ACS Introduces New Policy Statement

The American Chemical Society has issued a new official policy statement that calls for more research and education on endocrine disruption. The society has also revised five other statements that were introduced in 2007 and renewed a sixth without revision. The ACS Board Committee on Public Affairs & Public Relations (PA&PR) reviews policy statements every three years. All statements are available on the ACS website at www.acs.org/policy.

"Policy statements are a way for ACS to represent the interests of its more than 161,000 members and communicate them to policymakers in the government," says Ray Garant, assistant director of public policy in the ACS Office of Public Affairs and the Office of the Secretary & General Counsel. "We've had a lot of successes recently, including in the past year, with our members influencing what's going on in policy areas ranging from research funding to regulation of chemical sites for security-related matters."

ACS's new policy statement on endocrine disruption endorses expanded endocrine disrupter education and research and the development of more effective science-based and decision-making tools and methods for reducing and eliminating human and environmental exposure to these compounds.

For example, the statement calls for increased funding for improvements in testing for endocrine disruption with an emphasis on the development of assays that can serve as screening tests to model endocrine disrupting activity. It also seeks research funding to identify exposure pathways, uptake mechanisms, and trends in human exposure and its impact. The statement also supports greater funding for green chemistry research aimed at identifying and developing functional alternatives that do not have endocrine disrupting activity.

PA&PR has also revised five statements that were introduced in 2007. The statement on energy strategy, which ACS drafted in partnership with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, calls for government, industry, and academia to come together to develop a comprehensive energy science and technology policy. It recommends that "policymakers move promptly to designate a lead federal entity to coordinate these efforts, to fully fund existing federal programs in this area, and to support international collaborations and activities to coordinate energy strategy assessments with other nations" and that "policymakers continue to fund efforts such as those at the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to develop life-cycle assessment methodologies."

In its position on health care policy, ACS says that association health care plans can address some health care-related issues, but they are not an all-encompassing solution to the health care problem that society faces. Briefly, association health care plans, if approved by Congress, would allow nonemployer groups, including professional associations such as ACS, to offer health insurance to their members.

The statement on science and technology funding makes specific recommendations for EPA, the National Institutes of Health, DOE, and the National Science Foundation. It urges the Administration to "focus on the long-term benefits of basic research rather than on short-term economic impacts such as immediate job creation."

The statement on innovation and competitiveness asks policymakers to support U.S. innovation through investments in education and training, "long-term commitments to basic research and technology development, and the development of a sustainable infrastructure for innovation."

Finally, the statement on the regulation of laboratory waste, among other things, encourages consistent interpretation and enforcement of regulations at the state and federal levels; recommends the elimination of the land disposal restriction notification requirement for laboratories; and proposes that legislation, rulemaking, and guidance allow qualified laboratory personnel to treat small quantities of hazardous waste without a permit.

The Committee renewed the statement on inherently safer technology (IST) with no changes to the version introduced in 2007. The statement urges greater federal support of developing inherently safer technologies and their increased use. In a nutshell, the goals of IST in chemical operations are to minimize the potential for accidents, to aim for substituting less hazardous materials and processes, and to support design of safer equipment, among other things.

ACS members can play a role in shaping these policy statements and raising awareness about them among legislators. "There are many opportunities for members to be involved," Garant says. For example, members can join the ACS Legislative Action Network, which updates members on ACS-relevant federal legislation; join one of the nearly 100 local section government affairs groups; or serve on an ACS committee. Another way to contribute ideas is to join the Act4Chemistry forum on the ACS Network. All of these programs can be accessed at www.acs.org/policy.

The policy statements have produced results. In 2008, in an effort to influence state-level policy, ACS launched a pilot program to focus on enhancing K–12 science education. The pilot has become a full program in operation in five states. Garant says this year's goal is to develop state-based programs in two to six additional states so that more members have an opportunity to get involved.

ACS hopes that more members will join the effort to help shape public policy that affects the chemical enterprise. "The more members who participate," Garant says, "the stronger our voice is going to be."