Archive
Title: Presidential Memorandum, Env. Practices on Fed.Grounds
Author: The White House
Date: April 26, 1994
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 26, 1994
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Environmentally and Economically Beneficial
Practices on Federal Landscaped Grounds
The report of the National Performance Review contains
recommendations for a series of environmental actions, including one
to increase environmentally and economically beneficial landscaping
practices at Federal facilities and federally funded projects.
Environmentally beneficial landscaping entails utilizing techniques
that complement and enhance the local environment and seek to
minimize the adverse effects that the landscaping will have on it.
In particular, this means using regionally native plants and
employing landscaping practices and technologies that conserves water
and prevent pollution.
These landscaping practices should benefit the environment, as well
as generate long-term cost savings for the Federal Government. For
example, the use of native plants not only protects our natural
heritage and provides wildlife habitat, but also can reduce
fertilizer, pesticide, and irrigation demands and their associated
costs because native plants are suited to the local environment and
climate.
Because the Federal Government owns and landscapes large areas of
land, our stewardship presents a unique opportunity to provide
leadership in this area and to develop practical and cost- effective
methods to preserve and protect that which has been entrusted to us.
Therefore, for Federal grounds, Federal projects, and federally
funded projects, I direct that agencies shall, where cost-effective
and to the extent practicable:
- use regionally native plants for landscaping;
- design, use, or promote construction practices that minimize
adverse effects on the natural habitat;
- seek to prevent pollution by, among other things, reducing
fertilizer and pesticide use, using integrated pest management
techniques, recycling green waste, and minimize runoff. Landscaping
practices that reduce the use of toxic chemicals provide one approach
for agencies to reach reduction goals established in Executive Order
No. 12856, "Federal Compliance with Right-To-Know Laws and Pollution
Prevention Requirements;"
- implem ent water-efficient practices, such as the use of
mulches, effective irrigation systems, audits to determine exact
landscaping water-use needs, and recycled or reclai med water and the
selecting and siting of plants in a manner that conserves water and
controls soil erosion. Landscaping practices, such as planting
regionally native shade trees around buildings to reduce air
conditioning demands, can also provide innovative measures to meet
the energy consumption reduction goal established in Executive Order
No. 12902, "Energy Efficient and Water Conservation ar Federal
Facilities;" and
- create outdoor de monstrations incorporating native plants,
as well as pollution prevention and water conservation techniques, to
promote awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of
implementing this directive. Agencies are encouraged to develop
other methods for sharing information on landscaping advances with
interested nonfederal parties.
In order to assist agencies in implementing this directive, the
Federal Environmental Executive shall:
- establish an interagency working group to develop
recommendations for guidance, including compliance with the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C.
4321, 4331-4335, and 4341-4347, and training needs to implement this
directive. The recommendations are to be developed by November 1994;
and
- issue the guidance by April 1995. To the extent
practicable, agencies shall incorporate this guidance into their
landscaping programs and practices by February 1996.
In addition, the Federal Environmental Executive shall establish
annual awards to recognize outstanding landscaping efforts of
agencies and individual employees. Agencies are encouraged to
recognize exceptional performances in the implementation of this
directive through their awards programs.
Agencies shall advise the Federal Environmental Executive by April
1996 on their progress in implementing this directive.
To enhance landscaping options and awareness, the Department of
Agriculture shall conduct research on the suitability, propagation,
and use of native plants for landscaping. The Department shall make
available to agencies and the public the results of this research.
William J.Clinton
