U.S. Energy Resources Council

U.S. ENERGY RESOURCES COUNCIL

Records, 1974-76

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

QUANTITY

2 linear feet (ca. 4,000 pages)

DONOR

Gerald R. Ford (accession number 78-33)

ACCESS

Open. Some items are temporarily restricted under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request, or under National Archives and Records Administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT

Gerald Ford has donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain.

Prepared by David Horrocks, August 1979

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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.

ERC 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

Series Descriptions

1‑4 Energy Resources Council Meeting File, 1974-76. (1.7 linear feet)

Meeting agendas, summaries, minutes; and, in support of agenda topics, legislative analyses, option papers, background papers, and related memoranda. The material concerns some full membership meetings, but primarily relates to executive committee meetings.

Arranged chronologically by meeting date.

4‑5 Subject File, 1974-76. (0.3 linear feet)

Miscellaneous reports, draft reports and internal memoranda relating to some ERC energy concerns and task force activities.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Container List

Box 1 Energy Resources Council Meeting File

10/74-1/76

Box 2 Energy Resources Council Meeting File

2/76-7/14/76

Box 3 Energy Resources Council Meeting File

7/20/76-11/19/76

Box 4 Energy Resources Council Meeting File

11/23/76-12/76

Subject File

Conservation

Coal

FEA Overviews of Energy Conservation Contingency Plans

FEA Proposed Contingency Plans ‑ Management Strategy

FEA Proposed Energy Conservation Contingency Plans and Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Rationing Contingency Plan

Box 5 Subject File

Gasoline

International Energy Agency

Liquified Natural Gas

Miscellaneous

Motor Vehicles ‑ Task Force Report on Motor Vehicle Goals Beyond 1980

Naptha Jet Fuel

Natural Gas

Nuclear Power

Overview of Plan for Strategic Petroleum Reserve ‑ Draft

Oil Importation

Status of Energy Program, 1/76

Vertical Divestiture

Gerald R. Ford Library

1000 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2114