Press Releases :: January 15, 2009

Bill Introduced to Ensure Safety of Nanotechnology, Transparency of Research

(Washington, DC) – Today, the House Science and Technology Committee introduced H.R. 554, National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2009.  Identical to H.R. 5940, which passed the 110^th Congress by 407 to 6, H.R. 554 will strengthen and provide transparency to the federal research effort to understand the potential environmental, health, and safety risks of nanotechnology.  It requires the agencies participating in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) to develop a plan for the environmental and safety research, and a roadmap for implementing it, which includes explicit near-term and long-term goals and the funding required, by goal and by agency. The bill also seeks to leverage private sector investments in nanotechnology and facilitate technology transfer by strengthening public/private partnerships.

“The range of potential applications of nanotechnology is broad—from solar cells to sunscreen, from electronics to energy transformation and storage, to medicine and health,” stated Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN).  “It is important that potential downsides of the technology be addressed from the beginning in a straightforward and open way, both to protect the public health and to allay any concerns about the validity of the results.  A thorough, transparent process that ensures the safety of new products will allow both the business community and the public to benefit from the development of these new technologies.”

The NNI is multi-agency federal research program established in 2003 though the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-153).  It addresses all aspects of nanotechnology, including environmental, health and safety (EHS) research.  A December 2008 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report concluded that the NNI still lacks an adequate strategic plan and planning process for EHS research.  Over the past several years the House Science and Technology Committee has carried out numerous oversight activities to encourage the development and implementation of such a plan, with limited success.  H.R. 554 addresses the key recommendations in the NAS report.  In addition, the legislation requires that responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of an EHS research plan be assigned to a single senior official at the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The legislation originally developed from the recommendations from other formal reviews of NNI by the National Academy of Sciences and the advisory panel of NNI.

Please see the Committee’s website for more information on the Committee’s work on Nanotechnology in the 110^th Congress, including hearings and markups. 

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