Review of Recent Reports and National Research Council Committee Workshop - Research Progress on Environmental Health and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials - page 12

THE REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS ON THE FOURTH
ASSESSMENT OF THE NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
The Report to the President and Congress on the Fourth Assessment of the National
Nanotechnology Initiative (PCAST 2012) is the fourth review of the NNI by PCAST. Although focused
on the whole of the NNI, the report provides some key recommendations regarding EHS research. The
report follows up on the recommendations that PCAST made to the NNI in 2010. PCAST acknowledges
that the NSET Subcommittee responded to its 2010 recommendations (PCAST 2010) by creating an EHS
research strategy and establishing the position of NNI EHS coordinator as a central facilitator among the
NNI agencies and international partners. However, it expressed concern regarding the lack of integration
between nanotechnology-related EHS research funded through the NNI and information needed by
policy-makers to manage potential risks posed by ENMs (PCAST 2012, p. vi). To address that concern,
PCAST recommended that “the NSET should establish high-level, cross-agency authoritative and
accountable governance of Federal nanotechnology-related EHS research so that the knowledge created
as a result of Federal investments can better inform policy makers” (PCAST 2012, p. viii). PCAST also
called for an “increase [in] investment in cross-cutting areas of EHS [research] that promote knowledge
transfer such as informatics, partnerships, and instrumentation development” (p. viii). The latter
recommendation comes from the present committee's 2012 conclusion that an additional $20-25 million
was needed for this cross-cutting research that would not undercut other fields of research. PCAST
acknowledged the progress made in multistakeholder and interagency collaborations but called for
additional coordination particularly in occupational safety and health.
Other subjects that PCAST commented on that are pertinent to EHS include recognition of the
“significant hurdles to an optimal structure and management” of the NNI (p. 17). Specifically, the hurdles
include “the level of authority that representatives appointed to NSET have within their home agencies to
influence the budget allocations needed to meet NNI objectives, the inadequacy of mechanisms to solicit
and act upon advice from outside of government, and the level of funding and capacity of the NNCO
[National Nanotechnology Coordination Office] leadership to support the agencies in implementing
programs that align with the NNI strategic plan” (p. 17). PCAST also commented on the lack of metrics
for assessing the effects of federal investment in nanotechnology and stated that “the NNCO should track
the development of metrics for quantifying the Federal nanotechnology portfolio and implement them to
assess NNI outputs” (p. 21). Many of the PCAST recommendations are consistent with those found in the
present committee's first report (NRC 2012).
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT, NANOTECHNOLOGY:
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH, AND SAFETY RESEARCH
In May 2012, GAO issued its most recent report to the chairman of the US Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works. The report, Nanotechnology: Improved Performance Information Needed
for Environmental, Health, and Safety Research, responds to a request to review federal nanotechnology
EHS research and examines changes in federal funding for such research, nanomaterials that NNI
member agencies focused on in their EHS research in FY 2012, collaboration of NNI member agencies
with stakeholders, and the extent to which NNI strategy documents address desirable characteristics of
national strategies (GAO 2012, p. 1).
In preparing the report, GAO found substantial increases in funding by NNI agencies for
nanotechnology EHS research. In the five fiscal years beginning in 2006, funding for EHS research more
than doubled, according to agency reports. Nonetheless, GAO found it difficult to confirm that all the
reported projects were focused on EHS research and struggled with the nonuniform reporting approaches
used by NNI agencies. Regarding the former issue, GAO reported that “of the 236 projects that the seven
agencies reported to us as EHS research for fiscal year 2010, we determined that, for 43 projects (18