Radiation Protection Program Announcement of New Initiatives.

The President has signed an Executive order creating a Radiation Policy Council and has directed the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to establish an Interagency Radiation Research Committee. These actions implement decisions announced by the President on October 23, 1979, designed to improve the Federal Government's policies and programs related to radiation protection.

The Radiation Policy Council will coordinate the Federal programs to reduce exposures to radiation from all sources, including medical and dental exposures, will be responsible for resolving conflicts in jurisdiction among Federal agencies, and will recommend corrective legislation when needed. The Council will be responsible for liaison with the States and the Congress. It will also serve as a forum for public participation and comment and will stimulate information programs for the public and the media.

Douglas M. Costle, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will chair the Radiation Policy Council. Other members will be high officials of the Departments of Defense, Justice, Commerce, Labor, HEW, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Energy, also the Veterans Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Nuclear Regulatory. Commission has been invited to participate.

The Interagency Radiation Research Committee will supersede an active, congressionally mandated committee, which has already reviewed various federally supported studies. The Committee will prepare an annual report on Federal research activities for use in the President's budget request.

The President's budget request for FY 1981 includes $111.5 million for research on the biological effects of ionizing radiation, work supported by 15 agencies or departments. The budget is the result of a cross-agency review conducted by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the President's direction. This budget will assure a sound research program on the long-term health effects of low-level radiation and appropriate roles for the major agencies involved.

Today's actions complement the President's announcements on December 7, 1979, of his response to the recommendations of the Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, and on February 12, 1980, of his comprehensive program for management of radioactive wastes. These actions, taken together, substantially enhance the coordination of the Federal Government's varied activities related to radiation. These actions will improve the protection of the American people from unnecessary exposures to medical, occupational, and environmental sources of radiation and increase their understanding of radiation uses and radiation hazards.