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SCIENCE CZAR FOR EPA? New position for overseeing science and technology considered for the agency
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oes the Environmental Protection Agency need a single official overseeing all of the agency's science and technology efforts? EPA thinks the idea, proposed by the National Research Council, is a good one. A congressional subcommittee explored this issue at a hearing earlier this month. And now a member of the House of Representatives is drafting legislation that would officially establish the position of EPA deputy administrator for science and technology. The person holding the job would report directly to the agency's administrator, who is EPAs commander-in-chief. Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (RMich.) tells C&EN that he intends by September to introduce a bill creating the post Ehlers says he hopes to garner support from both Republicans and Democrats for the measure because improving science at EPA "is not a partisan issue." Ehlers says his planned legislation would implement at least some of the recommendations in an NRC report that was released in June (C&EN, June 19, page 22). The report recommends creating a position of EPA deputy administrator for science and technology. The job title and position of the current deputy administrator, now the second-in-command at the agency, could be transformed into deputy administrator for policy and management, the report says. "The lack of a top science official is a formula for weak scientific performance in the agency and poor scientific credibility outside the agency," according to David Morrison, who testified at the hearing held by the House Science Subcommittee on Energy & Environment Morrison is a member of the NRC panel that prepared the report and adjunct professor at North Carolina State University. EPA has never had an official below the level of administrator who has had overall
responsibility or authority for scientific and technical bases for agency decisions, Morrison noted. Plus, he said, "administrators of EPA have typically been trained in law, not science." The most se-
Ehlers (left) and Calvert
nior science official at EPA generally is the assistant administrator for research and development However, this position lacks agencywide authority and responsibility for science at EPA Although the agency's Office of Research & Development (ORD) carries out many investiga-
tions, EPAs program offices—the parts of the agency that issue regulations— also conduct scientific research. Program offices are not required to follow scientific advice provided by ORD. In a letter sent to several members of Congress earlier this month, EPA Acting Deputy Administrator W. Michael McCabe generally endorsed the recommendations in the NRC report, including the proposal for a deputy administrator for science and technology. "A top science official with the authority to coordinate and oversee scientific activities throughout the agency would help coordinate among EPAs diverse programs and help strengthen EPAs overall scientific performance," McCabe's letter says. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chairman of the Energy & Environment Subcommittee, said at the hearing that he agrees with many findings in the NRC report. However, Calvert said he does not believe the proposed changes are enough to ensure that science drives regulatory policy at EPA "I will personally continue the fight to remove politicsfromenvironmental research," Calvert said. He explained that he wants "to create a separate environmental science agency responsible to EPA and other federal clients." But he acknowledged, "This is certainly a controversial position." EPA officials were not invited to testify at the hearing. Cheryl Hogue
Court Ruling Kills Railroad Merger Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNSF) and Canadian National Railway (CN) have canceled their proposed merger following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that upholds the Surface Transportation Board's (STB) 15-month moratorium on railroad mergers. The decision meant that BNSF and CN would have had to wait nearly a year tofiletheir application to merge into the largest railroad in North America. "We have concluded that it is not in the interests of our shareholders to assume the risks involved in waiting up to two and a half years for a decision on our transaction by a regulator in the U.S.," said Paul M. Tellier, president and chief executive
officer of CN, and Robert D. Krebs, chairman and CEO of BNSF, in a statement The companies added that they will work together to capture some of the $800 million in annual synergies that they were targeting for the merged railroad. STB imposed the moratorium in March, not just to delay the BNSF and CN transaction, but also to give itself time to revise the standards it has used when reviewing merger proposals. The moratorium stemsfromthe aftermath of a number of recent railroad mergers, namely, severely disrupted rail trafficflowand less railroad competition. Furthermore, STB feared that a CN-BNSF merger would spur one final round of rail mergers, leaving North America with only two major carriers. JULY 24,2000 C&EN
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The railroads, along with the Western Coal Traffic League (WCTL), challenged STB's moratorium on the grounds that Congress never gave STB the legal authority to take such an action. BNSF, CN, and WCTL argued that STB's 15-month pause on rail consolidation violated a strict timetable, set by Congress, for the STB review of proposed railroad mergers. But in deciding for STB, the court ruled that the moratorium was consistent with the broader intent of Congress. STB must consider mergers expeditiously, the court said, but STB is also charged with taking into account the effect of mergers on the adequacy of transportation for the public and on competition among the railroads.
