Volume 150, No. 52 covering the 2nd Session of the 108th Congress (2003 - 2004) 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.
“GREEN CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2004” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2205-H2209 on April 21, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
GREEN CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2004
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3970) to provide for the implementation of a Green Chemistry Research and Development Program, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 3970
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``green chemistry'' means chemistry and chemical engineering to design chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances;
(2) the term ``Interagency Working Group'' means the interagency working group established under section 3(c); and
(3) the term ``Program'' means the Green Chemistry Research and Development Program described in section 3.
SEC. 3. GREEN CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The President shall establish a Green Chemistry Research and Development Program to promote and coordinate Federal green chemistry research, development, demonstration, education, and technology transfer activities.
(b) Program Activities.--The activities of the Program shall be designed to--
(1) provide sustained support for green chemistry research, development, demonstration, education, and technology transfer through--
(A) merit-reviewed competitive grants to individual investigators and teams of investigators, including, to the extent practicable, young investigators, for research and development;
(B) grants to fund collaborative research and development partnerships among universities, industry, and nonprofit organizations;
(C) green chemistry research, development, demonstration, and technology transfer conducted at Federal laboratories; and
(D) to the extent practicable, encouragement of consideration of green chemistry in--
(i) the conduct of Federal chemical science and engineering research and development; and
(ii) the solicitation and evaluation of all proposals for chemical science and engineering research and development;
(2) examine methods by which the Federal Government can create incentives for consideration and use of green chemistry processes and products;
(3) facilitate the adoption of green chemistry innovations;
(4) expand education and training of undergraduate and graduate students, and professional chemists and chemical engineers, including through partnerships with industry, in green chemistry science and engineering;
(5) collect and disseminate information on green chemistry research, development, and technology transfer, including information on--
(A) incentives and impediments to development and commercialization;
(B) accomplishments;
(C) best practices; and
(D) costs and benefits;
(6) provide venues for outreach and dissemination of green chemistry advances such as symposia, forums, conferences, and written materials in collaboration with, as appropriate, industry, academia, scientific and professional societies, and other relevant groups;
(7) support economic, legal, and other appropriate social science research to identify barriers to commercialization and methods to advance commercialization of green chemistry; and
(8) provide for public input and outreach to be integrated into the Program by the convening of public discussions, through mechanisms such as citizen panels, consensus conferences, and educational events, as appropriate.
(c) Interagency Working Group.--The President shall establish an Interagency Working Group, which shall include representatives from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other agency that the President may designate. The Director of the National Science Foundation and the Assistant Administrator for Research and Development of the Environmental Protection Agency shall serve as co-chairs of the Interagency Working Group. The Interagency Working Group shall oversee the planning, management, and coordination of the Program. The Interagency Working Group shall--
(1) establish goals and priorities for the Program, to the extent practicable in consultation with green chemistry researchers and potential end-users of green chemistry products and processes; and
(2) provide for interagency coordination, including budget coordination, of activities under the Program.
(d) Agency Budget Requests.--Each Federal agency and department participating in the Program shall, as part of its annual request for appropriations to the Office of Management and Budget, submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget which identifies its activities that contribute directly to the Program and states the portion of its request for appropriations that is allocated to those activities. The President shall include in his annual budget request to Congress a statement of the portion of each agency's or department's annual budget request allocated to its activities undertaken pursuant to the Program.
(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Interagency Working Group shall transmit a report to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. This report shall include--
(1) a summary of federally funded green chemistry research, development, demonstration, education, and technology transfer activities, including the green chemistry budget for each of these activities; and
(2) an analysis of the progress made toward achieving the goals and priorities for the Program, and recommendations for future program activities.
SEC. 4. BIENNIAL REPORT.
Section 37(a) of the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885d(a)) is amended by striking
``By January 30, 1982, and biennially thereafter'' and inserting ``By January 30 of each odd-numbered year''.
SEC. 5. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER GREEN SUPPLIERS
NETWORK GRANT PROGRAM.
Section 25(a) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (4);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) the enabling of supply chain manufacturers to continuously improve products and processes, increase energy efficiency, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimize resources and technologies with the aim of reducing or eliminating the use or generation of hazardous substances.''.
SEC. 6. UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION IN CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING.
