GOVE R N M EN T & POL I CY CONCE NTRATES
HOUSE COMMITTEE ADOPTS DRUG BILLS The House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee on May 15 approved measures that would secure the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain and reauthorize FDA to collect fees from manufacturers of animal drugs. One bill, H.R. 1919, would create a national standard for securing the drug supply chain to replace recently enacted laws in a number of states. It would also require FDA to propose an electronic system for tracking drugs throughout the supply chain by 2027. Several Democrats on the committee opposed the bill, saying a tracking system is needed now, not in 14 years. A second bill, H.R. 1407, would reauthorize the Animal Drug User Fee Act and the Animal Generic Drug User Fee Act, both of which expire on Sept. 30. The measure would allow FDA to collect more than $30 million in fees from the animal drug industry to support the review of New Drug Applications for brand-name and generic animal drugs. The bill would not require FDA to track the sale and use of antibiotics in animals, despite heavy pressure from consumer groups for such a provision.—BEE
REVIEW OF SHIP DISCHARGES SOUGHT
I AN M CCA RT H Y
Conservation organizations and shipping industry groups are seeking a review of international rules governing polyisobutene (PIB) releases from ships. The chemical, used as an additive for lubricants and fuel oils, was identiGannets (in foreground) and guillemots are among the seabirds that died after being coated with polyisobutene.
fied as the sticky substance coating seabirds along the southwest coast of England earlier this year. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSBP) estimates that more than 4,000 birds washed up on beaches along the English Channel in two incidents. PIB is not directly toxic
CHEMICALS ADDED TO ROTTERDAM TREATY Two flame retardants, a family of eight-carbon perfluorinated substances, and an organophosphate pesticide are new additions to a treaty that requires exchange of information between exporting and importing countries. At a United Nations meeting that ended on May 10, governments agreed to add these compounds to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals & Pesticides in International Trade. The move means that any country that exports these compounds must inform importing countries that the substances are banned or severely restricted elsewhere in the world. Affected chemicals include pentabromodiphenyl ether and octabromodiphenyl ether, which are flame retardants that published laboratory studies link to neurobehavioral effects and disruption of thyroid hormones. Also added to the treaty are perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and its cousins perfluorooctane sulfones, perfluorooctane sulfonamides, and perfluorooctane sulfonyls. PFOS is widespread in the environment and is a degradation product of perfluorooctane sulfonamide derivatives. Azinphos-methyl, an insecticide that can cause nerve damage, rounds out the added chemicals.—CH
to seabirds, RSPB says. But when in contact with water, the hydrophobic chemical coalesces into a waxy material. When PIB coats the plumage of seabirds, their movement is restricted, RSPB says. Under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, vessels can legally discharge small amounts of PIB. British conservation and shipping organizations are calling for the International Maritime Organization to review PIB releases.—CH
SUPERFUND ALTERNATIVES NEED BETTER GUIDANCE EPA has failed to sufficiently monitor nearly 2,000 hazardous waste sites that it has identified as eligible for cleanup under the federal Superfund program, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. In a report (GAO-13-252) released on May 10, GAO finds that EPA is not properly tracking and documenting the cleanup process at these waste dumps. EPA has identified 3,402 contaminated sites as potentially eligible for cleanup; of these, the agency has deferred oversight of 1,984 sites to parties outside the Superfund program, GAO says. EPA may defer oversight through its “other cleanup activity” approach, which allows states, private parties, or other federal agencies to oversee cleanup activiCEN.ACS.ORG
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ties. But EPA hasn’t issued remediation guidelines for these sites, according to the report. GAO recommends that EPA issue guidance to its regional offices that clearly defines the alternative cleanup approach. The report also says the agency should develop a method for identifying and tracking cleanups performed outside the Superfund program.—GH
MAGNETIC FIELD SCIENCE IN U.S. ASSESSED The U.S. is currently the world leader in magnetic field science, but it could be overtaken by other countries making major investments in new magnets, according to a report by the National Research Council. The current strength in the U.S. is in large part because of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the report says. Support for that research facility should remain the highest priority of the National Science Foundation, which commissioned the report. The U.S. is at the top in most areas of high-magnetic-field (also called high-field) science, but Europe is outperforming the U.S. in high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which is used in chemical and biological applications. The report recommends that the U.S. create several regional user facilities with high-field superconducting magnets and NMR magnets.—AW
