Volume 151, No. 28 covering the 1st Session of the 109th Congress (2005 - 2006) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“INTRODUCTION OF THE GREEN CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2005” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E407-E408 on March 10, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCTION OF THE GREEN CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF
2005
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HON. PHIL GINGREY
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to introduce an important piece of legislation, H.R. 1215, ``The Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2005.'' When I introduced this legislation during the 108th Congress as H.R. 3970, many of my colleagues wondered, what is green chemistry? So again I will start with a brief explanation. Chemical manufacturing is the source of many products upon which we depend such as medicines, plastics, fuels, and fabrics. However, chemical manufacturing has at times resulted in harm to the environment and human health. The goal of green chemistry is to minimize or, ideally, to eliminate this potential harm. It is defined as chemistry and chemical engineering that designs chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances while producing high quality products through a safe and effective manufacturing process. By factoring the elimination of hazardous byproducts into the design of products and processes, chemists can design chemicals to be safe, just as they can design them to have other properties, such as color or texture.
Many private sector industries have recognized the potential of green chemistry. Along with its inherent human health and environmental advantages, green chemistry can offer many economic advantages. Since the costs of separating waste from products, complying with regulations, disposing of hazardous wastes and liability protection can be large, preventing pollution and waste in the first place is often cheaper than mitigating and cleaning it up later.
In my home state of Georgia, Shaw Industries, Inc. is showing tremendous returns on their investment in green chemistry. Shaw produces carpet tile from their EcoWorxTM compound, which is made from non-toxic starting materials. The carpet tiles are fully recyclable, and Shaw has started to receive the first generation of carpet tiles, introduced in 1999, back in the factory for recycling. Shaw has found that the cost of collection, transportation, and recycling is less than making new carpet tiles from virgin raw materials. Even before Shaw recycled a single carpet tile, they benefited from their investment in green manufacturing. By switching from traditional carpet tile backing to EcoWorx TM, Shaw cut the energy needed to produce carpet tiles in half.
Green chemistry offers other advantages in the areas of worker safety and public safety. For example, many chemical processes are conducted at extreme temperature and/or pressure, two conditions that present a risk for workers. Also, many chemical processes involve toxic substances. Green chemistry aims to design processes that can be conducted at or near room temperature and pressure, and that use benign materials. Both of these steps improve working conditions for employees. Chemical factories also pose a potential threat to public safety because of the possibility of an accidental release of toxic materials into the surrounding communities. Green chemistry seeks to replace these toxic substances with safe ones, which would not pose a threat to the public if accidentally released.
Yet despite all of the promise of green chemistry, the Federal government invests very little in this area. The most notable effort is a small grant program run jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Green chemistry research in this program is funded at about $4 million per year. The Department of Energy (DOE) and National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) also do a small amount of green chemistry research, however the Federal investment in green chemistry is minimal as compared to the overall investment in chemistry. In addition, each of these agencies has an important role to play in developing green chemistry technologies and facilitating their adoption, however, right now, there is little coordination among agencies.
The Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2005 establishes an interagency research and development (R&D) program to promote and coordinate Federal green chemistry research, development, demonstration, education and technology transfer activities. The Program would support R&D grants, including grants for university-
industry partnerships, support green chemistry research at Federal labs, promote education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and collect and disseminate information about green chemistry. NSF and EPA would lead an Interagency Working Group to coordinate these activities. The Working Group would also include DOE and NIST, as well as any other agency the President designates. The program is authorized at $33 million in FY06 rising to $38 million in FY08 from sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated. This bill does not authorize the expenditure of new money.
This bill provides modest and prudent funding in an area that deserves greater Federal attention. During the 108th Congress, H.R. 3970 passed the House on April 21, 2004 with a strong bipartisan vote of 402-14. I expect similar support this Congress in the House and am pleased to report that Senator Snowe and Senator Rockefeller plan on introducing identical legislation in the Senate very soon. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and the Senate, as well as with the Administration, and all other interested stakeholders to enact this important legislation.
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