(a) Program Authorized.--(1) As part of the Program activities under section 3(b)(4), the Director of the National Science Foundation shall carry out a program to award grants to institutions of higher education to support efforts by such institutions to revise their undergraduate curriculum in chemistry and chemical engineering to incorporate green chemistry concepts and strategies.
(2) Grants shall be awarded under this section on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis and shall require cost sharing in cash from non-Federal sources, to match the Federal funding.
(b) Selection Process.--(1) An institution of higher education seeking funding under this section shall submit an application to the Director at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require. The application shall include at a minimum--
(A) a description of the content and schedule for adoption of the proposed curricular revisions to the courses of study offered by the applicant in chemistry and chemical engineering; and
(B) a description of the source and amount of cost sharing to be provided.
(2) In evaluating the applications submitted under paragraph (1), the Director shall consider, at a minimum--
(A) the level of commitment demonstrated by the applicant in carrying out and sustaining lasting curriculum changes in accordance with subsection (a)(1); and
(B) the amount of cost sharing to be provided.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts authorized under section 8, from sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated by the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, there are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for carrying out this section $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2005,
$7,500,000 for fiscal year 2006, and $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
SEC. 7. STUDY ON COMMERCIALIZATION OF GREEN CHEMISTRY.
(a) Study.--The Director of the National Science Foundation shall enter into an arrangement with the National Research Council to conduct a study of the factors that constitute barriers to the successful commercial application of promising results from green chemistry research and development.
(b) Contents.--The study shall--
(1) examine successful and unsuccessful attempts at commercialization of green chemistry in the United States and abroad; and
(2) recommend research areas and priorities and public policy options that would help to overcome identified barriers to commercialization.
(c) Report.--The Director shall submit a report to the Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the findings and recommendations of the study within 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) National Science Foundation.--(1) From sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated by the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, there are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for carrying out this Act--
(A) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
(B) $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
(C) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
(2) The sums authorized by paragraph (1) are in addition to any funds the National Science Foundation is spending on green chemistry through its ongoing chemistry and chemical engineering programs.
(b) National Institute of Standards and Technology.--From sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated, there are authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute of Standards and Technology for carrying out this Act--
(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
(2) $5,500,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
(3) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
(c) Department of Energy.--From sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Energy for carrying out this Act--
(1) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
(2) $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
(d) Environmental Protection Agency.--From sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency for carrying out this Act--
(1) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
(2) $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2006; and
(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).
General Leave
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3970.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Georgia?
There was no objection.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, first let me thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman Boehlert); the ranking member, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon); the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson); the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers), and all of my Committee on Science colleagues for their hard work in bringing this important bipartisan piece of legislation through committee and before the House floor today.
In particular, I would like to thank the ranking member, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon) and the gentlewoman from Texas
(Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson) and their staffs for continuing to work with us on this legislation.
The resulting manager's amendment is truly a bipartisan bill. Defined as the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances, green chemistry represents an emerging field with much promise.
As a chemistry major trained in traditional chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology, I am very excited about the potential environmental, economic and human health benefits of green chemistry. Preventing pollution and waste in the first place is often cheaper than mitigating and cleaning it up later, and the development of new products and processes will help spur economic growth.
Currently, 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 actually use benign materials. Both of these steps improve working conditions for employees. Yet, despite all of the promises of green chemistry, the Federal Government invests very little in this area.
H.R. 3970, the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act, will establish a research and development program to promote and coordinate Federal green chemistry research, development, demonstration, education and technology transfer activities within the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy.
This legislation provides modest and prudent focus in an area that, frankly, deserves greater Federal attention. The program will support research and development grants, including grants for university, industry, and nonprofit partnerships. It will support green chemistry research at Federal labs, promote education through curricula development and fellowships, and collect and disseminate information about green chemistry.
H.R. 3970 is fiscally prudent in these times of budgetary constraints by obtaining funding for this program from sums already authorized to be appropriated at the four agencies I mentioned, and it does not authorize the expenditure of any new money.
Traditional chemical companies, pharmaceutical companies, carpet and rug manufacturers and biotechnology corporations, all who we have heard from in committee hearings, have endorsed H.R. 3970, showing a broad range of support for the merits of this legislation. They all realize that the advancement of green chemistry is positive for their industries, the environment, the economy as a whole, and all of our Nation's citizens.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GORDON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me thank the gentleman from Georgia
(Mr. Gingrey) for putting this issue on the table. I also would like to thank the gentleman from New York (Chairman Boehlert) for working with us to incorporate some of our suggestions into the manager's amendment.
