E.O.13634
Reestablishment of Advisory Commission
·Barack Obama·77 FR 77249
E.O.13633
Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on Monday, December 24, 2012
·Barack Obama·77 FR 76339
Closes all executive branch departments and agencies on Monday, December 24, 2012, the day before Christmas, and excuses federal employees from duty, except where agency heads determine that certain offices or personnel must remain operating for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need. Treats that day as covered by Executive Order 11582 and related federal pay and leave statutes for purposes of employee compensation. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to take actions needed to carry out the order. States it will be implemented consistent with existing law and available funding, does not alter existing agency authority or the budgetary functions of the Office of Management and Budget, and does not create any enforceable legal rights.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13632
Establishing the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force
·Barack Obama·77 FR 74341
Establishes the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to coordinate federal, state, local, and tribal rebuilding efforts in areas hit by Hurricane Sandy and the following nor'easter. The Task Force includes representatives from numerous federal departments and agencies and works alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Disaster Recovery Framework to remove obstacles to resilient rebuilding, address housing, infrastructure, and economic recovery, and engage local officials and the public. The Chair may create an Advisory Group of elected state, local, and tribal officials to provide input. Within 180 days of first convening, the Task Force must produce a Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy covering its activities, a long-term rebuilding plan, specific goals and actions, and a monitoring plan; agencies must align programs with this Strategy where possible. The Task Force is to be supported administratively by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and will terminate 60 days after the Strategy's completion, after which FEMA and other agencies continue coordination duties.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13631
Reestablishment of Advisory Group
·Barack Obama·77 FR 74101
Reestablishes the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health, a body originally created by Executive Order 13544 and previously continued by Executive Order 13591. The order reappoints the same members who were serving on the Advisory Group as of September 30, 2012, treating it as though it had continued without interruption. The reestablished Advisory Group is set to terminate on September 30, 2013, unless the President extends it. The order also states it does not alter the legal authority of any federal department or agency, does not affect the budgetary or legislative functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and does not create any enforceable legal rights for any party against the United States or its officials.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13630
Establishment of an Interagency Task Force on Commercial Advocacy
·Barack Obama·77 FR 73893
Establishes an Interagency Task Force on Commercial Advocacy, chaired by the Secretary of Commerce, with senior officials from agencies including the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Energy, and Homeland Security, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Export-Import Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Small Business Administration, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. The task force is meant to support U.S. businesses competing for foreign government contracts. It is directed to prioritize commercial advocacy cases, coordinate senior officials' engagement with foreign counterparts, raise business awareness of advocacy services, share information on foreign procurement opportunities, arrange short-term staff exchanges of up to 120 days between Commerce and other member agencies, and submit progress reports to the Export Promotion Cabinet every 180 days. The Department of Commerce's Advocacy Center will manage related reporting, and Commerce will fund and administer the task force within existing appropriations. The order builds on the National Export Initiative created by Executive Order 13534.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13629
Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council
·Barack Obama·77 FR 66353
Establishes a White House Homeland Security Partnership Council to build local partnerships between the federal government and the private sector, nonprofits, foundations, and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments and law enforcement on homeland security issues. The Council is chaired by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and made up of field-office officials nominated by member agencies. A companion Steering Committee, with deputy-level representatives from nineteen listed departments and agencies including State, Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, and the FBI, sets the Council's scope, nomination criteria, and guidance. The Council is tasked with advising on partnership priorities, promoting collaboration, sharing best practices, conducting outreach, and holding an annual meeting, while the Steering Committee must report to the President on the Council's work within one year of member selection and annually afterward. Agencies must support the Council but cover their own costs, and the order does not alter existing legal authorities or create enforceable rights.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13628
Authorizing the Implementation of Certain Sanctions Set Forth in the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 and Additional Sanctions With Respect to Iran
·Barack Obama·77 FR 62139
Implements sanctions authorities from the Iran Sanctions Act, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act, and the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, building on the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to implement sanctions selected by the President or those officials against designated persons, including asset blocking, financial restrictions, import bans, and investment prohibitions. Authorizes blocking property of persons who transfer goods or technology enabling human rights abuses in Iran or who engage in censorship limiting Iranian citizens' free expression. Restricts foreign entities owned by U.S. persons from transactions with Iran's government, with penalties waived if divestment occurs by February 6, 2013. Authorizes the Secretary of State to sanction persons involved in past petroleum-related dealings with Iran. Suspends U.S. entry for aliens meeting specified criteria, prohibits related donations and evasion schemes, amends Executive Order 13622's wording, and directs all federal agencies to carry out its provisions.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13627
Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts
·Barack Obama·77 FR 60029
Directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, within 180 days and in consultation with several agencies, to amend federal contracting rules to strengthen prohibitions on trafficking in persons by federal contractors and subcontractors. It bars practices such as fraudulent recruitment, charging recruitment fees, confiscating workers' identity documents, and failing to pay return transportation for certain overseas workers. Contracts and subcontracts performed abroad valued over $500,000 must require contractors to maintain compliance plans covering employee awareness, reporting channels, recruitment and wage practices, housing standards, and subcontractor monitoring, plus annual certifications of compliance, with exceptions for commercially available off-the-shelf items. Within a year, the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons must help identify domestic industries at risk and prompt agencies to adopt safeguards. It also directs the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy to issue guidance and training for the federal acquisition workforce on preventing and addressing trafficking violations, and requires agencies to share risk-related information.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13626
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration
·Barack Obama·77 FR 56749
Terminates the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, created by Executive Order 13554 after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, no later than 60 days after the newly established Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, created under the RESTORE Act, begins its work. Executive Order 13554 is revoked once the Task Force ends. The order affirms the roles of the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund and the Gulf Restoration Council in developing a comprehensive Gulf Coast restoration plan, and directs federal members of the Council and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council to coordinate closely and avoid duplicating efforts. It designates the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of Agriculture as additional trustees for natural resource damage assessment related to the spill, and directs the EPA Administrator to revise the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan to reflect this. It clarifies that existing agency authorities and budgetary functions are unaffected and creates no enforceable legal rights.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13625
Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families
·Barack Obama·77 FR 54783
Directs the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, Education, and Homeland Security to expand mental health and suicide-prevention support for veterans, service members, and military families. Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand Veterans Crisis Line capacity by 50 percent by December 31, 2012, connect veterans in crisis to care within 24 hours, and hire 800 peer counselors by December 31, 2013, alongside a goal of 1,600 new mental health professionals by June 2013. Orders a joint Defense-Veterans Affairs suicide prevention campaign, at least 15 pilot projects partnering Veterans Affairs with community providers, and guidance promoting community and telehealth mental health services. Calls for a National Research Action Plan within eight months on PTSD and traumatic brain injury, and a longitudinal study aiming to enroll 100,000 service members by the end of 2012. Establishes an Interagency Task Force on Military and Veterans Mental Health, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, to recommend and review strategies, with an initial report due within 180 days and annual reviews thereafter.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13624
Accelerating Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency
·Barack Obama·77 FR 54779
Directs the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, coordinating with the National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council, Council on Environmental Quality, and Office of Science and Technology Policy, to work together and with states, manufacturers, utilities, and other stakeholders to encourage investment in industrial energy efficiency and combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Sets a national goal of deploying 40 gigawatts of new, cost-effective industrial CHP by the end of 2020. Instructs the agencies to hold public workshops to develop best-practice state policies and investment models, use existing authorities such as helping states account for CHP benefits in air quality plans, provide incentives like emissions allowance set-asides, grants, and loans, apply output-based compliance approaches in regulations, expand the Department of Energy's Better Buildings, Better Plants program, and offer technical, data, and financial guidance to states, utilities, and industrial facility owners. Agencies are told to consult the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as appropriate, and the order applies only within existing legal authority and available funding.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13623
Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls Globally
·Barack Obama·77 FR 49345
Establishes an Interagency Working Group to coordinate the U.S. Government's multi-year Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally. The group is co-chaired by the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, with representatives from the Departments of Treasury, Defense, Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, the Office of Management and Budget, National Security Staff, the Office of the Vice President, the Peace Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the White House Council on Women and Girls, among others. Within 120 days it must hold its first meeting to set implementation benchmarks and a review timetable; within 18 months it must produce a progress report; within 3 years a final evaluation; and within 180 days after that, an updated strategy. Member agencies are directed to coordinate efforts, integrate gender-based violence programming into existing foreign policy and assistance work, improve data collection and research, and expand relevant programming, subject to available funding.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13622
Authorizing Additional Sanctions With Respect to Iran
·Barack Obama·77 FR 45897
Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and building on the national emergency first declared in Executive Order 12957, this order expands sanctions related to Iran. It authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to restrict foreign financial institutions' access to U.S. correspondent accounts if they knowingly conduct significant transactions with the National Iranian Oil Company, Naftiran Intertrade Company, or involving Iranian petroleum or petrochemical purchases. It also authorizes the Secretary of State, with other agencies, to impose sanctions—such as export credit denial, loan and financial restrictions, asset blocking, and import bans—on persons who engage in such transactions or support Iran's central bank or oil sector. Exceptions apply for food, medicine, medical devices, and an Azerbaijan-to-Europe gas pipeline project. It bars evasion or conspiracy to violate its terms, waives advance notice for blocking actions, defines key terms, and directs agencies to implement these measures, which take effect July 31, 2012.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13621
White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans
·Barack Obama·77 FR 45471
