[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1447 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1447

 To provide for the implementation of a Sustainable Chemistry Program, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2015

Mr. Coons (for himself and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the implementation of a Sustainable Chemistry Program, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Sustainable Chemistry Research and 
Development Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) Advisory council.--The term ``Advisory Council'' means 
        the advisory council established under section 3(d).
            (2) Interagency working group.--The term ``Interagency 
        Working Group'' means the interagency working group established 
        under section 3(c).
            (3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Sustainable 
        Chemistry Program described in section 3.
            (4) Sustainable chemistry.--The term ``sustainable 
        chemistry'' means the design, development, demonstration, and 
        commercialization of high-quality chemicals and materials, 
        chemical processes and products, and engineering and 
        manufacturing processes that eliminate or reduce chemical risks 
        to benefit human health and the environment across the chemical 
        lifecycle, to the highest extent practicable, through--
                    (A) increasing the use of more sustainable, 
                renewable, or recycled substances and materials;
                    (B) increasing the use of substitutes for rare 
                substances;
                    (C) promoting safe and more efficient 
                manufacturing;
                    (D) minimizing or eliminating lifecycle impacts, 
                including environmental and health impacts;
                    (E) optimizing product design and encouraging the 
                reduction of waste and the reuse or recycling of 
                chemicals and materials and design for the end of life 
                or the final disposition of the product; or
                    (F) increasing the design and use of safe 
                molecules, chemicals, materials, chemistries, and 
                chemical processes.