The legislation now includes a grant program to encourage universities to incorporate green chemistry into undergraduate curricula in chemistry and chemical engineering. The curriculum changes encouraged through this program will assure that students are familiar with green chemistry and ready to enter the workforce with skills in pollution prevention and green design. The explicit authorization for research in economics and other relevant social sciences will help us to better understand the barriers to widespread adoption of the green chemistry techniques.
H.R. 3970 is a good start. However, we are disappointed that the bill does not go far enough to move findings in the laboratory into practice on the factory floor. There are a number of green chemistry success stories. The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Program, established in 1995, has recognized these achievements. But many other safer chemical substitutes and pollution prevention techniques are not widely used.
Research and development alone are not sufficient ingredients to guarantee the transition to a safer, cleaner environment. And this is an area where research has been done for a number of years. Programs and policies to overcome the barriers to more widespread adoption of green chemistry must be part of a truly comprehensive Federal green chemistry program.
Democratic amendments on procurement, homeland security, and technical assistance grants would have created incentives to adopt green chemistry practices. We hope this bill will continue to expand in scope as it moves forward in the legislative process.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), who is a cosponsor of this bill.
Mr. SIMMONS. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3970, the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004. I do so because I am an advocate of this innovative effort to further scientific research while minimizing environmental harm.
Last year, I met Dr. Berkeley Cue, Jr., of Ledyard, Connecticut. Dr. Cue is a recently retired chemist at Pfizer's Global R&D headquarters in Groton, Connecticut; and he spoke passionately about his work on the Green Chemistry Institute's Board of Directors and explained to me some of the exciting prospects that green chemistry holds.
Green chemistry has been defined ``as the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products.''
According to a 1994 pharmaceutical industry process efficiency analysis, for every kilogram of a given drug produced, between 25 and 100 kilograms of waste are produced. For those processes where there is a green chemistry application, this number was reduced to between 5 and 10 kilograms of waste per kilogram of product. This is a five- to 10-
time improvement in the reduction of waste products. At commercial product volumes, this equates to hundreds of thousands of kilograms of costly waste prevented each year for each product where there is a green chemistry alternative.
What is more, there is no need to purchase raw materials that are lost to unwanted by-products. The cost savings are clear, and the environmental benefits are clear.
I urge my colleagues to support this measure and establish a Green Chemistry Research and Development Program to promote this technology at the Federal level. It is good for science, it is good for the environment, it is good for the American people.
Mr. GORDON. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson).
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me express my appreciation for the leadership of this committee. We operate in a spirit of civility at all times, and we are all very proud of that.
We as legislators preach about how we want to make this world a better place for those who are to follow. The Green Chemistry Research and Development Act is a first step to increasing the use of renewable fuels, encouraging manufacturing processes that generate less toxic waste and promote the development of materials which can be easily recycled.
I am pleased that my colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey), has introduced the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2004, and I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation.
Green chemistry is the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical products.
Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in a fundamental new approach to environmental protection. In studying green chemistry, we realize that science and technology can help produce processes and products that are both more environmentally benign and economically attractive.
I would like also to take this opportunity to thank the Chair for working in a bipartisan manner and our ranking member, as we often do in the Committee on Science, for incorporating parts of amendments that I introduced during markup in the committee. Most importantly, I appreciate the language that requires a study by the National Academy of Sciences on barriers to commercialization of green chemistry. As was evident by the committee's hearing on H.R. 3970, success at commercialization can be problematic, even for technical innovations that seem to be obvious candidates for exploitation.
The purpose of the study would be to systematically assess successful and unsuccessful attempts at commercialization of green chemistry innovations here and abroad and attempt to tease out the controlling factors.
In addition, I am pleased that the manager's amendment clarifies that the funds provided by the bill for focused green chemistry research is in addition to the amounts the agency currently spends in its base programs. This addition is also very important, and I would like to thank the Chair for including this in the manager's amendment.
Although there is more work that can be done to strengthen this legislation, it provides the right impetus to encourage the science and manufacturing communities to start in the right direction, not only because green chemistry can save them money now in the short term but because it can also save our planet in the long term.
