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December 2, 2003

Nanotech R&D Bill Headed to White House

The House and Senate reached agreement on a four-year authorization bill to fund almost $3.7 billion in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) programs scattered across five agencies, paving the way for a presidential signature. The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (S. 189), which passed both chambers the week of November 17, represents a compromise between the House Science Committee bill (H.R. 766) and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee's earlier version of S. 189.

Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) issued a press release shortly after House passage, congratulating both chambers for swift movement: "The U.S. is the leader in nanotechnology and must remain so as this new field starts remaking the marketplace. The nanotechnology program will be a model of government, university, industry cooperation, and of coordination, interdisciplinary research and public involvement."

Management of the interagency program would be coordinated through the executive branch National Science and Technology Council with technical and administrative support from staff within a newly created National Nanotechnology Coordination Office. A point of contention between the House and Senate was the composition of an external advisory committee to provide additional oversight and assessment of the progress of the research programs.

The final bill retains a plan supported by both chambers to allow the president to "establish or designate" a National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel, but follows the House intent of providing the administration with greater flexibility over its composition. The provision, however, strongly emphasizes that the panel's members should come primarily from academia and suggests that the president should consider recommendations from the scientific community, as well as state and local governments.

The legislation also resolves previous differences between the two committees over the management of research into ethical and societal impacts of nanotechnology. The final bill would allow for the creation of an American Nanotechnology Preparedness Center responsible for the "conduct and dissemination of studies on the societal, ethical, environmental, educational, legal, and workforce implications of nanotechnology." This was an important win for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who preferred a separate center to focus on such complex issues, as opposed to Rep. Boehlert, whose bill would have kept such responsibilities as an element of the R&D programs within each of the participating agencies.

The final version, however, fails to allocate any specific funds for the new center, which will be established by a merit-based competitive process. Wyden's original bill would have authorized $5 million annually, an amount that many members of Congress felt was arbitrary.

The $3.7 billion R&D investment will be shared by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institutes of Standards and Technology, and the Environmental Protection Agency. NSF and DOE will be the primary sponsors of R&D with $1.73 billion and $1.46 billion, respectively. Funding for the interagency program is not due to start until fiscal year 2005. •••