US Senate passes sustainable chemistry legislation

The US government would promote sustainable chemistry technologies under a bill passed by the Senate. Senators tucked the proposed Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act (S. 999), which has bipartisan support, into a bill (S. 4049) to set military spending for fiscal 2021, which starts Oct. 1. The provision would direct federal agencies to coordinate their work around sustainable chemistry under the aegis of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Agencies would assess the state of sustainable chemistry and devise ways for the government to promote it. The version of the military spending bill—formally the National Defense Authorization Act—passed by the House of Representatives (H.R. 6395) does not contain the sustainable chemistry provisions. In December 2019, however, the House passed stand-alone sustainable chemistry legislation (H.R. 2051), also with bipartisan support. Consequently, Senate and House negotiators working to reconcile the military spending bills may maintain the sustainable chemistry provision in their final version. The GC3 Sustainable Chemistry Alliance, American Chemical Society (which publishes C&EN), American Chemistry Council, American Sustainable Business Council, Biotechnology Innovation Organization, and Environmental Working Group endorse the sustainable chemistry legislation.