


                               EXECUTIVE ORDER

                                - - - - - - -

   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, develop-ment, 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 bio-energy,      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 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, communications networking, information
     and data dissemination and technology transfer, and collabora-tive
     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 Unites States, its agencies, its officers, or any person.





                                   WILLIAM J. CLINTON




  THE WHITE HOUSE,
      August 12, 1999.





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