[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20194-20195]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07074]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Request for Information; National Nanotechnology Initiative
Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy
AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
ACTION: Notice of request for information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO), on
behalf of the Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET)
Subcommittee of the Committee on Technology, National Science and
Technology Council (NSTC), seeks public input in updating the National
Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS)
Research Strategy. The NNI's current strategy was prepared in 2011,
with substantial public engagement. Federal agencies participating in
NSET's Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications (NEHI)
Working Group have begun to review the 2011 NNI EHS Research Strategy
and request input to help inform a revised and updated EHS strategy.
DATES: Interested persons and organizations are invited to submit
comments on or before 5 p.m. ET June 2, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at regulations.gov. However, if you require an accommodation or
cannot otherwise submit your comments via regulations.gov, please
contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. OSTP will not accept comments by fax or by email, or comments
submitted after the comment period closes. To ensure that OSTP does not
receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once.
[[Page 20195]]
Additionally, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit
your comments electronically. Information on how to use
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents,
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site
under ``FAQ'' (https://www.regulations.gov/faq).
Privacy Note: OSTP's policy is to make all comments received from
members of the public available for public viewing in their entirety on
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
commenters should be careful to include in their comments only
information that they wish to make publicly available. OSTP requests
that no proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally
identifiable information be submitted in response to this RFI.
Instructions: Response to this RFI is voluntary. Respondents need
not reply to all questions listed. For all submissions, clearly
indicate which questions are being answered. Multiple submissions from
an individual, group, or institution will be considered as supplements
to the original response and not as new comments. Submissions should
include the name(s) of the person(s) or organization(s) filing the
comment.
Any information obtained from this RFI is intended to be used by
the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy
development. OSTP will not respond to individual submissions. A
response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to
develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. This RFI is not
accepting applications for financial assistance or financial
incentives. Please note that the United States Government will not pay
for response preparation, or for the use of any information contained
in a response.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rhema Bjorkland at [email protected]
or 202-517-1050. Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the
deaf and hard of hearing (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS)
at 1-800-877-8339, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including
holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information: NEHI, on behalf of the NNI, is engaging the
community early in the process to allow the public and key stakeholders
to inform revisions to the NNI EHS research strategy. In preparing
comments, the public is invited to view the core research areas and
their associated needs as set out in the NNI 2011 Environmental,
Health, and Safety (EHS) Research Strategy (https://www.nano.gov/2011EHSStrategy). The 2014 Progress Review on the Coordinated
Implementation of the National Nanotechnology Initiative 2011
Environmental, Health, and Safety Research Strategy (https://www.nano.gov/2014-EHS-Progress-Review) and 2017 Highlights of Recent
Research on the Environmental, Health, and Safety Implications of
Engineered Nanomaterials (https://www.nano.gov/Highlights-Federal-NanoEHS-Report) provide additional information on the progress made in
the core research areas.
Information Requested: Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6617, OSTP is
soliciting public input through an RFI to obtain feedback from a wide
variety of stakeholders, including individuals, industry, academia,
research laboratories, nonprofits, and think tanks. OSTP is interested
in public input to inform an updated nanotechnology EHS research
strategy, specifically a strategy that focuses on the use of science-
based risk analysis and risk management to protect public health and
the environment while also fostering the technological advancements
that benefit society. OSTP seeks responses to any or all of the
following questions:
1. What are the research accomplishments in the following six core
research areas identified in the 2011 NNI EHS Strategy? The six core
research areas are (1) Nanomaterial Measurement Infrastructure, (2)
Human Exposure Assessment, (3) Human Health, (4) Environment, (5) Risk
Assessment and Risk Management Methods, and (6) Informatics and
Modeling.
2. What research gaps remain in addressing the six NNI EHS core
research areas listed in question 1?
3. The ethical, legal, and societal implications (ELSI) of
nanotechnology are considered across the core research areas of the
2011 strategy. What additional ways could ELSI be more fully integrated
throughout a refreshed NNI EHS research strategy?
4. What broad themes should the revised strategy adopt to integrate
and connect the six research areas?
5. How should the updated NNI EHS research strategy reflect the
evolution of nanotechnology beyond engineered nanomaterials to complex
systems, structures, and devices?
6. The 2011 strategy focused on engineered nanomaterials and did
not include incidental nanoscale materials such as nanoplastics and
certain nanoscale particulate emissions such as those from 3D printing.
If the updated strategy is revised to include some non-engineered or
incidental nanomaterials, describe how to scope the strategy in a way
that complements rather than being redundant with existing health and
environmental research (e.g., by excluding the large body of existing
research on air pollution, which can include nanoscale particles).
Dated: March 31, 2023.
Stacy Murphy,
Deputy Chief Operations Officer/Security Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023-07074 Filed 4-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3270-F1-P