GOVERNMENT & POLICY
CONCENTRATES UCP NASA form research center The University of California and NASA announced on Sept.
22 the signing of a 10-year, $330 million contract to establish a University Affiliated Research Center. UARC will be managed by UC Santa Cruz and will be located at the NASA Ames Re search Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The center will include "re search and educational capabilities to meet NASAs mission re quirements and to develop I° °X future human resources in tech OTg|| Q. nology and science." According < ΙΛ to UC Santa Cruz, the center i< Ζ will focus initially on aerospace operations, nanotechnology, and information technology and computer science. "Typi cally, universities focus on fun damental research," Ames Cen ter Director G. Scott Hubbard said. But with the new UARC, "we are breaking down traditional institutional barriers to col laborate on mission-driven research that is on NASAs critical path." This is the first contract of its kind for NASA.
Science groups Draft papers on send UN cloning risks of metals statement available More than 60 scientific acad emies, including the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society have called on the United Nations to ban human reproductive cloning. At the same time, however, it calls for continuing to allow therapeu tic cloning research. In a state ment released on Sept. 22, the InterAcademy Panel argues that cloning for research and therapeutics has considerable scientific potential and should therefore be exemptfromaban on human cloning. The group also states that the policies for both should be reviewed peri odically "in light of scientific and social development." The statement will be presented to the UN Ad Hoc Committee on International Convention against Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings. The state ment is available online at http://www4.nationalacade mies.org/news.nsf/isbn/s09222 003b?OpenDocument. 18
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EPA last week released
draft papers on the often com plex scientific issues involved in assessing health and environ mentalrisksfrom metals. The five draft papers will contribute to EPAs development of risk assessment guidance for met als. That planned guidance will help the agency set national air and water quality standards, de termine whether and to what degree hazardous waste and Superfund sites need to be cleaned up, and determine whether chemicals should be added to the Toxics Release Inventory The papers, prepared primari ly by experts from outside the agency address bioavailability and bioaccumulation, human health effects, ecological ef fects, and environmental chem istry of metals, as well as as sessing exposure to them. EPA is seeking comments on the pa pers, which are available at http://cfpub.epagov/ncea/raf/re cordisplaycfm?deid=59052.
On-site energy generators face hurdles Without government direc tion, the benefits ofdistributed energy are unlikely to be real ized, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Of fice. Specifically CBO looked at combined heat and power (CHP) systems and found sig nificant benefits in terms of re liability due to on-site genera tion and in efficiency because of the systems' use of waste heat created when generating elec tricity Indeed, CHP is about 85% efficient, twice that ofcen tralized electric utilities. But CBO also found a confusing ar ray of federal, state, and local regulations and warned that greater use of CHP technolo gies is unlikely without funda mental changes inhowthese fa cilities interact with major utilities running the electrical grid. Among areas of concern are pricing for excess electricity that CHP facilities wish to sell to the grid and how such facili ties gain access to the grid. Chemical companies are the na-
tioris largest user of CHP sys tems, generating one-third ofall CHP-produced electricity The report is available at http://www cbo.gov
NIAID funds biodefense research NIH's National Institute of
Allergy & Infectious Diseases has named five cooperative Centers for Translational Re search on Human Immunology & Biodefense, which will focus on understanding the human immune response to potential bioterrorism agents and the development of countermeasures such as vaccines. NIAID awarded $85 million over fourand-one-half years to support research at Baylor Research In stitute, Dana-Farber Cancer In stitute, Emory University School of Medicine, Stanford University School ofMedicine, and the University of Massa chusetts Medical School. The program will create a network of biodefense research focused on the human immune system.
GOVERNMENT & POLICY ROUNDUP • All 11 members of the Aero space Safety Advisory Panel— set up in 1967 to act as an inde pendent body to advise NASAs administrator on safety issues— resigned on Sept. 22 to clear the way for NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to restructure the panel in light of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board findings. • A group of 750 NIH Extra mural Administrative Support Service employees won their first Circular A-76 competition—a competitive government out sourcing program initiated this year (C&EN July 28, page 11). The group provides technical
and secretarial support to physi cians and scientists who review and administer NIH grants. • Last week, Congress ap proved the first Department of Homeland Security spending bill, giving the new department $30.4 billion to spend in fiscal 2004. The bill provides a more than 60% increase for R&D. • Brent B. Stanfield has been
named acting director of the Center for Scientific Review at NIH, replacing Ellie Ehrenfeld, who will leave her post on Sept. 30 (C&EN, Sept. 15, page 15). Stanfield has served as deputy director at CSRsinceJuly 2000. HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
