II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sustainable Chemistry 

5 Research and Development Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 

9 Council’’ means the advisory council established 

10 under section 3(d). 


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1 (2) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 

2 ‘‘Interagency Working Group’’ means the inter3 agency working group established under section 3(c). 

4 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

5 the Sustainable Chemistry Program described in sec6 tion 3. 

7 (4) SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY.—The term 

8 ‘‘sustainable chemistry’’ means the design, develop9 ment, demonstration, and commercialization of high10 quality chemicals and materials, chemical processes 

11 and products, and engineering and manufacturing 

12 processes that eliminate or reduce chemical risks to 

13 benefit human health and the environment across 

14 the chemical lifecycle, to the highest extent prac15 ticable, through— 

16 (A) increasing the use of more sustainable, 

17 renewable, or recycled substances and mate18 rials; 

19 (B) increasing the use of substitutes for 

20 rare substances; 

21 (C) promoting safe and more efficient 

22 manufacturing; 

23 (D) minimizing or eliminating lifecycle im24 pacts, including environmental and health im25 pacts; 


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1 (E) optimizing product design and encour2 aging the reduction of waste and the reuse or 

3 recycling of chemicals and materials and design 

4 for the end of life or the final disposition of the 

5 product; or 

6 (F) increasing the design and use of safe 

7 molecules, chemicals, materials, chemistries, 

8 and chemical processes. 

9 SEC. 3. SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish an 

11 interagency Sustainable Chemistry Program to promote 

12 and coordinate Federal sustainable chemistry research, 

13 development, demonstration, technology transfer, commer14 cialization, education, and training activities. 

15 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the Pro16 gram shall be designed to— 

17 (1) provide sustained support for sustainable 

18 chemistry research, development, demonstration, 

19 technology transfer, commercialization, education, 

20 and training through— 

21 (A) merit-based competitive grants to indi22 vidual investigators and teams of investigators, 

23 including, to the extent practicable, young in24 vestigators, for research and development; 


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1 (B) grants to fund collaborative research 

2 and development partnerships among univer3 sities, industry, and nonprofit organizations; 

4 (C) grants, loans, and loan guarantees to 

5 aid in the technology transfer and commer6 cialization of sustainable chemicals, materials, 

7 processes, and products; 

8 (D) incentive prize competitions and chal9 lenges; 

10 (E) coordination of sustainable chemistry 

11 research, development, demonstration, and tech12 nology transfer conducted at Federal labora13 tories and agencies; and 

14 (F) to the extent practicable, encourage15 ment of consideration of sustainable chemistry 

16 in, as appropriate— 

17 (i) the conduct of Federal and State 

18 science and engineering research and de19 velopment; and 

20 (ii) the solicitation and evaluation of 

21 applicable proposals for science and engi22 neering research and development; 

23 (2) examine methods by which the Federal Gov24 ernment can create incentives for consideration and 


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1 use of sustainable chemistry processes and products, 

2 including innovative financing mechanisms; 

3 (3) facilitate the adoption of sustainable chem4 istry innovations and methods; 

5 (4) expand the education and training of under6 graduate and graduate students and professional sci7 entists and engineers, including through partner8 ships with industry, in sustainable chemistry science 

9 and engineering; 

10 (5) collect and disseminate information on sus11 tainable chemistry research, development, and tech12 nology transfer including information on— 

13 (A) incentives and impediments to develop14 ment, manufacturing, and commercialization; 

15 (B) accomplishments; 

16 (C) best practices; and 

17 (D) costs and benefits; 

18 (6) support (including through technical assist19 ance, participation, financial support, or other forms 

20 of support) venues for outreach and dissemination of 

21 sustainable chemistry advances such as symposia, fo22 rums, conferences, and written materials in collabo23 ration with, as appropriate, industry, academia, sci24 entific and professional societies, and other relevant 

25 groups; 


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1 (7) support (including through technical assist2 ance, participation, financial support, or other forms 

3 of support) economic, legal, and other appropriate 

4 social science research to identify barriers to com5 mercialization and methods to advance commer6 cialization of sustainable chemistry; 

7 (8) provide for public input and outreach to be 

8 integrated into the Program by the convening of 

9 public discussions, through mechanisms such as pub10 lic meetings, consensus conferences, and educational 

11 events, as appropriate; and 

12 (9) develop metrics to track the outputs and 

13 outcomes of the Program. 

