Government Roundup

Nearly 5% of all U.S. energy was consumed by chemical companies making bulk chemical products, according to a recent Energy Information Administration report based on data from 2010. The chemical industry also contributed 1.4% of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Connecticut last week became the first U.S. state to pass a bill that requires manufacturers to label foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he will sign the bill into law only if four other states, one of which must share a border with Connecticut, pass similar regulations.

NIH will issue about 700 fewer competitive research grants and admit about 750 fewer new patients to its Clinical Center in fiscal 2013 than in 2012 because of across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration. Sequestration cuts 5%, or $1.55 billion, of NIH’s 2013 budget.

Portions of former nuclear weapons manufacturing and testing sites at Hanford, Wash.; Los Alamos, N.M.; and Oak Ridge, Tenn., would be weaved together and protected as the Manhattan Project National Historic Park under legislation (S. 507) recently cleared by the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

Democratic lawmakers are urging the White House Office of Management & Budget to speed up its review of pending regulations, saying the delays are holding up implementation of several key environmental, energy, and workplace safety rules. Several have been under review for more than a year, despite an executive order limiting OMB reviews to 90 days.