Government Roundup

◾ A bill to measure chemicals in the bodies of Californians, passed by the state legislature, was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). The measure, opposed by the American Chemistry Council and supported by health and environmental groups, was designed to check for industrial chemicals in volunteers' blood, breast milk, and urine.

◾ The Center for Strategic & International Studies' Commission on Scientific Communication & National Security has released a white paper on "Security Controls on the Access of Foreign Scientists & Engineers to the U.S." The report is available at www.csis.org/hs/051005_whitepaper.pdf.

◾ Andrew C. von Eschenbach's position as acting commissioner of FDA is only temporary, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said recently on Bloomberg Television. Once a permanent head of FDA is found, von Eschenbach probably will return to his job as director of the National Cancer Institute, Leavitt said.

◾ Polluters agreed to $680 million worth of cleanup commitments or reimbursements to EPA for Superfund sites in fiscal 2004, a report from the agency says. EPA's inspector general says in a separate report that $7.6 million was transferred from the U.S. Treasury in 2004 to cover shortfalls in the program's trust fund.