14 (c) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

15 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi17 dent, in consultation with the Office of Science and 

18 Technology Policy, shall establish an Interagency 

19 Working Group that shall include representatives 

20 from the National Science Foundation, the National 

21 Institute of Standards and Technology, the Depart22 ment of Energy, the Environmental Protection 

23 Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the Depart24 ment of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, 

25 and any other agency that the President may desVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:10 May 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1447.IS S1447

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1 ignate to oversee the planning, management, and co2 ordination of the Program. 

3 (2) GOVERNANCE.—The Director of the Na4 tional Science Foundation and the Assistant Admin5 istrator for Research and Development of the Envi6 ronmental Protection Agency, or their designees, 

7 shall serve as co-chairs of the Interagency Working 

8 Group. 

9 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—In overseeing the 

10 planning, management, and coordination of the Pro11 gram, the Interagency Working Group shall— 

12 (A) establish goals and priorities for the 

13 Program, in consultation with the Advisory 

14 Council; 

15 (B) provide for interagency coordination, 

16 including budget coordination, of activities 

17 under the Program; 

18 (C) meet not later than 90 days from its 

19 establishment and periodically thereafter; and 

20 (D) consult with the Advisory Council on a 

21 regular basis. 

22 (d) ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of the establishment of the Inter25 agency Working Group, the co-chairs of the InterVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:10 May 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1447.IS S1447

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1 agency Working Group shall establish an Advisory 

2 Council on Sustainable Chemistry that shall make 

3 recommendations to the Interagency Working Group 

4 and provide it with ongoing advice and assistance. 

5 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Council mem6 bers shall not be employees of the Federal Govern7 ment and shall include a diverse representation of 

8 knowledgeable individuals from the private sector 

9 (including small- and medium-sized enterprises from 

10 across the value chain), academia, State and tribal 

11 governments, and nongovernmental organizations 

12 and others who are in a position to provide exper13 tise. Once a year the public may petition the co14 chairs of the Interagency Working Group to take 

15 into consideration the nomination of an individual to 

16 serve on the Advisory Council. 

17 (3) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Interagency Work19 ing Group shall make its best efforts to ensure 

20 that— 

21 (i) no individual appointed to serve on 

22 the Advisory Council has a conflict of in23 terest that is relevant to the functions to 

24 be performed, unless such conflict is 

25 promptly and publicly disclosed and the 


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1 Interagency Working Group determines 

2 that the conflict is unavoidable; 

3 (ii) the Advisory Council membership 

4 is fairly balanced as determined by the 

5 Interagency Working Group to be appro6 priate for the functions to be performed; 

7 (iii) any products of the Interagency 

8 Working Group will be the result of the 

9 Interagency Working Group’s independent 

10 judgment; and 

11 (iv) the meetings and proceedings of 

12 the Advisory Council be open and available 

13 to the public. 

14 (B) NOTIFICATION OF CONFLICTS.—The 

15 Interagency Working Group shall require that 

16 individuals nominated or appointed to serve on 

17 the Advisory Council inform the Interagency 

18 Working Group of any conflicts of interest that 

19 are relevant to the functions to be performed. 

20 (C) FACA APPLICABILITY.—All pro21 ceedings and meetings of the Advisory Council 

22 shall be subject to the Federal Advisory Com23 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

24 (4) GOVERNANCE.—The co-chairs of the Inter25 agency Working Group— 


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1 (A) may appoint new members of the Advi2 sory Council as needed; and 

3 (B) shall appoint the original Chair to 

4 serve a term of 1 year. 

5 (5) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR.—The Advisory 

6 Council shall appoint a Chair from among the mem7 bers of the Advisory Council after the term of the 

8 original Chair appointed under paragraph (3)(B) ex9 pires. 

10 (e) AGENCY BUDGET REQUESTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency and 

12 department participating in the Program shall, as 

13 part of its annual request for appropriations to the 

14 Office of Management and Budget, submit a report 

15 to the Office of Management and Budget that— 

16 (A) identifies the activities of the agency or 

17 department that contribute directly to the Pro18 gram; and 

19 (B) states the portion of the agency or de20 partment’s request for appropriations that is al21 located to those activities. 

22 (2) ANNUAL BUDGET REQUEST TO CON23 GRESS.—The President shall include in the annual 

24 budget request to Congress a statement of the por25 tion of the annual budget request for each agency or 


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1 department that will be allocated to activities under2 taken pursuant to the Program. 

