Federal commercialization activities

The Office of Management Budget (0MB) has identified three major classes of Federal R D programs, each of which is augmented to some extent by technology transfer and commercialization activities (.7). The 0MB R D categories and typical technology transfer activities are presented below, with some comments about inherent policy research Issues and problems. 

When EPA rejects a request for a correction, it sends the submitter a denial letter with the reasons for the denial. In some situations, EPA will specify what additional information will be needed for it to reevaluate the request, and a second submittal may lead to an acceptance. If the correction is accepted, the correct substance identity is considered to be legally included in the TSCA Inventory retroactively to the time of the initial Inventory, or to the time when the substance was placed on the Inventory through submission of a Notice of Commencement. When an Inventory correction is accepted, the erroneously listed chemical remains on the Inventory until EPA makes a formal Federal Register announcement of its removal from the Inventory to avoid disrupting commercial activity by the unpublished deletion of a chemical listing upon which some companies may be relying. 

In the five and one-half years of ensuing Congressional activity, many additional aspects were considered and some were included in the Act as finally enacted. Possibly the most controversial had to do with the treatment of new substances. Were these to be treated by registration, as is the case in the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), or were they to be subject to a less onerous notification procedure This would begin the attempt to assess their risks more in balance with the growth in commercial volume of the substance, and hence with its capacity to pay the costs for the frequently costly testing required. Without such a balance, the... 

The term solid waste is a very comprehensive term that can be difficult to dehne precisely. The United States Code of Federal Regulations (Chapter 1, Part 261, of Title 40) provides the legal dehnition. That document dehnes solid wastes rather simply as "any discarded material that is not excluded by other provisions of the chapter. Those provisions refer primarily to liquid wastes, such as sludge and domestic wastewater. The U.S. Army provides a somewhat more detailed definition of the term "any garbage, refuse, sludge, or other discarded material resulting from industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential activity. Discarded materials include those that are disposed of, abandoned, recycled, or are inherently waste-like. ... 

Exposure limits for specific activities have been further limited. For example. Appendix I, Title 10, Part 50, Code of Federal R ula-tions recommends a design limit of 0.1 mSv )r (10 mrem jr ) for the maximum calculated radiation dose to any one organ in an individual at the site boundary of a commercial light water nuclear power plant (NRC, 1984). 

Prior to discharge, the condensate flows to the on-site federally owned treatment works, which includes an activated-sludge sewage treatment plant. The crystallized salts are shipped to an off-site commercial treatment, storage, and disposal facility. 

The U.S. federal government s experience with 2,4,5-T demonstrates a significant principle One must be concerned not only with the safety of the active components of commercial products, but also with the safety of byproducts that may be present in those products or that may form during natural degradation. Adherence to this principle is a major and costly challenge to those who develop herbicides, and concern for safety is partly responsible for the (at present) decreasing number of herbicides that are available for treating aquatic weeds. 

On November 8, 1978, it was reported in the Wall Street Journal that "The only active commercial coal gasification project has been halted by American Natural Resources Co. and four gas-pipeline concerns. The suspension of design and engineering work on the 1.4 billion project in North Dakota followed the failure of attempts to settle a controversy over the method of financing the project which had delayed federal approval required before work could proceed."... 

A research and development program on the recovery and purification of potentially useful by-product actinides from the nuclear fuel cycle was carried out some years ago in the Federal Republic of Germany as part of the "Actinides Project" (PACT). In the course of this program, procedures for the recovery of neptunium, americium and curium isotopes from power reactor fuels, as well as procedures for the processing of irradiated targets of neptunium and americium to produce heat-source isotopes, have been developed. The history of the PACT Program has been reviewed previously (1). Most of the PACT activities were terminated towards the end of 1973, when it became evident that no major commercial market for the products in question was likely to develop. 

The Federal Law of Responsibilities for Government Officers forbids these officers from requesting, accepting or receiving any gifts or donations from people whose commercial or industrial activities are directly linked to or regulated or supervised by the government official. 

In the absence of an unambiguous history of ricin exposure, the preferred diagnostic method is specific immunoassay of ricin in serum, respiratory secretions, or other clinical samples associated with poisoning. Most of the methods described for ricin detection are experimental or are under development. The CDC and the Federal Laboratory Response Network have the capability to detect ricin in environmental specimens using validated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and time-resolved immunofluorescence assays, with cell-based bioassays to confirm ricin activity. The U.S. Department of Defense has produced experimental field immunoassays, but commercial distribution of field test kits currently is limited. 

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