GOVERNMENT CONCENTRATES Research facilities program praised The recent passage of a new program to help universities and colleges begin badly needed modernization of their research facilities has been praised by the R&D lobbying group Council on Research & Technology. CORETECH chairman Joseph A. Saloom says, "This modernization program lays a vital foundation for continued U.S. innovation, now and in the future, which will enhance U.S. competitiveness worldwide/' Next year, Saloom says, his organization will push for Congress to fully fund a research facilities program. CORETECH remains committed to making permanent the R&D and basic research tax credits (currently surviving on a one-year extension) and resolving the issue of taxing research done abroad by U.S. companies differently than domestic research.
Commerce changes some export rules To make it easier for U.S. companies to sell technical data and software overseas, the Commerce Department has created a new license, called the General License Technical Data Unrestricted, that will reduce controls on operational technical data, on the sales of such data, and on software updates and mass-market software. The rule, proposed in the Oct. 13 Federal Register, would differentiate between data that require special licensing for export from data that do not, allowing some businesses to export certain technology data without having to get preauthorization from Commerce. The department estimates that software producers' annual foreign sales could reach $20 billion by 1990, a market the U.S. should not impede by unnecessary regulations.
NIH awards gene-mapping grants The National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded 55 research grants under a gene-mapping and genome analysis program with special funds from Congress. The total value of the grants in this initiative in 1989 will be $17.2 million. In addition to working on gene sequences, researchers will be analyzing gene locations and complete genetic systems in humans and other animals to help diagnose and understand genetic diseases. NIH says that these awards are different from most NIH grants because they represent a systematic approach to mapping and analyzing genomes, rather than having research- » ers looking for and studying a specific gene.
EPA issues comprehensive data rule A generic data-gathering system for chemicals has been promulgated by EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Called the Comprehensive Assessment Information Rule (CAIR), it sets forth a uniform format and set of questions on substances for possible use in setting regulations by several agencies, including OSHA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in addition to EPA. Creation