{time} 1030
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Boehlert), the honorable chairman of the House Committee on Science.
(Mr. BOEHLERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3970. And I want to congratulate our colleague, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey), for having introduced it. In a short time he has become one of the most active and effective members of the Committee on Science. I thank him for his many, many contributions.
There is really only one unfortunate thing about this green chemistry bill, and that is that none of us thought of it before. Green chemistry is such an obvious area in which to focus that it should be clear to anyone and everyone that more needs to be done in this field.
Green chemistry benefits companies and workers, the economy, and the environment. It is really just the application of an old adage: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If we reduce to ounces the quantity of toxic chemicals we use and produce, then we will not have to clean up pounds of toxics downstream.
And this bill takes a sensible, targeted approach to putting some Federal dollars behind those prevention efforts. It builds on existing programs at a number of Federal agencies to transform those small and scattered efforts into a focused, a coordinated, and an enhanced national program. The result of that program should be the generation and dissemination of new ideas and new people, leading to the adoption of more green chemistry practices and the creation of more green chemistry products by industry.
Now, I know some would like this bill to go further, and there is no doubt that there are additional barriers to green chemistry that government action could help attack, but those government actions are complex and controversial and should be taken up in other bills.
For now let us take care of first things first. Let us make sure that the government is doing everything possible to ensure that green chemistry research and development is getting the attention it deserves to ensure that education programs are designed to teach more students and practicing chemists and chemical engineers about green chemistry, and to ensure that new ideas are broadly disseminated.
If we do not have the ideas and the people, then no amount of government incentives or regulations are going to accelerate the adoption of green chemistry. This is a good and thoughtful and effective bill that takes a step we should have taken long ago to make sure that government R&D and education programs promote the kind of chemistry that is in the national interest.
I urge everyone to support the excellent bill of the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey). It is a most appropriate way to recognize Earth Day which occurs tomorrow.
Mr. GORDON. Mr. Speaker, we have no other comments, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith), distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Research.
Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey), and I certainly commend the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon), the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), the chairman of the committee, (Mr. Boehlert).
As we expand in population in this home that we call Earth, being more sensitive to the environment is continually a greater challenge and a greater need. So I commend the legislation. The legislation is going to be good for the economy. It is going to be good for improving worker safety. It is going to be good for improving public safety, for national security, and certainly it is going to be better for our environmental needs.
We need to expand our thinking not only for chemistry, but maybe for all of the research that we do to be more sensitive to make sure that this Earth continues to be as safe and beautiful for future generations as it has been for us. So I urge my colleagues to support Dr. Gingrey's bill.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, while the full potential of green chemistry is yet to be realized, H.R. 3970 will place us, as the chairman just said, on the right path to research in reaching that potential. I urge all of my colleagues to support the bipartisan Green Chemistry Research and Development Act.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers).
Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, back in 1974 I ran for public office on an environmental platform. I have been an environmentalist for many years, and I have always tried to keep the environment in the forefront in discussions in this Congress. I am also, however, what you might call a common-sense environmentalist. I believe in environmental issues and environmental choices that make sense both for the environment and for the economy. And this bill is a sterling example of precisely what is involved in common-sense environmentalism.
The chemical industry makes and uses a great many chemicals. Disposal of those chemicals often becomes disposal of hazardous waste, which is very costly, very toxic and dangerous to the environment. This bill will help develop green chemistry, chemistry that is in tune with the environment so that both the products and the by-products are safe, and we do not generate as much or any hazardous waste, and we do not have to worry about toxic waste polluting the groundwater.
Much work is required in this area both to change the habits of the educational institutions and the habits of the chemical industry. They have to be made aware of the many opportunities for green chemistry. And this is true also of the businesses that use chemical products. For example, it appears now that liquid carbon dioxide at the critical point is an outstanding cleaning fluid, certainly nontoxic, and would solve the pollution problem that many launderers and cleaners face in this country.
I strongly support this bill. It supports research to develop more green chemistry processes and includes provisions to expand green chemistry education. This will enable the next generation of chemical professionals to bring innovative practices to traditional chemical manufacturing. I am most pleased to support the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act.
Again, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson) for their hard work on this important piece of legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3970, a bill that will truly clean up the environment and at the same time aid the economy.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bass). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3970, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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