3 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Interagency 

6 Working Group shall submit a report to the Com7 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology and Com8 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

9 Representatives and the Committee on Environment 

10 and Public Works and the Committee on Commerce, 

11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate that shall 

12 include— 

13 (A) a summary of federally funded sustain14 able chemistry research, development, dem15 onstration, technology transfer, commercializa16 tion, education, and training activities; 

17 (B) a summary of the financial resources 

18 allocated to sustainable chemistry initiatives; 

19 (C) an analysis of the progress made to20 ward achieving the goals and priorities of this 

21 Act, and recommendations for future program 

22 activities; 

23 (D) an assessment of the benefits of ex24 panding existing, federally supported regional 

25 innovation and manufacturing hubs to include 


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1 sustainable chemistry and the value of directing 

2 the creation of one or more dedicated sustain3 able chemistry centers of excellence or hubs; 

4 and 

5 (E) an evaluation of steps taken and fu6 ture strategies to avoid duplication of efforts, 

7 streamline interagency coordination, facilitate 

8 information sharing, and spread best practices 

9 between participating agencies in the Program. 

10 (2) SUBMISSION TO GAO.—The Interagency 

11 Working Group shall also submit the report de12 scribed in paragraph (1) to the Government Ac13 countability Office for consideration in future Con14 gressional inquiries. 

15 SEC. 4. PARTNERSHIPS IN SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY. 

16 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Interagency Working 

17 Group shall lead the agencies participating in the Program 

18 to carry out a joint, coordinated program to award grants 

19 to institutions of higher education to establish partner20 ships with companies across the value chain in the chem21 ical industry, including small- and medium-sized enter22 prises, to— 

23 (1) create collaborative research, development, 

24 demonstration, technology transfer, and commer25 cialization programs; and 


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1 (2) train students and retrain professional sci2 entists and engineers in the use of sustainable chem3 istry concepts and strategies by methods including— 

4 (A) developing curricular materials and 

5 courses for undergraduate and graduate levels 

6 and for the professional development of sci7 entists and engineers; and 

8 (B) publicizing the availability of profes9 sional development courses in sustainable chem10 istry and recruiting scientists and engineers to 

11 pursue such courses. 

12 (b) GUIDELINES.—The Interagency Working Group 

13 shall establish guidelines and criteria for— 

14 (1) a partnership between a company in the 

15 chemical industry and an institution of higher edu16 cation eligible for a grant under subsection (a); and 

17 (2) the grant application and awarding process, 

18 which shall include— 

19 (A) competitive, merit-based review of each 

20 grant application; and 

21 (B) cost-sharing from non-Federal sources 

22 by members of the partnerships. 


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1 SEC. 5. STUDY OF SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY. 

2 The Director of the National Science Foundation 

3 shall enter into an arrangement with the National Re4 search Council to conduct a study that shall— 

5 (1) assess the current status of sustainable 

6 chemistry research in the United States, and suggest 

7 high-priority research and development needs within 

8 sustainable chemistry; 

9 (2) examine the status of sustainable chemistry 

10 in the education of chemists and chemical engineers 

11 and other relevant professions and identify rec12 ommendations to improve and broaden the imple13 mentation of sustainable chemistry practices in 

14 science and engineering education, including exam15 ining the role of toxicology, chemical hazard and risk 

16 assessment, lifecycle assessment, and environmental 

17 fate and effects in science and engineering edu18 cation; 

19 (3) examine case studies of successful and un20 successful attempts at commercialization and adop21 tion of sustainable chemistry processes and products 

22 in the United States and abroad and recommend re23 search areas, priorities, and public policy options 

24 that would help to overcome identified barriers to 

25 commercialization; and 


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1 (4) using available economic analyses, discuss 

2 the potential economic impact of sustainable chem3 istry, including job creation. 

4 SEC. 6. NATIONAL STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 

5 Not later than 2 years after the release of the study 

6 described in section 5, the Interagency Working Group, 

7 in consultation with the Advisory Council, shall produce 

8 a national strategy and accompanying implementation 

9 plan for sustainable chemistry that provides a framework 

10 for advancing sustainable chemistry research, develop11 ment, technology transfer, commercialization, and edu12 cation and training. 

13 SEC. 7. PRIORITIZATION. 

14 In carrying out this Act, the Interagency Working 

15 Group shall prioritize support for activities that achieve, 

16 to the highest extent practicable, the goals of sustainable 

17 chemistry. 

18 SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

19 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or 

20 amend any State law or action with regard to sustainable 

21 chemistry or green chemistry, as defined by the State. 

Æ 


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