Statement on Signing an Executive Order for the Control of Air and Water Pollution at Federal Facilities.

A WISE MAN once told a friend, "What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say." Because actions speak louder than words, I have today issued an Executive order which will eliminate air and water pollution caused by Federal facilities.

Over the past several years, the Federal Government has become one of the Nation's worst polluters. Clearly, the Federal Government cannot be an effective leader in the battle to save the environment so long as this intolerable situation continues.

The order I am issuing today will require that all projects or installations owned by or leased to the Federal Government be designed, operated, and maintained so as to conform with air and water quality standards--present and future-which are established under Federal legislation.

Specific performance requirements for each facility will be set by agency heads with the approval of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the case of air pollution controls and the Secretary of the Interior in the case of water pollution controls. All existing facilities must comply with this order by December 31, 1972. The order establishes a $359 million program for achieving this objective and prohibits the transfer of these funds to other programs. The order also requires that all facilities which are built in the future must be pollution free; budget requests for new facilities must include all necessary, funds for pollution control.

Orders similar to this one have been issued in the past but their requirements have been ambiguously worded, poorly enforced, and generally ineffective. This order remedies the deficiencies of these earlier efforts: It sets precise standards, it provides for strict enforcement, and it guarantees that pollution control funds will not be diverted to other uses. The order also establishes procedures for operating pollution control facilities, handling materials which may cause air or water pollution, and eliminating pollution of ground waters.

The order I am issuing today represents another important step in our efforts to clean up the environment, one which takes advantage of the fact that Federal legislation already sets quality standards for air and water. There are other Federal activities, of course, which affect the environment in other important ways. I have asked the Environmental Quality Council to maintain surveillance over such activities and to recommend any further actions which may be needed.

Federal facilities are owned by all the people. This order will see to it that they are operated in the interests of all the people. As the Federal Government considers and institutes further pollution abatement measures in the future, it can do so with the confidence that it has first moved to sweep its own doorstep clean.