RFF Scholar Considers EPA Oversight for Nanotechnology
RFF Scholar Considers EPA Oversight for Nanotechnology
May 23, 2007
-
EPA should launch its proposed voluntary program to collect nanotechnology risk information and should begin immediately to revise the Toxic Substances Control Act to better deal with nanotechnology.
-
EPA and industry should create a joint research institute to conduct scientific research on nanotechnology effects.
-
EPA should set up and lead an interagency regulatory coordinating group for nanotechnology oversight.
-
Congress should establish a temporary committee in each house to consider options for a nanotechnology oversight mechanism.
-
Congress should provide an additional $50 million each year for research on the health and environmental effects of nanotechnology products and processes.
-
Congress should remove constraints that limit EPA's ability to require that companies collect and share necessary data and other information the agency needs to oversee nanotechnology.
Davies is a senior fellow at RFF and senior advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. Davies also wrote the report, Managing the Effects of Nanotechnology, released in January 2006 by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. More information, including the report, can be found at http://www.nanotechproject.org/124.
****
Resources for the Future, an independent and nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think-tank, seeks to improve environmental and natural resource policymaking worldwide through objective social science research of the highest caliber.
Resources for the Future (RFF) is an independent, nonprofit research institution in Washington, DC. Its mission is to improve environmental, energy, and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement. RFF is committed to being the most widely trusted source of research insights and policy solutions leading to a healthy environment and a thriving economy.
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed here are those of the individual authors and may differ from those of other RFF experts, its officers, or its directors. RFF does not take positions on specific legislative proposals.
For more information, please see our media resources page or contact Media Relations and Communications Specialist Annie McDarris.