SEC. 3. SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The President shall establish an interagency 
Sustainable Chemistry Program to promote and coordinate Federal 
sustainable chemistry research, development, demonstration, technology 
transfer, commercialization, education, and training activities.
    (b) Program Activities.--The activities of the Program shall be 
designed to--
            (1) provide sustained support for sustainable chemistry 
        research, development, demonstration, technology transfer, 
        commercialization, education, and training through--
                    (A) merit-based 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) grants, loans, and loan guarantees to aid in 
                the technology transfer and commercialization of 
                sustainable chemicals, materials, processes, and 
                products;
                    (D) incentive prize competitions and challenges;
                    (E) coordination of sustainable chemistry research, 
                development, demonstration, and technology transfer 
                conducted at Federal laboratories and agencies; and
                    (F) to the extent practicable, encouragement of 
                consideration of sustainable chemistry in, as 
                appropriate--
                            (i) the conduct of Federal and State 
                        science and engineering research and 
                        development; and
                            (ii) the solicitation and evaluation of 
                        applicable proposals for science and 
                        engineering research and development;
            (2) examine methods by which the Federal Government can 
        create incentives for consideration and use of sustainable 
        chemistry processes and products, including innovative 
        financing mechanisms;
            (3) facilitate the adoption of sustainable chemistry 
        innovations and methods;
            (4) expand the education and training of undergraduate and 
        graduate students and professional scientists and engineers, 
        including through partnerships with industry, in sustainable 
        chemistry science and engineering;
            (5) collect and disseminate information on sustainable 
        chemistry research, development, and technology transfer 
        including information on--
                    (A) incentives and impediments to development, 
                manufacturing, and commercialization;
                    (B) accomplishments;
                    (C) best practices; and
                    (D) costs and benefits;
            (6) support (including through technical assistance, 
        participation, financial support, or other forms of support) 
        venues for outreach and dissemination of sustainable 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 (including through technical assistance, 
        participation, financial support, or other forms of support) 
        economic, legal, and other appropriate social science research 
        to identify barriers to commercialization and methods to 
        advance commercialization of sustainable chemistry;
            (8) provide for public input and outreach to be integrated 
        into the Program by the convening of public discussions, 
        through mechanisms such as public meetings, consensus 
        conferences, and educational events, as appropriate; and
            (9) develop metrics to track the outputs and outcomes of 
        the Program.
    (c) Interagency Working Group.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the President, in consultation with 
        the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall establish an 
        Interagency Working Group that shall include representatives 
        from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of 
        Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy, the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, 
        the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, 
        and any other agency that the President may designate to 
        oversee the planning, management, and coordination of the 
        Program.
            (2) Governance.--The Director of the National Science 
        Foundation and the Assistant Administrator for Research and 
        Development of the Environmental Protection Agency, or their 
        designees, shall serve as co-chairs of the Interagency Working 
        Group.
            (3) Responsibilities.--In overseeing the planning, 
        management, and coordination of the Program, the Interagency 
        Working Group shall--
                    (A) establish goals and priorities for the Program, 
                in consultation with the Advisory Council;
                    (B) provide for interagency coordination, including 
                budget coordination, of activities under the Program;
                    (C) meet not later than 90 days from its 
                establishment and periodically thereafter; and
                    (D) consult with the Advisory Council on a regular 
                basis.
    (d) Advisory Council.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of the establishment of the Interagency Working Group, the co-
        chairs of the Interagency Working Group shall establish an 
        Advisory Council on Sustainable Chemistry that shall make 
        recommendations to the Interagency Working Group and provide it 
        with ongoing advice and assistance.
            (2) Membership.--The Advisory Council members shall not be 
        employees of the Federal Government and shall include a diverse 
        representation of knowledgeable individuals from the private 
        sector (including small- and medium-sized enterprises from 
        across the value chain), academia, State and tribal 
        governments, and nongovernmental organizations and others who 
        are in a position to provide expertise. Once a year the public 
        may petition the co-chairs of the Interagency Working Group to 
        take into consideration the nomination of an individual to 
        serve on the Advisory Council.
            (3) Conflict of interest.--
                    (A) In general.--The Interagency Working Group 
                shall make its best efforts to ensure that--
                            (i) no individual appointed to serve on the 
                        Advisory Council has a conflict of interest 
                        that is relevant to the functions to be 
                        performed, unless such conflict is promptly and 
                        publicly disclosed and the Interagency Working 
                        Group determines that the conflict is 
                        unavoidable;
                            (ii) the Advisory Council membership is 
                        fairly balanced as determined by the 
                        Interagency Working Group to be appropriate for 
                        the functions to be performed;
                            (iii) any products of the Interagency 
                        Working Group will be the result of the 
                        Interagency Working Group's independent 
                        judgment; and
                            (iv) the meetings and proceedings of the 
                        Advisory Council be open and available to the 
                        public.
                    (B) Notification of conflicts.--The Interagency 
                Working Group shall require that individuals nominated 
                or appointed to serve on the Advisory Council inform 
                the Interagency Working Group of any conflicts of 
                interest that are relevant to the functions to be 
                performed.
                    (C) FACA applicability.--All proceedings and 
                meetings of the Advisory Council shall be subject to 
                the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
            (4) Governance.--The co-chairs of the Interagency Working 
        Group--
                    (A) may appoint new members of the Advisory Council 
                as needed; and
                    (B) shall appoint the original Chair to serve a 
                term of 1 year.
            (5) Appointment of chair.--The Advisory Council shall 
        appoint a Chair from among the members of the Advisory Council 
        after the term of the original Chair appointed under paragraph 
        (3)(B) expires.
    (e) Agency Budget Requests.--
            (1) In general.--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 
        that--
                    (A) identifies the activities of the agency or 
                department that contribute directly to the Program; and
                    (B) states the portion of the agency or 
                department's request for appropriations that is 
                allocated to those activities.
            (2) Annual budget request to congress.--The President shall 
        include in the annual budget request to Congress a statement of 
        the portion of the annual budget request for each agency or 
        department that will be allocated to activities undertaken 
        pursuant to the Program.
    (f) Report to Congress.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Interagency Working Group shall 
        submit a report to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
        Technology and Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public 
        Works and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate that shall include--
                    (A) a summary of federally funded sustainable 
                chemistry research, development, demonstration, 
                technology transfer, commercialization, education, and 
                training activities;
                    (B) a summary of the financial resources allocated 
                to sustainable chemistry initiatives;
                    (C) an analysis of the progress made toward 
                achieving the goals and priorities of this Act, and 
                recommendations for future program activities;
                    (D) an assessment of the benefits of expanding 
                existing, federally supported regional innovation and 
                manufacturing hubs to include sustainable chemistry and 
                the value of directing the creation of one or more 
                dedicated sustainable chemistry centers of excellence 
                or hubs; and
                    (E) an evaluation of steps taken and future 
                strategies to avoid duplication of efforts, streamline 
                interagency coordination, facilitate information 
                sharing, and spread best practices between 
                participating agencies in the Program.
            (2) Submission to gao.--The Interagency Working Group shall 
        also submit the report described in paragraph (1) to the 
        Government Accountability Office for consideration in future 
        Congressional inquiries.

