Archives

July 11, 2007

EPA Will Hold NMSP Public Meeting and Releases Draft Documents

On June 9, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed three Federal Register notices related to the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (appended). EPA intends to publish the notices in the July 12, 2007, Federal Register. The first notice announces a public meeting on August 2, 2007, to receive comments on the development of the voluntary NMSP. The second...
July 6, 2007

EPA Awards Almost $600,000 to Oregon State University Nanotechnology Researchers

On June 22, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the award of two research grants totaling almost $600,000 to scientists at Oregon State University, who will evaluate whether some engineered nanomaterials adversely affect human health. Under the first research grant, scientists will review a variety of commonly manufactured nanomaterials to determine their potential interactions with biological processes; if the researchers find nanomaterials that produce...
July 3, 2007

EPA Will Hold Conference on “Pollution Prevention through Nanotechnology”

In the July 2, 2007, Federal Register, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice regarding its conference entitled “Pollution Prevention through Nanotechnology,” which will be held on September 25-26, 2007, in Arlington, Virginia. EPA intends the conference to provide a forum to exchange ideas and information on using nanotechnology to develop new ways to prevent pollution. Lynn L. Bergeson is on the Steering Committee for the...
June 6, 2007

NPR Program Discusses New Approaches to Nanotechnology

On April 24, 2007, the Kojo Nnamdi Show, a news magazine program on National Public Radio (NPR), aired a program entitled “New Approaches to Nanotechnology.” The program featured: David Rejeski, Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars/Pew Charitable Trusts; Rick Weiss, Science and Medicine Reporter, The Washington Post; Jeffrey Schloss, Co-Chair, Trans-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nano Taskforce, NIH; and...
May 30, 2007

PEN Report Recommends TSCA Amendments

On May 23, 2007, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) released a report entitled EPA and Nanotechnology: Oversight for the 21st Century, which identifies actions that should be taken to establish an oversight system. The report focuses in particular on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which it describes as “a key agency in any oversight effort because of its numerous regulatory authorities and its mission...
May 2, 2007

Regulatory Agenda Includes Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program

On April 30, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its latest Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, which serves to update the public on regulations and major policies currently under development by EPA.  One of the entries in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA ) portion of the agenda is entitled “Nanoscale Materials Under TSCA” and addresses the forthcoming Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP), the design of...
April 25, 2007

EPA Requests Stakeholders to Resubscribe to E-Mail Notification List

On April 16, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that, due to a technical problem, it is unable to verify receipt of contact information from anyone who subscribed to the e-mail notification list on the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) Nanotechnology web page from October 18 to November 1, 2006, and again from January 18 to January 23, 2007.  According to EPA, it has corrected the problem and is now compiling a list...
March 22, 2007

Senate Requests GAO Review of NNI

In a March 15, 2007, letter, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which was created to accelerate the discovery, development, and deployment of nanoscale science and technology. For fiscal year 2006, NNI received $1.2 billion in research and development funding, and 22 federal agencies, including the...