1.This Act may be cited as the
Green Chemistry Research and
Development Act of 2008
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The term
green chemistry means chemistry and chemical engineering to design
chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation
of hazardous substances while producing high quality products through safe and
efficient manufacturing processes;
(2)Interagency
Working GroupThe term Interagency Working Group
means the interagency working group established under section 3(c); and
(3)The
term Program means the Green Chemistry Research and Development
Program described in section 3.
3.Green Chemistry
Research and Development Program
(a)The President shall establish a Green Chemistry Research
and Development Program to promote and coordinate Federal green chemistry
research, development, education, and technology transfer activities.
(b)The activities of the Program shall be designed
to—
(1)provide sustained
support for green chemistry research, development, education, and technology
transfer through—
(A)merit-reviewed
competitive grants to individual investigators and teams of investigators,
including, to the extent practicable, young investigators, for research and
development;
(B)grants to fund
collaborative research and development partnerships among universities,
industry, and nonprofit organizations;
(C)green chemistry
research, development, and technology transfer conducted at Federal
laboratories; and
(D)to the extent
practicable, encouragement of consideration of green chemistry in—
(i)the
conduct of Federal chemical science and engineering research and development;
and
(ii)the
solicitation and evaluation of all proposals for chemical science and
engineering research and development;
(2)examine methods by
which the Federal Government can create incentives for consideration and use of
green chemistry processes and products;
(3)facilitate the
adoption of green chemistry innovations;
(4)expand education
and training of undergraduate and graduate students, and professional chemists
and chemical engineers, including through partnerships with industry, in green
chemistry science and engineering;
(5)collect and
disseminate information on green chemistry research, development, and
technology transfer, including information on—
(A)incentives and
impediments to development and commercialization;
(B)accomplishments;
(C)best practices;
and
(D)costs and
benefits;
(6)provide venues for
outreach and dissemination of green chemistry advances such as symposia,
forums, conferences, and written materials in collaboration with, as
appropriate, industry, academia, scientific and professional societies, and
other relevant groups;
(7)support economic,
legal, and other appropriate social science research to identify barriers to
commercialization and methods to advance commercialization of green chemistry;
and
(8)provide for public
input and outreach to be integrated into the Program by the convening of public
discussions, through mechanisms such as citizen panels, consensus conferences,
and educational events, as appropriate.
(c)Interagency
Working GroupThe President shall establish an Interagency
Working Group, which shall include representatives from the National Science
Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department
of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other agency that the
President may designate. The Director of the National Science Foundation and
the Assistant Administrator for Research and Development of the Environmental
Protection Agency shall serve as co-chairs of the Interagency Working Group.
The Interagency Working Group shall oversee the planning, management, and
coordination of the Program. The Interagency Working Group shall—
(1)establish goals
and priorities for the Program, to the extent practicable in consultation with
green chemistry researchers and potential end-users of green chemistry products
and processes; and
(2)provide for
interagency coordination, including budget coordination, of activities under
the Program.
(d)Each Federal agency and department participating in the
Program shall, as part of its annual request for appropriations to the Office
of Management and Budget, submit a report to the Office of Management and
Budget which identifies its activities that contribute directly to the Program
and states the portion of its request for appropriations that is allocated to
those activities. The President shall include in his annual budget request to
Congress a statement of the portion of each agency’s or department’s annual
budget request allocated to its activities undertaken pursuant to the
Program.
(e)Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Interagency Working Group shall transmit a report to the
Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. This report
shall include—
(1)a
summary of federally funded green chemistry research, development,
demonstration, education, and technology transfer activities, including the
green chemistry budget for each of these activities; and
(2)an analysis of the
progress made toward achieving the goals and priorities for the Program, and
recommendations for future program activities.
4.Manufacturing
extension center green suppliers network grant ProgramSection 25(a) of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(a)) is
amended—
(1)by striking
and
at the end of paragraph (4);
(2)by striking the
period at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting ; and
;
and
(3)by adding at the
end the following:
(6)the enabling of
supply chain manufacturers to continuously improve products and processes,
increase energy efficiency, increase recycling, identify cost-saving
opportunities, and optimize resources and technologies with the aim of reducing
or eliminating the use or generation of hazardous
substances.
.
5.Undergraduate
education in chemistry and chemical engineering
(a)
(1)As part of the Program activities under section 3(b)(4),
the Director of the National Science Foundation shall carry out a program to
award grants to institutions of higher education to support efforts by such
institutions to revise their undergraduate curriculum in chemistry and chemical
engineering to incorporate green chemistry concepts and strategies.
