Office of Science and Technology Policy
Executive orders directing the Office of Science and Technology Policy · 36 in Obama · 125 all terms.
Related departments
Orders
36 shown · Obama
Designation of Officers or Employees of the Office of Science and Technology Policy To Act as Director
This memorandum establishes a formal order of succession for the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director position, listing seven officials who would serve as acting Director in case of vacancy or incapacity. It revokes a 2009 Obama-era memorandum on the same topic and preserves presidential discretion to depart from the designated succession order.
Safeguarding the Nation From the Impacts of Invasive Species
This executive order updates and strengthens federal coordination on invasive species by amending Executive Order 13112. It maintains the National Invasive Species Council with expanded membership, adds new priorities including climate change and public health impacts, and mandates a new management plan with specific reporting requirements.
Advancing the Global Health Security Agenda To Achieve a World Safe and Secure From Infectious Disease Threats
This executive order institutionalizes U.S. participation in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), a multinational initiative to strengthen countries' abilities to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. It creates a new interagency council chaired by National Security Council staff, assigns specific roles to 13 agencies, and mandates reporting and external evaluation requirements through 2019.
Coordinating Efforts To Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events
This executive order establishes a coordinated federal framework to prepare for and mitigate space weather events such as solar flares and geomagnetic disturbances that threaten critical infrastructure including GPS, satellites, aviation, and the electrical power grid. It assigns specific roles to multiple agencies, creates a new NSTC subcommittee for coordination, and mandates several plans and assessments within 60-180 days to enhance forecasting, infrastructure protection, and emergency response capabilities.
Creating a National Strategic Computing Initiative
This executive order establishes the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI), a coordinated federal strategy to advance U.S. leadership in high-performance computing (HPC) through 2030. It designates lead agencies (DOE, DOD, NSF), foundational R&D agencies (IARPA, NIST), and deployment agencies to pursue exascale computing, post-semiconductor technologies, and public-private collaboration in HPC research and deployment.
Student Aid Bill of Rights To Help Ensure Affordable Loan Repayment
This memorandum directs multiple federal agencies to implement stronger consumer protections for the more than 40 million Americans with student loan debt. It establishes deadlines for creating a complaint system, improving loan servicing standards, protecting distressed borrowers including those with disabilities, and exploring regulatory changes to bankruptcy and consumer protection laws.
Enhancing Coordination of National Efforts in the Arctic
This executive order establishes an Arctic Executive Steering Committee to coordinate federal Arctic policy across agencies during the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council. It mandates improved interagency coordination, tribal consultation with Alaska Native governments, and a report identifying overlaps and gaps in Arctic policy implementation.
Creating Welcoming Communities and Fully Integrating Immigrants and Refugees
This memorandum establishes the White House Task Force on New Americans, co-chaired by the Director of the Domestic Policy Council and the Secretary of Homeland Security, to develop a coordinated federal strategy for integrating immigrants and refugees into American communities. The Task Force must submit an Integration Plan within 120 days and a status report within one year, with responsibilities including reviewing agency policies, disseminating best practices, and measuring equitable access to services.
Modernizing and Streamlining the U.S. Immigrant Visa System for the 21st Century
This November 2014 presidential memorandum directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to develop, within 120 days, recommendations for modernizing and streamlining the U.S. legal immigration and visa system. The recommendations must address reducing government costs, improving applicant services, reducing employer burdens, ensuring full use of congressionally authorized visa numbers, and modernizing IT infrastructure, with input from diverse stakeholders.
Improving the Security of Consumer Financial Transactions
This executive order mandates federal agencies adopt chip-and-PIN technology for government payment cards and terminals by early 2015, streamlines identity theft victim remediation through a centralized FTC website, and requires multi-factor authentication for federal digital services within 18 months.
Climate-Resilient International Development
This executive order requires federal agencies with international development programs to systematically integrate climate-resilience considerations into their strategies, planning, and funding decisions. It establishes a Working Group co-chaired by Treasury and USAID to develop guidelines, tools, and metrics, while also directing agencies to promote similar practices in multilateral development institutions.
