Government Roundup

The Department of Energy announced in a funding rush last week the availability of $8 billion in loan guarantees for advanced fossil energy projects, $150 million in tax credits for clean energy manufacturing investments, $13 million to support solar manufacturing, and up to $226 million for development of modular nuclear reactors.

Diisononyl phthalate was added last week to California’s list of carcinogens under the state’s Proposition 65. California next will determine a safe exposure level for the plasticizer. The state requires companies to use product labels or signs to warn the public of unsafe levels of exposure to listed substances.

the European Union added seven chemicals to its list of “substances of very high concern.” The seven chemicals are two dyes, a lead compound, a cadmium chemical, a phthalate, trixylyl phosphate, and ethylene thiourea. Substances on the list are candidates for a strict type of EU regulation called authorization.

Michelle K. Lee, head of the Silicon Valley branch of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, has been named deputy director of the federal agency, effective Jan. 13, 2014. Lee will oversee the patent office until President Barack Obama and the Senate fill the vacant director’s position.

To assess the new Next Generation Science Standards, new types of tests will be required, a National Research Council report says. It recommends developing new tests to find out whether students have acquired the in-depth knowledge of core concepts required under the standards, which have been adopted by eight states to date.

The White House Office of Management & Budget’s average time to review proposed regulations increased to 79 days in 2012 and to 140 days for the first half of 2013, according to an independent federal agency report. The average review time for the period 1994 to 2011 was 62 days.