Nanotech regulation
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
A new report commissioned by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars stresses the need for regulatory oversight of nanotechnology and provides a "roadmap" for the Environmental Protection Agency to handle the challenges of the science. In the report, author J. Clarence Davies lays out an agenda designed to create an "effective oversight system" to "minimize any adverse effects of nano-materials," identifying a need for change within the EPA in areas of science, program integration, personnel, international activities and program evaluation, according to a May 23 release. The 76-page report outlines 25 steps that EPA, the government, the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative and the nanotechnology industry should take to improve oversight. "This new report seeks to encourage ... an intelligent oversight approach that empowers EPA and promotes investment and innovation in new nanotechnology products and processes," states PEN Director David Rejeski...