THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FACT SHEET

President Clinton Issues Executive Order to Protect Federal Employees from Environmental Tobacco Smoke August 9, 1997

President Clinton signed an executive order that will ban smoking in all federal Executive Branch facilities, except in limited circumstances. Today's action is an important step to protect the health of federal employees, and the members of the public who visit or use federal facilities, from the health risks of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).

Making Federal Facilities Smoke-Free

Federal agencies' smoking policies vary, and many must be strengthened to fully protect federal workers and visitors from ETS exposure. Over 15 federal agencies ban smoking indoors. But many agencies still allow smoking in areas where non-smokers and visitors may be exposed to ETS. The President's Executive Order:

• Prohibits smoking in interior space owned, rented, or leased by the Executive Branch of the federal government, such as office space and National Park Service visitors' centers, except in limited circumstances.
• Allows agencies to have indoor designated smoking areas that are enclosed and exhausted directly to the outside. Agency heads may not require workers to enter such areas during business hours while smoking is occurring.
• Prohibits smoking in front of building air intake ducts in outside areas under the federal government's control.
• Directs agency heads to evaluate the need to limit smoking at doorways and in courtyards.
• Requires heads of Executive Branch agencies to implement the order within one year, and encourages agencies to offer smoking cessation assistance to their workforce.

Implementing Strong, Science-Based Measures

Strong scientific evidence documents that exposure to ETS is a serious health risk:

• ETS is a known cause of lung cancer in healthy non-smokers, and is associated with increases in death rates from cardiovascular disease in non-smokers.
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that ETS is responsible for about 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in nonsmoking adults.
• Environmental tobacco smoke also threatens the health of hundreds of thousands of children with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
• In 1986, the Surgeon General found that simple separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same airspace may reduce but does not eliminate ETS exposure to nonsmokers.

Building on the President's Record

In August 1996, President Clinton announced a comprehensive Food and Drug Administration rule to protect children from tobacco. The regulation seeks to reduce children's tobacco use by 50% over seven years by restricting children's access to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and by reducing the products' appeal. Two provisions of the rule are already in effect:

• Retailers are prohibited from selling cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to anyone under age 18;
• Retailers must verify age by photo ID for anyone under the age of 27 purchasing these products.