Government Concentrates

Bill would curb pesticide studies on humans

The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would prevent EPA from conducting or accepting studies that test pesticides on humans. The provision was added to the fiscal 2006 EPA funding bill (H.R. 2361) that passed the House on May 19 and now goes to the Senate for consideration. The amendment was sponsored by Reps. Hilda L. Solis (D-Calif.) and Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and supported by a coalition of religious and environmental groups. According to Solis, EPA is conducting and accepting studies involving human subjects "with no binding safeguards to make sure these tests protect the public." Farm chemicals group CropLife America says the House action "could jeopardize public health because it would impair the ability of scientists and regulators to use more accurate data in determining safe exposure levels." Under current law, EPA can conduct and accept studies in which children and adults are deliberately exposed to pesticides. Science advisers to EPA have recommended strict guidelines for human testing, but the agency has not adopted them.

Utilities move closer to own nuclear waste site

The Atomic Safety & Licensing Board, an independent arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, last week ruled against Utah and allowed a consortium of eight electric utilities to move ahead on plans to construct the nation's first interim storage facility for spent commercial nuclear fuel. The next step is for the full NRC to consider granting a construction license. The licensing board rejected Utah's appeal and determined that the probability of an F-16 fighter jet from a nearby Air Force base crashing into the interim storage facility is less than one in 1 million per year, which is the NRC's risk standard. An NRC spokeswoman would not predict when the commission may take up the license and says it has no schedule to make a decision. The consortium, Private Fuel Storage LLC (PFS), would build the facility on the Goshute Indian Reservation in Skull Valley, Utah. The facility, which would consist of an enclosed cement slab, would hold 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel, a little more than half the design capacity intended for the federal Yucca Mountain, Nevada, repository. A PFS official notes that the facility has been in planning for eight years, and another two would be needed to build the site and begin moving waste there. Utah is expected to challenge the consortium in court if NRC grants the license.

State Department names science fellows

The State Department has announced its 2005-06 class of Jefferson Science Fellows. Among the five fellows are Edward T. Samulski, an expert in liquid-crystalline polymers who is a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Michael J. Prather, a professor of earth systems science at the University of California, Irvine, who has been involved in climate-change assessments. The fellows begin their one-year assignments at the department in September, followed by a five-year consultancy after they return to academia. Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell established the program in October 2003 as a means of elevating the profile of science and technology in U.S. foreign policy. Fellows are chosen for their scientific achievements, communications skills, and interest in science and engineering policy. Fellowships for the first class of five fellows end this August.

Two tapped to fill NSF, NIST posts

President George W. Bush nominated the Office of Science & Technology Policy's Kathie Olsen and William Jeffrey to fill openings at NSF and NIST, respectively. Olsen, associate director for science at OSTP, is slated to fill the post of deputy director at NSF, replacing Joe Bordogna. At OSTP, Olsen oversees science and education policy in the areas of physical sciences, life sciences, environmental science, and behavioral and social science. She holds a B.S. degree in biology and psychology from Chatham College, Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine. Jeffrey, senior director for homeland and national security and assistant director for space and aeronautics at OSTP, is being tapped to head NIST--a vacancy created when Arden L. Bement Jr. left to head NSF last year. Jeffrey holds a B.S. in physics from MIT and a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University.

Lead cited as number one toxic release

Lead and lead compounds are number one among North American releases of toxic substances that cause developmental effects, a new report says. Industrial facilities in Canada and the U.S. released 43.4 million kg of lead and lead compounds in 2002, says the report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an organization established under the North American Free Trade Agreement. CEC says cars and trucks formerly were the major contributors of lead to the atmosphere, but a phaseout of leaded gasoline dramatically curbed those emissions. Now, smelters and electric utilities are the primary sources of lead pollution, it says. In 2002, releases of lead to air were on average 13 times greater for facilities in Canada than for those in the U.S. The report is based on pollutant release data collected by the U.S. and Canada. CEC notes that Mexico is expected in 2006 to begin releasing data from its new pollutant release and transfer register. The CEC report, "Taking Stock," is available at www.cec.org/home/index.cfm?varlan=English.