(2)Grants shall be awarded under this section on a
competitive, merit-reviewed basis and shall require cost sharing in cash from
non-Federal sources, to match the Federal funding.
(b)
(1)An
institution of higher education seeking funding under this section shall submit
an application to the Director of the National Science Foundation at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require.
Minority serving institutions shall receive due consideration for such funding.
The application shall include at a minimum—
(A)a description of
the content and schedule for adoption of the proposed curricular revisions to
the courses of study offered by the applicant in chemistry and chemical
engineering; and
(B)a description of
the source and amount of cost sharing to be provided.
(2)Evaluation of
applicationsIn evaluating the applications submitted under
paragraph (1), the Director shall consider, at a minimum—
(A)the level of
commitment demonstrated by the applicant in carrying out and sustaining lasting
curriculum changes in accordance with subsection (a)(1); and
(B)the amount of cost
sharing to be provided.
(c)Authorization of
appropriationsIn addition to amounts authorized under section 8,
from sums otherwise authorized to be appropriated by the National Science
Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, there are authorized to be appropriated
to the National Science Foundation for carrying out this section $7,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009, $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2010, and $8,000,000 for fiscal
year 2011.
6.Study on
commercialization of green chemistry
(a)The
Director of the National Science Foundation shall enter into an arrangement
with the National Research Council to conduct a study of the factors that
constitute barriers to the successful commercial application of promising
results from green chemistry research and development.
(b)The
study shall—
(1)examine successful
and unsuccessful attempts at commercialization of green chemistry in the United
States and abroad; and
(2)recommend research
areas and priorities and public policy options that would help to overcome
identified barriers to commercialization.
(c)The
Director shall submit a report to the Committee on Science and Technology of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate on the findings and recommendations of the study
conducted under subsection (a) within 18 months after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
7.Partnerships in green
chemistry
(a)
(1)Establishment
of partnershipsThe agencies participating in the Program shall
carry out a joint, coordinated program to award grants to institutions of
higher education to establish partnerships with companies in the chemical
industry to retrain chemists and chemical engineers in the use of green
chemistry concepts and strategies.
(2)Grants shall be awarded under this section on a
competitive, merit-reviewed basis and shall require cost sharing from
non-Federal sources by members of the partnerships.
(3)In
order to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an institution of
higher education shall enter into a partnership with two or more companies in
the chemical industry. Such partnerships may also include other institutions of
higher education and professional associations.
(4)Grants awarded under this section shall be used for
activities to provide retraining for chemists or chemical engineers in green
chemistry, including—
(A)the development of
curricular materials and the designing of undergraduate and graduate level
courses; and
(B)publicizing the
availability of professional development courses of study in green chemistry
and recruiting graduate scientists and engineers to pursue such courses.
Grants may
provide stipends for individuals enrolled in courses developed by the
partnership.(b)
(1)An institution of higher education seeking funding under
this section shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as shall be specified by the Interagency Working
Group and published in a proposal solicitation for the Program. The application
shall include at a minimum—
(A)a
description of the partnership and the role each member will play in
implementing the proposal;
(B)a description of
the courses of study that will be provided;
(C)a description of
the number and size of stipends, if offered;
(D)a description of
the source and amount of cost sharing to be provided; and
(E)a description of
the manner in which the partnership will be continued after assistance under
this section ends.
(2)Evaluation of
applicationsThe evaluation of the applications submitted under
paragraph (1) shall be carried out in accordance with procedures developed by
the Interagency Working Group and shall consider, at a minimum—
(A)the ability of the
partnership to carry out effectively the proposed activities;
(B)the degree to which
such activities are likely to prepare chemists and chemical engineers
sufficiently to be competent to apply green chemistry concepts and strategies
in their work; and
(C)the amount of cost
sharing to be provided.
8.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)National Science
FoundationThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
National Science Foundation to carry out the provisions of this Act—
(1)$20,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009;
(2)$21,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010; and
(3)$22,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011.
(b)National
Institute of Standards and TechnologyThere are authorized to be
appropriated to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to carry out
the provisions of this Act—
(1)$8,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009;
(2)$9,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010; and
(3)$10,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011.
(c)There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department
of Energy to carry out the provisions of this Act—
(1)$13,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009;
(2)$14,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010; and
(3)$15,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011.
(d)Environmental
Protection AgencyThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Environmental Protection Agency to carry out the provisions of this Act—
(1)$10,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009;
(2)$11,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010; and
(3)$12,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011.