Establishes the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, housed in the Department of Education and led by an Executive Director appointed by the Secretary of Education. The Initiative aims to improve educational outcomes for African Americans from early childhood through adulthood, addressing areas such as school readiness, special education referrals, dropout rates, teacher quality, college access, and career and technical education. Creates a Federal Interagency Working Group, chaired by the Executive Director, drawing senior officials from the Department of Education, Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, Defense, and other agencies the President may add. Also establishes a President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans, of up to 25 presidentially appointed members plus two members from the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to advise the President and Secretary and meet at least twice yearly. The Department of Education funds and administers both bodies within existing appropriations, and agency heads must provide information needed to support the Initiative's work.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13620
Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to Somalia
·Barack Obama·77 FR 43483
Amends Executive Order 13536, which declared a national emergency over the situation in Somalia, to expand the criteria for blocking the U.S. property of designated persons. Under the revised terms, the Treasury Department, in consultation with the State Department, may block assets of individuals or entities found to threaten Somalia's peace or political process, misappropriate public assets, obstruct humanitarian aid, supply arms, commit violence against civilians, recruit child soldiers, or trade in Somali charcoal, as well as those who support or are controlled by such persons. The order also bans importing charcoal from Somalia into the United States, prohibits transactions that evade or attempt to violate its terms, and bars conspiracies to do so. It directs federal agencies to take necessary actions to enforce these measures and took effect at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on July 20, 2012.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13619
Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Burma
·Barack Obama·77 FR 41243
Modifies the scope of the national emergency regarding Burma first declared in Executive Order 13047 and previously adjusted in Executive Order 13448. It blocks all U.S.-based property and interests of persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to have threatened Burma's political reform or peace process, committed or aided human rights abuses, engaged in arms trade with North Korea, or provided material support to such persons or entities. It bars U.S. persons from making contributions or donations to those blocked, suspends U.S. entry for individuals meeting these criteria, and amends wording in Executive Orders 13464 and 13448 concerning technological support. It exempts official U.S. government business, prohibits transactions that evade these restrictions, waives advance notice requirements for blocking actions, and directs the Treasury Secretary to issue implementing regulations, with other federal agencies instructed to assist in carrying out the order.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13618
Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions
·Barack Obama·77 FR 40779
Establishes a policy and organizational structure for maintaining national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications across the federal government. Creates an NS/EP Communications Executive Committee, co-chaired by representatives of the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, with members from State, Justice, Commerce, the Director of National Intelligence, the General Services Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission, to coordinate policy and planning. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to set up an Executive Committee Joint Program Office for support, and within 60 days to submit a plan to the President on the department's NS/EP communications organization. Assigns specific duties to the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce, the General Services Administration, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Federal Communications Commission, and sets general responsibilities for all federal agencies. Assigns the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy roles in advising the President and coordinating priorities. Revokes Executive Order 12472, amends Executive Order 12382, and states the order does not create enforceable rights.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13617
Blocking Property of the Government of the Russian Federation Relating to the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted From Nuclear Weapons
·Barack Obama·77 FR 38459
Declares a national emergency concerning the risk of nuclear proliferation from Russia's stockpile of weapons-usable fissile material, and blocks Russian government property in the United States that is directly related to implementation of a 1993 agreement between the United States and Russia on converting highly enriched uranium from nuclear weapons into low-enriched uranium for commercial reactor fuel. This blocking is meant to shield payments owed to Russia under that agreement from attachment, judgment, lien, or other legal process, and it voids any such judicial actions taken against the covered property unless authorized by license. It prohibits transactions that evade or attempt to violate these restrictions. It directs federal agencies to keep supporting full implementation of the underlying agreements and authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and Secretary of Energy, to issue regulations and licenses needed to carry out the order, and to report to Congress on the emergency.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13616
Accelerating Broadband Infrastructure Deployment
·Barack Obama·77 FR 36903
Establishes a Broadband Deployment on Federal Property Working Group, co-chaired by representatives from the General Services Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, to coordinate federal policies on broadband deployment across federal lands, buildings, rights of way, federally assisted highways, and tribal lands. Directs member agencies including Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and the Postal Service to develop consistent strategies for granting broadband access, publish clear information on requirements, and report progress within one year to the Steering Committee created under Executive Order 13604. Requires agencies to create uniform contract, application, and permit templates within one year to simplify access for broadband providers, and directs the General Services Administration to consult the Working Group when implementing related provisions of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Also directs the Department of Transportation to review and promote 'dig once' practices for installing broadband conduit during highway construction, work with state and local governments on related policies, and create an online platform for sharing rights-of-way information.Read the full summaryShow less
E.O.13615
Providing an Order of Succession Within the Office of Management and Budget
·Barack Obama·77 FR 31159