NEWS OF THE WEEK
BY THE NUMBERS
FIXING REGULATIONS
Review of regulations yields changes:
GOVERNMENT: Moves will save $10 billion in five years, Obama Administration says
More than
500
regulatory reforms planned goverment-wide More than
100
at the Department of Transportation
77
at the Department of Health & Human Services
36
at the Environmental Protection Agency SOURCE: White House Office of Management & Budget
OVERNMENT-WIDE EFFORTS to eliminate and streamline regulations are being touted by the White House as a means to save the U.S. economy $10 billion over the next five years. The plans, unveiled on Aug. 23, come in response to a directive from President Barack Obama earlier this year. The President ordered federal agencies to comb through regulations, weed out those that are outdated, and revamp others to promote economic growth and job creation (C&EN, Jan. 24, page 10). Cass R. Sunstein, Obama’s regulatory gatekeeper in the Office of Management & Budget, told reporters at a briefing that agencies already have made or are close to implementing changes that will save $4 billion over the next five years. Efforts under way to make other changes will save another $6 billion over the same period, he said. Some of these moves will affect the chemical enterprise. For instance, the Occupational Safety & Health
G
GENOMATICA TO GO PUBLIC BIOBASED CHEMICALS: Initial public
offering plan follows partnership and new product announcements
B
IOBASED CHEMICALS firm Genomatica has
filed for an initial public offering of stock worth up to $100 million. The move follows successful public launches of biobased chemicals companies including Amyris, Gevo, and Solazyme. California-based Genomatica’s first product is butanediol (BDO), a feedstock for polyurethanes and spandex. The firm’s BDO is derived from sugar, which is fed to an engineered strain of Escherichia coli. On the basis of demonstration-scale tests with sugar processor Tate & Lyle, Genomatica says it can produce the intermediate at lower cost than petroleum-based processes. The Aug. 23 IPO disclosure came just days after Genomatica announced a joint venture with Italian plastics maker Novamont to commercially produce BDO in Italy. The venture includes a 40 millionPR NEWSWIRE
Genomatica’s engineered microbes produce butanediol from sugar.
WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
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Administration says its proposal to implement the United Nations system for managing chemicals will save employers millions by reducing steps needed in worker training and in labeling of chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency intends to switch from paper to electronic reporting of health and safety data for commercial substances and pesticides to reduce company costs. EPA will also evaluate why and by how much its cost estimates for regulations, calculated before rules are issued, differ from actual costs. The results could broadly affect rule-making at the agency. The Food & Drug Administration plans to modernize its Good Manufacturing Practices for pharmaceuticals and foods. The changes will not directly cut costs but will provide public health benefits, the agency says. Reaction to the plans was mixed. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sees the White House’s effort as “worthy,” but it “will not have a material impact on the real regulatory burdens facing businesses today,” says William L. Kovacs, vice president of the business organization. But Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, an activist group supporting tighter health and safety protections, says the Administration’s emphasis on unneeded rules only serves to support the Chamber of Commerce’s erroneous supposition that regulations damage the economy and impede job growth.—CHERYL HOGUE
lb-per-year plant slated to open by the end of 2012. Novamont will use the intermediate chemical to make its compostable Mater-Bi plastic. The partners plan to build the BDO facility on an existing industrial site and share in the earnings. Novamont CEO Catia Bastioli says the scale-up of Genomatica’s process will support her firm’s strategy of reviving former industrial locations through the construction of biorefineries. Bioplastics demand has shot up in Italy since the country banned single-use, nonbiodegradable shopping bags on Jan. 1. Genomatica expects its second product will be butadiene, which is used to make synthetic rubber, engineering polymers, and latex. The firm says it has produced pound quantities of butadiene from renewable feedstocks. The company points out that butadiene is commonly obtained as a by-product of ethylene plants but that those operations are increasingly consuming lighter feedstocks derived from natural gas, rather than oil, resulting in decreased butadiene output. Andrew Soare, a cleantech analyst at Lux Research, predicts that Genomatica stock will be popular with investors. “It is one of the stronger companies in this field,” he says. “We’ve seen a definite shift by investors to chemicals from biofuels.” Although Soare believes the firm’s low-cost claims require a leap of faith for investors, he says its strong platform chemicals and its progress with partnerships suggest a solid cost structure.— MELODY BOMGARDNER
AUGUST 2 9, 20 1 1
