Renewing the Federal Commitment to Advance Children’s Health: The President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children

Eighteen years ago President William Clinton issued Executive Order 13045 calling for each federal agency to “ensure that its policies, programs, activities, and standards address disproportionate risks to children that result from environmental health risks or safety risks” (Clinton and Gore 1997). As part of this Executive Order, Clinton established the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children (U.S. EPA 2015a). Today the Task Force, which is cochaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), continues its collaborative work and met recently to renew the federal commitment to advance children’s health. The 14 October 2015 meeting was hosted by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Participants, who included representatives of 20 federal departments, agencies, and offices, reviewed the Task Force’s recent accomplishments and reiterated its important role in accomplishing the goals set out by the Executive Order: • identify priority risks and issues that can be addressed by interagency efforts; • develop strategies to protect children’s health; • recommend and implement interagency actions; and • communicate information to decision makers for use in protecting children’s environmental health and safety.