National minerals policy aims at higher output The Administration finally has is sued its national minerals policy. Primary focus is on producing more minerals in the U.S. and on beefing up the stockpile of critical markets. To these ends, the policy, which is the result of a year-long effort by 20 departments and agencies, calls for fast surveys of federal lands to find out what minerals are there; accelerated review of federal lands that have been withdrawn from min eral activity and revocation of obso lete withdrawal orders; continuation of a rapid withdrawal review pro gram for Alaska lands; and a restruc turing of the strategic and critical materials stockpile by selling off ex cess items and bringing other mate rials up to their goals by purchases on the open market. In addition, the Administration says it will establish a panel to re view carefully the quality and form of materials currently stockpiled to determine if they are appropriate for current industrial use. Four of the policy's 33 pages are
devoted to the issue of materials R&D and they delineate an oftrepeated Administration theme— "government intervention in, and as sistance of, technological develop ment is appropriate only where mar ket forces are incapable of achieving clearly defined national objectives." Thus, to fulfill its appropriate role, the policy states that the Adminis tration will create a business and political climate that will encourage private sector R&D, stimulate con structive coordination between in dustry and government in the area of technological innovation, and focus government financed R&D ac tivities on long-term, high-risk tech nology with the best chance for wide generic application. In addition, the policy "reaffirms" the Committee on Materials (COMAT) under the direction of the Federal Coordinating Council on Sci ence, Engineering & Technology. It calls for establishing a working panel within COMAT to coordinate fed eral R&D on essential materials and establishment of a formal mechanism within COMAT for information ex change between agency materials R&D program managers. Π
EPA expands air quality emissions trading policy The Environmental Protection Agency I The new policy also spells out has expanded its old "bubble poli clearly how emission reductions in cy" into a wider-ranging, supposedly existing plants can be banked for more effective, emissions trading future use, lease, or sale by a com program designed to speed up at pany. Such emission trading banks tainment of national air quality already operate in Seattle, San Francisco, and Louisville. Seven standards and save money. The bubble policy began in 1979 more states are developing such and permitted air quality over a large banks, EPA says. The biggest criticism of the ex area, such as an entire plant, to be within the quality standards, rather pansion of this policy focuses on its than requiring that every valve, vent, permitting the use of bubbles in or stack individually meet the emis those areas that have not cleaned sions standards. The expanded pol up the air enough to meet the na icy, says EPA Administrator Anne tional quality standards. Environ M. Gorsuch, "unshackles the bub mental groups contend that this will ble and related trading steps, giving only permit dirty air to stay dirty industry much more flexibility to and that the nonattainment areas create surplus emissions reductions need stricter controls, not ways to at some stacks or vents and use them relax them. to meet costly requirements else EPA has approved 18 bubbles where." prior to this new policy, saving in Among other things, the new pol dustry users about $50 million. More icy will allow broad use of the bub than 90 additional bubbles are under ble concept and other trading strat development, EPA says, with an es egies in urban areas that have not timated savings of about $1 million met the national air quality stand each. The Office of Management & ards. It also authorizes states to Budget's analysis of the new trad adopt generic emissions trading rules ing emissions program concludes that and extend these to all the major air the potential savings could come to pollutants so that states may approve billions of dollars per year if every bubble plans without a long federal firm that could profit from the polreview of the project. I icy would use it. Π
Life sciences group to fund postdoc research A new organization has been set up to support research and training in the life sciences at the postdoctoral level. Called the Life Sciences Re search Foundation, it will seek funds from industry and other sources and use them to support "the highest quality young scientists in the very best research environments," accord ing to foundation president Donald D. Brown, biology professor at Johns Hopkins University. The foundation, which quietly has been seeking industrial support for about a year, has two industrial sponsors so far. These are HoffmannLa Roche and Monsanto, which have agreed to sponsor two new postdoc toral fellows each in 1983, two more in 1984, and another in 1985. The companies have agreed to renew their sponsorship of five fellows each if other sponsors join the program. Ide ally the foundation would like to offer about 30 new fellowships each year. The board of directors for the new foundation reads like a Who's Who of biochemical and molecular biolog ical research. In addition to Brown, the 10-member board of directors includes Nobel Laureates David Bal timore, Paul Berg, Konrad E. Bloch, Arthur Romberg, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton 0. Smith, and James D. Watson. Also listed on the board are Lewis Thomas, chancellor of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and Phillip Handler, former president of the Na tional Academy of Sciences, who died last December. The idea of the foundation, Brown says, is to encourage companies to increase their support for basic— rather than applied—research in the biological sciences at universities and to provide a low-cost, low-overhead peer review system to channel that money to the highest quality research workers. "The biological sciences became strong in this country through an independent peer review system" to fund basic research at universities, Brown says, and it is this channel that the foundation wants to encour age companies to support now. Applications for support for the first year's fellowships, which will begin in the summer of 1983, are due Oct. 1. Further information is available from the foundation at 115 West University Parkway, Baltimore, Md. 21210. D April 12, 1982 C&EN
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