U.S. ENERGY RESOURCES COUNCIL RECORDS, 1974-76

LIST OF COUNCIL MEMBERS

Members mandated by law

• Secretary of Interior*
• Secretary of State*
• Director, Office of Management and Budget*
• Administrator, Federal Energy Administration*
• Administrator, Energy Research and Development Administration*

Members by presidential appointment

• Attorney General
• Secretary of Agriculture
• Secretary of Commerce*
• Secretary of Defense
• Secretary of Health, Education, Welfare
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Secretary of Labor
• Secretary of Transportation
• Secretary of Treasury*
• Director, National Science Foundation
• Executive Director, Domestic Council
• Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (temporary)
• Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers*
• Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality
• Chairman, Federal Power Commission
• Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
• Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency*
• Administrator, General Services Administration
• Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs*
• Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs*
• Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs
• Counsellor to the President, Rogers C.B. Morton

* Asterisk denotes executive committee membership

INTRODUCTION

The Energy Resources Council (hereafter ERC) was established under PL 93‑438, the Energy Reorganization Act signed October 11, 1974. As a high level interagency body within the Executive Office of the President, the ERC was charged with insuring "communication and coordination among the agencies of the Federal Government which have responsibilities for the development and implementation of energy policy or for the management of energy resources." The statute further charged the ERC with making pertinent recommendations to the President and Congress, and with assisting the President in the preparation of the energy reorganization recommendations required elsewhere in the law. These recommendations concerned the advisability of establishing a Department of Energy and Natural Resources, and Energy Policy Council, and a consolidation of regulatory functions concerning energy.

The law authorized the ERC on an interim basis only, pending creation of a Department of Energy and Natural Resources. Other provisions of the law abolished the Atomic Energy Commission and created the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration.

The ERC was immediately activated by executive order 11814, in which President Ford specified that the ERC would "develop a single national energy policy and program." EO 11814 also expanded ERC membership beyond that required by law. Membership was again expanded by EO 11855 in May 1975 and by amendments to the executive orders.

Eventually, the ERC included all cabinet officers and various agency heads, office heads and presidential assistants (see attached list). Most business, however, was conducted through an executive committee. Rogers C.B. Morton, Secretary of the Interior, later Secretary of Commerce, served as chairman. He was succeeded in March 1976 by Elliot Richardson, Secretary of Commerce. Federal Energy Administration head Frank Zarb served as executive director, a post which made him an ex officio member of the Domestic Council under a February 24, 1975 presidential order.

The ERC had no staff of its own but relied instead upon members for support. A member agency, for example, would be designated "lead" agency on a certain problem, responsible for handling it while the ERC monitored progress and ensured that proper coordination with other interested agencies was taking place. In many instances, member agencies individually or jointly staffed special task forces to examine areas of concern such as commercialization of synthetic fuels or long range motor vehicle goals.

The focus of the ERC coordinating process was the weekly to bi‑ weekly meetings of the executive committee, which considered programs, options, and problems on such matters as: uranium reserves, nuclear power plant licensing, importation of liquified natural gas, surface mining legislation, coal conversion, gasoline marketing and rationing, synthetic fuel development, natural gas supplies, Alaska pipeline construction, International Energy Administration negotiations, and off‑shore drilling and leasing. The executive committee occasionally met jointly with the President's Economic Policy Board, which was established by executive order in September 1974 "to serve as the focal point for economic policy decisionmaking." The ERC kept the President informed of its activities and the status of his energy program through a Bi‑weekly Progress Report which summarized pertinent legislative, economic and international developments.

The ERC collection relates primarily to executive committee meetings and includes agenda notices, meeting minutes and summaries, and related background and option papers prepared by member agencies. Also included are miscellaneous memoranda on energy topics and a few draft reports reflecting some of the work of ERC task forces. Documentation relating to many activities, including task force undertakings and the Bi‑weekly Progress Report, is unfortunately sparse or non‑existent. The ERC had no formal recordkeeping system and full documentation of its activities is dispersed among the records of member agencies and departments.