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February 12. 1993 

 Hon. John Glenn 

 United States Senate 

 Washington, DC 20510 



Dear Senator Glenn: We write to express our strong support for elevating the U.S. 

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Cabinet level and we commend you 

 for your dedication to this important issue. 



As you know, we have all previously supported legislation to elevate EPA. Now, 

 we can offer not only our collective experience as previous EPA Administrators, but 

 four of us also spent the last 18 months participating on the National Commission 

 on the Environment, which Mr. Train chaired (Mr. Reilly could not participate be- 

 cause he was Administrator of EPA at the time). World Wildlife Fund convened this 

 bipartisan Commission in 1991 to review U.S. environmental policy and develop a 

 strategy to address the compelling environmental threats of the future. Our report. 

 Choosing a Sustainable Future, was released in December. Several copies are en- 

 closed with this letter. 



We would like to share with you the fruits of our experience and deliberation, 

 specifically relating to a Department of the Environment. The main theme of our 

 report is the importance of recognizing and addressing the basic interdependence of 

 environmental and other policies. It is our strong belief that once policy makers 

 identify areas of common concern with the environment and consider them up 

 front, new alliances can be forged, innovative approaches designed, and many prob- 

 lems avoided. There is no doubt that prevention of a problem is cheaper and more 

 effective than attempting to remedy one after the fact. 



Environmental regulation can never be more than a small part of achieving this 

 type of cross-sectoral policy integration. Pollution prevention and environmental im- 

 provement require a Department of the Environment that has a broader mission 

 and more diverse capabilities than the current EPA. Thus, one of the most impor- 

 tant recommendations of our Commission is: 



Congress and the President should create a Department of the Environment. A 

 principal function of the new department would be the formulation and over- 

 sight of the National Environmental Strategy, (p. 50) 



Congress should enact an organic statute that creates a Department of the Envi- 

 ronment with a clear mission. In our view, the efficacy of EPA has been diminished 

 by its lack of mandate. If the organic legislation creating a Department of the Envi- 

 ronment included a statement of purpose, the department would be better able to 

 set priorities and take actions to achieve them. One of the new department's prior- 

 ities should be to integrate environmental issues into other policy areas and pro- 

 mote sustainable development. Chapter 1 of our report describes what sustainable 

 development means in this context. We also believe that the new department should 

 develop a National Environmental Strategy. This strategy would be developed with 

 input from other departments, the White House Office on Environmental Policy, 

 the Congress, private businesses, and the public. It would be a critical tool for 

 moving the United States toward a sustainable development path. Its contents and 

 approval process could be prescribed in the department's organic legislation or it 

 could be developed by an expert panel or commission, or by the new department 

 with consultation. 



A Department of Environment must have the capability to gather and interpret 

 reliable statistical information. Reliable environmental statistics also will be essen- 

 tial components of a meaningful National Environmental Strategy. Long-range fore- 

 casting (and specific incremental and long term goals) and the ability to monitor 

 and evaluate environmental conditions are also priority functions for effective envi- 

 ronmental policy making. (See pages 108-111 of the report). 



