Statement on Signing Executive Order 12088 - Federal Compliance With Pollution Control Standards

I am pleased to sign this Executive order, which will ensure that Federal facilities and Federal activities live up to the spirit and the letter of the Nation's environmental protection laws. This administration is committed to the goals of achieving and maintaining a clean environment. The Federal Government itself should be the leader in that effort, and this order will help establish that leadership.

I am confident that the Congress will support this action. Over 100 Members of the House of Representatives have written to me expressing their concern with the Federal Government's laggard efforts in the past, and Representatives Paul Rogers and Timothy Wirth deserve particular credit for their continuing attention to this problem.

From now on, all Federal facilities must comply with the same Federal, State, and local environmental standards, procedural requirements, and schedules for cleanup that apply to individual citizens and corporations. I personally will review requests for exemptions, and I will grant them only in cases where I find that national security or the paramount interest of the Nation is at stake. I have ordered that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget attempt to resolve any conflicts that may arise between Federal agencies and other units of government.

For the fiscal year which is now beginning, the Federal Government will spend over $484 million to correct problems at facilities that are currently in violation of pollution laws and to prevent future violations from occurring at other facilities.