| The American Chemin istry Council (ACC), forz merly the Chemical Manufacturers Association, had opposed the proposed BNSF-CN merger and is pleased with the courfs decision. 'The upholding of the moratorium on rail mergers only reinforces the need to further deregulate the railroad industry to ensure competition,,, says ACC President and CEO Frederick L Webber. Webber has repeatedly called for STB to require merged railroads to offer customers access to more than one carrier. 'The business of chemistry and other industries that rely on railroads will continue to suffer competitive harm if current merger rules remain," he adds. Alex Tullo
High-Tech Workforce Needs Women, Minorities To sustain U.S. global economic power, include more women, underrepresented leaders in industry, government, and ac- minorities, and persons with disabilities; ademe must act now to reverse the and enhance the nation's economic cadwindling numbers of women and mi- pacity and technological growth." norities who seek educations and caThe 11-member Morella Commission reers in science and technology, says a was established in 1998 after enactment new report on the U.S. high-tech work- of legislation introduced by Rep. Conforce. The report was delivered to Capi- stance A Morella (R-Md.) and Rep. Zoe tol Hill this month by the federal Com- Loigren (D-Calif.). Commissioners were mission on the Advancement of Women appointed by President Bill Clinton, & Minorities in Science, Engineering & members of Congress, and members of Technology Development. the National Governors' Association. The report—like many others before "Bright kids from poor families are it—details an alarming lack of participa- not given access to science and math tion in the science and technology work- education," Lofgren said at a press briefforce by women and minorities. For ex- ing on the commission's recommendaample, it points out that, in 1997, women tions. "I think that's an outrage. Half the earned just 37% of all science and engi- country is women, and they are not repneering degrees, and blacks and His- resented in science." panics made up just 3% of the science and technology workforce. The commission, which is housed at the National Science Foundation (NSF), recommends specific programs that will "advance the full and equitable participation of all Americans in SET [science, engineering, and technology] education; increase the number of qualified American scientists and engineers by ex- Morella speaks at press conference unveiling high-tech panding the talent pool to workforce report recommendations. 10
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"It is time to reinvest in people," Morella commented. "People are our best resource, and we must invest in them totally." The commission's action-oriented recommendations, according to many commission members, stress the need for vastly improved precollege math and science education. "We must create a strong SET education pipeline," said commission Chair Elaine Mendoza, president and chief executive officer of Conceptual Mindworks, San Antonio, and that pipeline requires "adoption and implementation of comprehensive highquality education standards at the state level." The press briefing—followed by a House Science Committee hearing— was attended by many high-profile scientists, including Neal F. Lane, director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy; NSF Director Rita R. Colwell; and Ruth L. Kirschstein, acting director of the National Institutes of Health. A copy of the full report will be available at the end of August at http:// www.nsf.gov/od/cawmset/. William Schulz
First Acrylic Acid Unit Slated For Brazil The race to become South America's first large-scale producer of acrylic acid may have a winner: BASF. The company announced last week that it has signed an agreement with Brazil's state-owned oil and gas company, Petrobras, to study construction of a $300 million acrylic acid plant that would have capacity of 160,000 metric tons per year. Depending on the results of the study, the plant could be onstream by the end of 2003, also making derivatives such as glacial acrylic acid, acrylate esters, and superabsorbent polymers. It will be built either at Petrobras' Sâo José dos Campos refinery or at an existing BASF site in Guaratinguetâ, where the company is constructing a butyl acrylate plant. Petrobras' decision to partner with BASF is a blow to two other parties that were vying to build the continent's first big acrylic acid plant Oxiteno, a unit of Brazil's Ultrapar, had licensed Mitsubishi Chemical technology for a plant it wanted to build at the Sâo José dos Campos refinery. And the StoHaas acrylic acid manu-
