government & policy
! EPA announces | multiyear mercury ! research program Afive-yearresearch program to better : understand the environmental and human health effects of mercury was announced late last month by the EPA Office of Research & Development. The research program will be led by EPA scientists with support from agency-funded external researchers, according to the announcement Details will be forthcoming in the next few months, EPA said, but the program willfillin data points that are contained in other EPA and National Academy of Sciences reports on mercury I that have been released over the past few years as concerns have grown over the el! ement's impact, particularly on children. The program will examine human health ! effects, transport and fate, risk manage| ment of combustion and noncombustion I sources, ecological impacts, and risk ! communication issues. The research proI gram is part of a new emphasis on chil| dren's health and mercury, according to ; agency documents. More information is | given on the Web at http://www.epa. gov/ORD/NRMRL/mercury/.^
GAO flags nuclear fuel j problems !
The threat that low-enriched uranium , supplied by Russia to the U.S. is likely to overwhelm domestically produced nucle| ar fuel is among concerns raised in a reI cent report by the General Accounting Office. The Russian low-enriched urani| um is blended downfromsome 500 tons of highly enriched uranium extracted | from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons as part of an agreement with the U.S. As a result, the report says, Russia cur! rently supplies enough material to USEC j Inc., the main U.S. nuclear fuel procesI sor, to make up 40% of total U.S. sales of 1 nuclear fuel. As of last October, USEC | had paid Russia about $1.6 billion for more than 3,000 tons of low-enriched uranium blended down from 103 tons of I highly enriched uranium. The report says Russia is also now proposing to sell to USEC newly produced low-enriched uranium made in commercial facilities to increase revenues to Russia. The report 1 8 JANUARY 8,2001 C&EN
also notes the declining commercial global demand for uranium and the dwindling need for USEC's services and calls for greater oversight of this complex government-commercial program, noting its troubled history. The report is available on the Internet at http://www.gao.gov/ under GAO Reports.^
White House affirms government-university research partnership In the waning days of his Administration, President Bill Clinton has signed an executive order meant to strengthen the research partnership between the federal government and universities. The order spells out for the first time the basic goals, rationale, and objectives of the partnership via four guiding principles: research is an investment in the future; the link between research and education is vital; excellence is promoted when investments are guided by merit review; and research must be conducted with integrity. Citing the history of federal support for universities that has spanned more than 100 years, Clinton says the nation has come to rely on the government-university research partnership "to conduct research that improves our economy, health, and national security, while also training our future science and technology workforce. It is vitally important that this partnership be equitable and effective to sustain U.S. leadership across the frontiers of scientific knowledge."^
foods. Furthermore, it concluded that the regulatory process should address the environmental effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) before they are commercialized and that governments should make detailed plans for mandatory monitoring of the health and environmental effects of GMOs if there are any unanswered questions. And genetically modified foods should be labeled, the panel wrote, because consumers have the right of informed choice regarding what they consume. The U.S. and EU governments will be looking carefully at the report in the coming months.^
NIST streamlines bids for technology program The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at NIST has begun its 2001 proposal competition by announcing some improvements in the proposal process. NIST says it has eliminated submission deadlines, leaving open the competition for the rest of the fiscal year. This will permit companies and partnerships to submit proposals in stages and do revisions if necessary for their projects. NIST will also review proposals as they come in rather than wait until a deadline, significantly speeding up the process, the agency claims. NIST has about $60 million this year for new, first-year ATP projects. Information on submitting proposals is available at http://www. atp.nistgov/.^
Government Roundup • Ray Kammer has retired as director of NIST, after working at the agency since 1969 and serving four years as director. Deputy Director Karen Brown will serve as acting director. A U.S.-European Union (EU) consulta- • EPA has tightened standards for tive group on biotechnology prepared a identifying dangerous levels of lead in consensus report on a range of issues paint, dust, and soil. The standards, part related to agricultural biotechnology of the agency's effort to protect children and presented its report at the U.S.-EU from lead poisoning, will be used to desummit meeting in December in Wash- termine when cleanups are needed. ington, D.C. The panel decided that • The Office of the U.S. Trade Repreeach genetically modified food should sentative and the Council on Environbe subject to a mandatory premarket as- mental Quality have issued final guidesessment and be approved for sale only lines for implementing an order from if there is a reasonable certainty that it President Bill Clinton that requires the will present no harm. It also decided U.S. to carefully assess environmental imthat more funds should be invested in pacts of international trade agreements. basic research focusing on safety con- The guidelines are posted at http:// cerns related to genetically modified www.ustr.gov/.^
U.S.-EU panel addresses sensitive biotech issues
