Government Universities don't appear to be of highly qualified professors and facing the same difficulties as multi- researchers to fill our short-term national companies, at least not yet, needs is the pool of recent foreign according to Martha A. Cotter, exec- Ph.D. graduates of American uniutive officer for graduate programs versities." If such graduates aren't in chemistry at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, who also testified on behalf of the American Association of University Professors. "Current immigration law and The chemical industry should have procedures are quite annoying in a goal of "zero accidents" even several r e s p e c t s , " Cotter says. though it realizes that that cannot be Among the annoyances she cites: guaranteed, says the American Insti• Obtaining permanent resident tute of Chemical Engineers in a restatus is a slow, cumbersome process cently prepared report on chemical that is expensive in terms of re- process safety. To work toward this quired paperwork and can be quite zero-accident goal, the report pronerve-racking for the foreign pro- poses a broad-based, cooperative effessor in question. fort that would take into account the • Labor certification now takes diversity of chemical safety issues, anywhere from five to 18 months, yet force consistent improvements and it takes another several months in industrial process safety. to obtain permanent residence. The report, prepared by a special • The immigration system does AIChE steering committee, analyzes not in any way consider the quality the problems with process manageof the academic credentials of appli- ment. It is geared primarily to govcants for F-l (student) visas. ernment officials involved in the Still, Cotter says current law and development and implementation procedures "have not, in our experi- of legislation and regulations affectence, constituted insurmountable ing the chemical industry. It argues barriers to hiring faculty members in favor of the use of many hazardand postdoctoral researchers or to ous chemicals as being necessary "to recruiting high-quality graduate stu- meet the consumer demands of our dents." However, she does not think society and to maintain our high "that this will continue to be the standard of living." One of the big case if the number of alien research- problems the report notes is in ers offered positions in American changing the nearly complete lack universities and laboratories increas- of trust that exists among the parties es rapidly as I think they must over involved. Members of the public the next several years." Cotter ex- don't trust the chemical industry. presses concern that immigration law Legislators believe the industry is changes embodied in H.R. 4300 be- fraught with conflicts of interest. ing considered by the House Judicia- The industry is concerned about bery Committee might make it more ing overburdened with bureaucratic difficult, rather than easier, for uni- requirements that waste resources or versities and research laboratories to place U.S. companies at a competihire "the best and brightest young tive disadvantage in international scientists available in the world . . . markets without really improving regardless of country of origin." safety. For example, Cotter says although In looking at the technical aspects AAUP applauds establishment of a of chemical process safety, the enginew category of priority workers neers say that, over time, the balcalled "outstanding professors and ance point that society has set beresearchers," it is concerned that ad- tween risk and benefit has grown mission to the U.S. under the cate- fuzzy as risk levels have been sucgory might be restricted to estab- cessfully lowered. So a key problished academic or research "stars" lem—one that has been noted befrom abroad. "We will not solve our fore in many other risk problems— scientific manpower problems," she is determining how safe is safe. says, "by luring a few big-name forAIChE claims that the principles eign scientists and engineers to the of inherent safety are widely used in U.S. Rather, a more practical source designing new hazardous chemical
Combined effort urged
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August 20, 1990 C&EN
included in the new admission category, Cotter says it will be of very limited help to most science and engineering departments. Janice Long
perfect process safety facilities. Consideration of ideas such as using less hazardous alternative chemicals, or operating at lower pressures or temperatures are being applied to existing plants as well. The chemical industry has taken steps to try to assure the public and government it is working hard to i m p r o v e its safety p r o c e d u r e s . AIChE has developed a Center for Chemical Process Safety, the Chemical Manufacturers Association has initiated major programs such as Responsible Care to improve responsiveness, and the American Petroleum Institute has published "Management of Process Hazards" for the oil and gas industry. The report concludes that the best way to meet public expectations and regain trust is to form teams between government and industry that function both openly and cooperatively. The government does not have the resources or expertise to do it alone, and the process industry doesn't have the credibility. AIChE recommends the formation of highlevel working groups that would explore the issues raised as well as others, and consider solutions to the current problems. "Cooperation and networking at broad national, regional, and local levels to facilitate process safety information will be key to successful new initiatives," the report says. David Hanson
Chemical industry opposes fossil fuels tax During Congress' attempts to reduce the huge federal budget deficit, the use of new taxes is being increasingly discussed. Among the variety of taxes being eyed, one getting some serious attention is a tax on U.S. fossil fuels consumption. Because of the nature of this tax, it has come under fire by the chemical industry, which
