Memorandum on Delegation of Authority To Conduct Assessments and Promulgate Regulations on Public Access to Off-Site Consequence Analysis Information

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Jan 31, 2000 by Bill Clinton

January 27,2000

Memorandum for the Attorney General, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Subject: Delegation of Authority to Conduct Assessments and Promulgate Regulations On Public Access to Off-Site Consequence Analysis Information

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including section 112(r)(7)(H) of the Clean Air Act ("Act") (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(7)(H)), as added by section 3 of the Chemical Safety Information, Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act (Public Law 106-40), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby delegate to:

(1) the Attorney General the authority vested in the President under section 112(r)(7)(H)(ii)(I)(aa) of the Act to assess the increased risk of terrorist and other criminal activity associated with the posting of off-site consequence analysis information on the Internet;

(2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority vested in the President under section 112(r)(7)(H)(ii)(I)(bb) of the Act to assess the incentives created by public disclosure of offsite consequence analysis information for reduction in the risk of accidental releases; and

(3) the Attorney General and the Administrator of EPA, jointly, the authority vested in the President under section 112(r)(7)(H)(ii)(II) of the Act to promulgate regulations, based on these assessments, governing the distribution of off-site consequence analysis information. These regulations, in proposed and final form, shall be subject to review and approval by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The Administrator of EPA is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

Address Before a joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union

January 27, 2000

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, honored guests, my fellow Americans:

We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has our Nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis and so few external threats. Never before have we had such a blessed opportunity and, therefore, such a profound obligation to build the more perfect Union of our Founders' dreams.

We begin the new century with over 20 million new jobs; the fastest economic growth in more than 30 years; the lowest unemployment rates in 30 years; the lowest poverty rates in 20 years; the lowest African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates on record; the first back-to-back surpluses in 42 years; and next month, America will achieve the longest period of economic growth in our entire history.

We have built a new economy.

And our economic revolution has been matched by a revival of the American spirit: crime down by 20 percent, to its lowest level in 25 years; teen births down 7 years in a row; adoptions up by 30 percent; welfare rolls cut in half to their lowest levels in 30 years.

My fellow Americans, the state of our Union is the strongest it has ever been.

As always, the real credit belongs to the American people. My gratitude also goes to those of you in this Chamber who have worked with us to put progress over partisanship.

Eight years ago, it was not so clear to most Americans there would be much to celebrate in the year 2000. Then our Nation was gripped by economic distress, social decline, political gridlock. The title of a best-selling book asked: "America: What Went Wrong?"

In the best traditions of our Nation, Americans determined to set things right. We restored the vital center, replacing outmoded ideologies with a new vision anchored in basic, enduring values: opportunity for all, responsibility from all, a community of all Americans. We reinvented Government, transforming it into a catalyst for new ideas that stress both opportunity and responsibility and give our people the tools they need to solve their own problems.

With the smallest Federal work force in 40 years, we turned record deficits into record surpluses and doubled our investment in education. We cut crime with 100,000 community police and the Brady law, which has kept guns out of the hands of half a million criminals.

We ended welfare as we knew it, requiring work while protecting health care and nutrition for children and investing more in child care, transportation, and housing to help their parents go to work. We've helped parents to succeed at home and at work with family leave, which 20 million Americans have now used to care for a newborn child or a sick loved one. We've engaged 150,000 young Americans in citizen service through AmeriCorps, while helping them earn money for college.

In 1992 we just had a roadmap. Today, we have results.

Even more important, America again has the confidence to dream big dreams. But we must not let this confidence drift into complacency. For we, all of us, will be judged by the dreams and deeds we pass on to our children. And on that score, we will be held to a high standard, indeed, because our chance to do good is so great.