GOVERNMENT CONCENTRATES House wants superconductivity research plan The House has approved a Science, Space & Technology Committee bill, H.R. 3048, that would require the director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy to establish a national, five-year action plan for high-temperature superconductivity research. The plan would set priorities and goals for the research, including manufacturing and processing studies, and would define the roles and responsibilities of the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, NASA, NSF, and the National Institute of Standards & Technology in carrying out the plan. The plan also would include recommended yearly funding levels for each agency. The bill itself does not authorize any additional funding for the research because, says committee chairman Robert A. Roe (D.-N.J.), "for the time being money does not seem to be the problem." He points out that hightemperature superconductivity research funding will approach $90 million in fiscal 1988 and $130 million in fiscal 1989. The problem, according to Roe, is that "we have no national program directing these hardwon funds/ 7 The bill is designed to solve that.
TSCA fee deadline fast approaching Sept. 30 is the effective date of EPA's new "pay-asyou-go" fee for processing premanufacture notices (PMNs) required by Section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. After that date submitters of PMNs for an intermediate chemical substance submitted simultaneously with a related "final product" PMN must pay a fee of $1000. Submitters of all other Section 5 notices are required to pay a fee of $2500. However, EPA is only requiring a fee of $100 for Section 5 notices submitted by small business concerns and no fees are required for low-volume exemption notices or test market exemption applications. A payment must accompany each notice submitted after Sept. 30 and both the notice and the check must bear a unique identifying number generated by the submitter so that EPA can correlate the two. For further information, call the TSCA assistance office at (800) 424-9065, or in Washington, D.C., call 554-1404.
Pesticide bill passed by House The House has passed a relatively noncontroversial reauthorization of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act that has a good chance of also being passed in the Senate. The bill, which had many contested provisions removed, such as patent term extension for pesticides and requirements for exported pesticides, would be the first new pesticide law since the old one expired in 1983. The bill is left with only three main provisions. These cover registrations and fees, indemnification for unused stocks of banned products, and the storage and disposal of banned pesticides. Trade associations representing pesticide makers are cool to the bill but appear willing to live with its provisions. Some environmental ac-
tivist groups say the bill is fine as far as it goes, but are concerned that it does not address the problem of contaminated groundwater.
New Jersey organics proposal hit by CSMA A proposal by the state of New Jersey to limit emissions of volatile organic compounds in certain consumer and commercial products is effectively a ban on those products, according to the Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association. The proposal would limit volatile organics in consumer insecticides, disinfectants, and air fresheners to 50% by 1990, 25% by 1992, and 5% by 1994. CSMA says most products cannot be made with such low levels of volatile organics, and that limiting their use would not improve air quality. Cutting volatile organics in disinfectants, particularly, would remove them from hospitals and other health care institutions and there are no alternatives, CSMA claims. New Jersey plans to have new regulations in place later this year.
Foreign scientists' role in federal labs studied The General Accounting Office has done a survey to determine the extent to which foreign scientists participate in research at U.S.-run laboratories. The survey discovered that 30% of the outside scientists at federal labs are not Americans. In general, GAO says, federal labs support open exchanges in basic research but have varying levels of restrictions on technologies with commercial potential. The research managers at the 50 labs studied confided that their researchers have not had any difficulty getting access to foreign labs and that foreign researchers readily exchange information with their U.S. counterparts. The laboratories with the greatest number of foreign scientists were at Department of Energy facilities and NIH. GAO reports that interviews with lab administrators found that they do not see the need for any new regulations regarding foreign access to federal labs.
Washington roundup • The House took longer than expected to complete action on the omnibus drug bill, H.R. 5210, (C&EN, Sept. 19, page 19) because of numerous amendments dealing with such things as a seven-day waiting period for gun purchases and the setting of large minimum fines for possession of small amounts of a controlled substance. Final passage took place on Sept. 22. • OSHA has produced a kit providing step-by-step guidance on complying with its expanded hazard communication standard. The 'OSHA 3104 Hazard Communication Compliance Kit" can be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9325. The order number is 929-022-00000-9 and the cost is $18 for domestic users and $22.50 for foreign users. September 26, 1988 C&EN
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