On October 31, 1971, I announced the establishment of the President's Environmental Merit Awards Program. The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commissioner of Education sent letters to high school principals inviting them to participate in this program by establishing local tripartite committees to supervise and direct local Environmental Merit Awards Programs, and to make awards to individual students or groups of students for significant environmental accomplishments by them. These committees were to be composed of students, faculty and interested members of the community. Today, more than 2,500 high schools, including schools in each of the 50 States, are actively involved in this program. In view of this encouraging response, I have concluded that I should establish a national committee to advise me of ways in which this program can be further expanded and enhanced and of other ways in which the environmental accomplishments of individuals and groups may be appropriately recognized. Now, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. (a) There is hereby established the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Merit Awards Program. The Committee shall be composed of a Chairman, to be designated by the President, and such members as the President may, from time to time, appoint. (b) The Committee shall advise the President and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency on ways in which the Environmental Merit Awards Program can be expanded and enhanced. The Committee shall select individuals or groups of individuals who deserve special recognition for their local environmental accomplishments and confer appropriate Environmental Merit Awards upon them on behalf of the President. The Committee shall perform such other related functions as the President may, from time to time, specify. SEC. 2. No member of the Committee shall receive compensation from the United States by reason of service as a member of the Committee but such members may be allowed such travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as may be authorized by law. SEC. 3. The Environmental Protection Agency shall provide, to the extent permitted by law, administrative support for the Committee and the Environmental Merit Awards Program. RICHARD NIXON The White House, April 19, 1972
Executive Order 11667 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.29)
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Executive Order 11667—Establishing the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Merit Awards Program
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (378 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
There is hereby established the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Merit Awards Program.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Richard Nixon on April 19, 1972, this order concerns Establishing the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Merit Awards Program. There is hereby established the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Merit Awards Program. The Committee shall be composed of a Chairman, to be designated by the President, and such members as the President may, from time to time, appoint.
Constitutional Assessment: Evaluated against the Fifth Amendment, this action touches upon property or economic rights. An early statesman would insist upon strict adherence to due process of law and the constitutional guarantee that private holdings shall not be encumbered or taken for public purposes without just compensation and lawful process.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
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There is hereby established the President's Advisory Committee on the Environmental Merit Awards Program.
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The Committee shall be composed of a Chairman, to be designated by the President, and such members as the President may, from time to time, appoint.
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The Committee shall advise the President and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency on ways in which the Environmental Merit Awards Program can be expanded and enhanced.
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The Committee shall select individuals or groups of individuals who deserve special recognition for their local environmental accomplishments and confer appropriate Environmental Merit Awards upon them on behalf of the President.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Branch Departments
🏛️ General Body of the People
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
§
"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)
Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.
Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The purse and the sword ought never to be in the same hands... nor the liberties of the citizen placed at the pleasure of a single magistrate." — Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788)
George Mason and the Anti-Federalists would sound a fierce warning. They feared that Article II would inevitably evolve into an elective monarchy. When an executive order impacts private rights, property, or civil liberties without individualized judicial process, Mason would see their darkest predictions verified.
Anti-Federalist Stance: High Bill of Rights Scrutiny
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
🛡️ High Constitutional Concordance
27 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Moderate Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Low Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.
Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
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Audit Synthesis
This order operates in close harmony with statutory authority and standard Article II supervisory execution.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
378
2,451 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
16.4
Post-Graduate Legal
Text size:
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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)
Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.
Gerald R. Ford • 1976-12-20
Gerald R. Ford • 1975-01-04
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Richard Nixon around this period.
EO 11668 Apr 21, 1972
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 11668—Providing for a National Center for Housing Management
📜 10th Amend: Intergovernmental Federalism Cooperation
Policy. The Nation's housing stock represents an important national resource which must be preserved and well managed if public and private investments are to be protected, and if we are to meet our goal of providing a decent home and suitable living environment for low and…
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EO 11666 Apr 11, 1972
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11666—Qualification for the Investment Credit on Certain Articles and Classes of Articles of Predominantly Foreign Origin
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Section 48 (a) (7) (A) shall not apply to an acquisition by the taxpayer of: (a) Any article the unit cost of which to the taxpayer is not in excess of $500; or (b) Agricultural implements, machinery, and equipment which are determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be…
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11665 Apr 10, 1972
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11665—James F. Byrnes
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 4 of Proclamation 3044 of March 1, 1954, as amended, that until interment the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all buildings, grounds and naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and…
Richard Nixon College Level • 1m
EO 11669 May 2, 1972
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11669—J. Edgar Hoover
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 4 of Proclamation 3044 of March 1, 1954, as amended, that until interment the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all buildings, grounds and naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and…
Richard Nixon College Level • 1m
EO 11664 Mar 31, 1972
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11664—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate a Dispute Between the Penn Central Transportation Company and Certain of Its Employees
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby create a Board of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate this dispute. No member of the Board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier.
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
EO 11663 Mar 31, 1972
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 11663—Creating an Emergency Board to Investigate Disputes Between the Carriers Represented by the National Railway Labor Conference and Certain of Their Employees
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
I hereby create a board, of three members, to be appointed by me, to investigate these disputes. No member of the board shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier.
Richard Nixon Post-Graduate Legal • 1m
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Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 11,667 (Apr. 19, 1972), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11667-establishing-the-presidents-advisory-committee-the-environmental.
