your tax dollars at work

The nanny state reaches the NIH grants process:

Seat Belt Use

Pursuant to EO 13043 (April 16, 1997), Increasing the Use of Seat Belts in the United States, NIH encourages grantees to adopt and enforce on-the-job seat belt policies and programs for their employees when operating vehicles, whether organizationally owned or rented or personally owned.

Smoke-Free Workplace

NIH strongly encourages grantees to provide smoke-free workplaces and to promote the nonuse of tobacco products. NIH defines the term “workplace” to mean office space (including private offices and other workspace), conference or meeting rooms, corridors, stairways, lobbies, rest rooms, cafeterias, and other public spaces.

I wonder if there is a formal bureaucratic distinction between “encourages” vs. “strongly encourages.”