Statement About the Council on Environmental Quality

TODAY I am announcing the appointment of Russell E. Train, Robert Cahn, and Gordon J. F. MacDonald as members of the new Council on Environmental Quality which has been established under the provisions of a law which I signed on January 1. Mr. Train, as Chairman of the Council, will be my chief officer in the effort which this administration is making to protect and restore the American environment.

The new Council will have a number of major responsibilities. The most important of these will be:

1. To study the condition of the Nation's environment. This responsibility parallels that which the Council of Economic Advisers exercises in the economic area. For more than 20 years, the Council of Economic Advisers has helped us to understand better the complex forces which govern our economy; the economic decisions of Government have been sounder as a result. The forces which shape the environment are just as subtle and difficult to master as those which shape the economy. This new Environmental Quality Council, drawing on the research facilities of industry, the universities, and the Government, can help us to understand those forces better and direct them toward desirable ends.

2. To develop new environmental programs and policies. The new efforts which I will recommend to the Congress in the coming weeks will not be the last such proposals this administration will make. The new Council will monitor the effectiveness of all our programs and will recommend modifications and new approaches as they prove necessary. It will also look into new problems for which little government policy now exists: matters such as noise pollution, the growth of debris and solid wastes, and other unanticipated byproducts of our advancing technology.

3. To coordinate the wide array of Federal environmental programs. Literally scores of Federal programs--scattered through many executive departments-touch on environmental concerns. We must be sure that all these programs work in harmony with one another, with as little friction and duplication as possible. The new Council will take on this assignment and will also recommend appropriate organizational changes.

4. To see that all the activities of the Federal Government take environmental considerations into account. A wide range of Government activities--large construction projects, for example--can have important environmental effects. The Council will review all such activities and will issue guidelines to ensure that they will be conducted in a way which does not degrade the environment, but instead enhances it.

5. To assist the President in preparing an annual Environmental Quality Report. This report, which will assess our major environmental problems and the ways in which we are trying to solve them, will be used both to stimulate public understanding and to guide Government decision making. The first such report is due on July 1st of this year.

I would note at this point that the present Cabinet-level body which bears the name "Environmental Quality Council" will be renamed the Cabinet Committee on the Environment and will be used as a forum in which the President and appropriate Cabinet officers can discuss environmental issues.

Environmental problems occur today because we were not alert enough, informed enough, or farseeing enough yesterday. The new Council on Environmental Quality will work to remedy these deficiencies and will thus contribute, in a most significant way, to the quality of American life for all of our tomorrows.