Creating a Federal Strategy To Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators
This memorandum establishes the Pollinator Health Task Force co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and EPA Administrator, directing federal agencies to develop a National Pollinator Health Strategy within 180 days and take immediate steps to expand pollinator habitat on federal lands, revise landscaping guidance, assess pesticide impacts, and increase conservation program acreage for pollinators.
Creating and Expanding Ladders of Opportunity for Boys and Young Men of Color
President Obama established the My Brother's Keeper Task Force, an interagency initiative chaired by the Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary with the Deputy Secretary of Education as Executive Director, to improve life outcomes for boys and young men of color through better coordination of federal programs, data sharing, and public-private partnerships. The Task Force is directed to create assessment tools, evaluate federal policy impacts, and report back with recommendations within 90 days and a status report within one year.
Establishing a White House Task Force To Protect Students From Sexual Assault
President Obama established a White House Task Force co-chaired by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Council on Women and Girls to coordinate federal efforts addressing campus sexual assault. The Task Force must develop recommendations within 90 days and provide annual implementation reports, focusing on improving institutional compliance, transparency, and evidence-based prevention practices at colleges and universities receiving federal financial aid.
Establishing a Quadrennial Energy Review
This memorandum establishes a Quadrennial Energy Review Task Force co-chaired by the OSTP and Domestic Policy Council directors to produce a comprehensive energy policy review every four years, with the first report due January 31, 2015 focusing on U.S. energy infrastructure challenges. The Task Force includes representatives from 23 agencies and is directed to engage stakeholders and recommend executive and legislative actions.
Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change
This executive order directs federal agencies to integrate climate change preparedness and resilience into their operations, programs, and investments. It establishes a new interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, creates a State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force, mandates updated Agency Adaptation Plans, and requires modernization of federal programs to remove barriers to climate-resilient investment.
Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions
This executive order establishes a comprehensive framework for national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications, creating an interagency Executive Committee co-chaired by Defense and Homeland Security to coordinate survivable, resilient federal communications under all circumstances. It assigns specific responsibilities across multiple departments, revokes the prior Executive Order 12472 (1984), and mandates a 60-day organizational plan from Homeland Security.
Accelerating Broadband Infrastructure Deployment
This executive order establishes a federal working group and mandates coordinated procedures to accelerate broadband infrastructure deployment on federal lands, buildings, and rights of way, with special attention to tribal lands and underserved communities. It requires agencies to develop uniform contract templates, improve permitting efficiency, and implement 'dig once' policies for highway construction projects.
Supporting Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources
This executive order creates an interagency working group chaired by the Domestic Policy Council Director to coordinate federal agency efforts supporting safe and responsible development of unconventional domestic natural gas resources, such as shale gas. It aims to streamline policy coordination across 13+ agencies while maintaining environmental and public health safeguards.
National Defense Resources Preparedness
This executive order delegates authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to various cabinet secretaries for prioritizing and allocating resources (food, energy, health, transportation, water, and other materials) in support of national defense. It establishes frameworks for loan guarantees, industrial base expansion, voluntary agreements, a National Defense Executive Reserve, and labor coordination during emergencies, while revoking and replacing Executive Order 12919 from 1994.
Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
This executive order extends the lifespan of seven federal advisory committees until September 30, 2013, one committee until September 30, 2012, and amends the termination date of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability to January 29, 2013. It also delegates FACA compliance functions to agency heads rather than the President.
Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska
This executive order establishes an interagency working group led by the Department of the Interior to coordinate federal permitting and environmental review processes for oil and gas development in Alaska, both onshore and offshore. The group brings together deputy-level officials from multiple agencies to streamline decision-making while maintaining health, safety, and environmental standards.
Establishment of the White House Rural Council
This executive order creates the White House Rural Council, chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and comprising 25 federal agencies, to coordinate federal policy and investment in rural communities. The Council is tasked with streamlining federal spending, improving economic opportunities, and enhancing quality of life in rural America through better interagency collaboration.
Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service
This executive order requires federal agencies to develop Customer Service Plans within 180 days to streamline service delivery and improve public experience using technology, customer feedback mechanisms, and best practices from the private sector. It directs agencies to publish these plans online and designates OMB, GSA, and OSTP to provide implementation support.
Establishing the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force
This executive order creates an intergovernmental task force to coordinate restoration of Gulf Coast ecosystems damaged by the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and address long-term ecological decline. The Task Force includes federal agencies, five Gulf State representatives, and tribal representatives, and is charged with developing a regional restoration strategy within one year.
Establishing a Task Force on Skills for America's Future
This memorandum establishes an interagency Task Force on Skills for America's Future, co-chaired by the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and two White House policy assistants, to develop recommendations for improving workforce training partnerships between community colleges, businesses, labor unions, and other stakeholders. The Task Force is charged with identifying scalable approaches to career training, stackable credentials, and public-private partnerships, but has no dedicated funding or enforcement authority beyond voluntary agency coordination.
Designation of the National Science and Technology Council to Coordinate Certain Activities Under the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984
This memorandum assigns the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) responsibility for coordinating activities previously assigned to the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee under sections 107 and 108 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984. The Director of OSTP is directed to publish the memorandum in the Federal Register.
Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes
This executive order establishes a National Ocean Council to coordinate federal stewardship of oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes, implementing recommendations from the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. It creates a framework for coastal and marine spatial planning to manage competing uses of marine environments while promoting ecosystem-based conservation. The order directs executive agencies to align their decisions with national ocean policy priorities and to participate in regional planning processes.
Optimizing the Security of Biological Select Agents and Toxins in the United States
This executive order directs a risk-based overhaul of how the U.S. regulates dangerous biological agents and toxins (BSAT). It mandates creating a highest-risk "Tier 1" subset of pathogens, revising security regulations, coordinating federal oversight across multiple agencies, and establishing an advisory panel to guide implementation.
Task Force on Space Industry Workforce and Economic Development
President Obama established an interagency task force co-chaired by the Secretary of Commerce and NASA Administrator to develop an economic development action plan for Florida's Space Coast and other aerospace communities affected by the end of the Space Shuttle program. The task force must submit a comprehensive plan by August 15, 2010, recommending how to invest $40 million in transition assistance funding, and will terminate after 3 years unless extended.
Establishing an Interagency Task Force on Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses
This memorandum creates an Interagency Task Force on Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses, co-chaired by the Secretary of Commerce, OMB Director, and SBA Administrator. The Task Force must deliver proposals within 120 days to increase small business contracting, and a website for transparency must be developed within 90 days to track small business participation in federal procurement.
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
This executive order establishes the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a 21-member advisory body composed of the President's Science Advisor and 20 nonfederal experts, to advise the President on science, technology, and innovation policy. PCAST also assumes advisory roles under the High Performance Computing Act and the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, and will terminate automatically after two years unless extended.
Original Classification Authority
This presidential order designates specific Executive Office and agency officials with authority to originally classify information as 'Top Secret' or 'Secret' under Executive Order 13526 on classified national security information. It revokes prior classification designations while preserving certain delegations made under the previous executive order regime.
Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
This executive order continues 15 federal advisory committees for two years until September 30, 2011, superseding a prior Bush administration order. It also delegates presidential functions under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to the heads of designated departments and agencies.
Designation of Officers of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to Act as Director
This memorandum establishes the order of succession for acting Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), listing four Associate Directors in priority order. It revokes the prior Bush administration succession memorandum from December 11, 2002.
Scientific Integrity
This March 9, 2009 memorandum directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop within 120 days recommendations for ensuring scientific integrity across the executive branch. It establishes principles that political officials should not suppress scientific findings, that scientific information should ordinarily be public, and that science positions should be filled based on credentials rather than politics.