SEC. 4. PARTNERSHIPS IN SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY.

    (a) Authorization.--The Interagency Working Group shall lead the 
agencies participating in the Program to carry out a joint, coordinated 
program to award grants to institutions of higher education to 
establish partnerships with companies across the value chain in the 
chemical industry, including small- and medium-sized enterprises, to--
            (1) create collaborative research, development, 
        demonstration, technology transfer, and commercialization 
        programs; and
            (2) train students and retrain professional scientists and 
        engineers in the use of sustainable chemistry concepts and 
        strategies by methods including--
                    (A) developing curricular materials and courses for 
                undergraduate and graduate levels and for the 
                professional development of scientists and engineers; 
                and
                    (B) publicizing the availability of professional 
                development courses in sustainable chemistry and 
                recruiting scientists and engineers to pursue such 
                courses.
    (b) Guidelines.--The Interagency Working Group shall establish 
guidelines and criteria for--
            (1) a partnership between a company in the chemical 
        industry and an institution of higher education eligible for a 
        grant under subsection (a); and
            (2) the grant application and awarding process, which shall 
        include--
                    (A) competitive, merit-based review of each grant 
                application; and
                    (B) cost-sharing from non-Federal sources by 
                members of the partnerships.

SEC. 5. STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY.

    The Director of the National Science Foundation shall enter into an 
arrangement with the National Research Council to conduct a study that 
shall--
            (1) assess the current status of sustainable chemistry 
        research in the United States, and suggest high-priority 
        research and development needs within sustainable chemistry;
            (2) examine the status of sustainable chemistry in the 
        education of chemists and chemical engineers and other relevant 
        professions and identify recommendations to improve and broaden 
        the implementation of sustainable chemistry practices in 
        science and engineering education, including examining the role 
        of toxicology, chemical hazard and risk assessment, lifecycle 
        assessment, and environmental fate and effects in science and 
        engineering education;
            (3) examine case studies of successful and unsuccessful 
        attempts at commercialization and adoption of sustainable 
        chemistry processes and products in the United States and 
        abroad and recommend research areas, priorities, and public 
        policy options that would help to overcome identified barriers 
        to commercialization; and
            (4) using available economic analyses, discuss the 
        potential economic impact of sustainable chemistry, including 
        job creation.

SEC. 6. NATIONAL STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

    Not later than 2 years after the release of the study described in 
section 5, the Interagency Working Group, in consultation with the 
Advisory Council, shall produce a national strategy and accompanying 
implementation plan for sustainable chemistry that provides a framework 
for advancing sustainable chemistry research, development, technology 
transfer, commercialization, and education and training.

SEC. 7. PRIORITIZATION.

    In carrying out this Act, the Interagency Working Group shall 
prioritize support for activities that achieve, to the highest extent 
practicable, the goals of sustainable chemistry.

SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or amend any State 
law or action with regard to sustainable chemistry or green chemistry, 
as defined by the State.
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