On August 3, 2023, the Joint Subcommittee on Environment, Innovation, and Public Health Sustainable Chemistry Strategy Team (Sustainable Chemistry ST) of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) published a comprehensive legislation review collectively titled the Sustainable Chemistry Report: Framing the Federal Landscape.
The publication of this report marks a significant event in the calendar of environmental legal developments as it details the collaborative efforts of a bipartisan initiative aimed at strengthening and focusing the federal scope of sustainable chemistry research and development.
As previously reported, in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2021, the text of the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act was made public. This inclusion underscored the growing congressional attention being paid to sustainable chemistry and its enormous potential to provide solutions to some of our planet’s most pressing environmental challenges.
- The Sustainable Chemistry Report addresses the federal landscape of chemical innovation and regulatory oversight. It makes practical recommendations for enacting policy changes that would encourage the developement of more sustainable chemical techniques and processes.
Undoubtedly, this report signals a step forward in managing and legislating on sustainable chemistry on a federal level. Its impact on the development and application of sustainable chemistry practices across a range of industries could be profound should these recommendations be implemented.
For all legal professionals operating within environmental law and policy, a thorough understanding of the implications of the Sustainable Chemistry Report is essential: not just for the immediate potential for policy development and change at the federal level but also for the longer-term direction of sustainable chemistry in the United States.