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OSTP not doing job, critics say at hearing The Office of Science & Technology Policy came in for some sharp criti­cism as the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology & Space, chaired by Sen. Adlai E. Stevenson (D.-Ill.), began hearings on how well the office is doing its job.

The tone of the hearings was set by the subcommittee's ranking minority member, Sen. Harrison Schmitt (R.-N.M.), who says he "is afraid that OSTP as an institution is failing." Except for being the motivating force behind recent increases for basic re­search in the Administration's budget proposal, he says, OSTP's influence on Administration policy is "either unapparent or negligible."

Dr. Edward David, Presidential Science Adviser in the Nixon Ad­ministration and now president of Exxon Research & Engineering Co., echoed Schmitt 's assessment of OSTP. He also believes that OSTP is failing to address a number of critical issues that are its proper concerns and that affect the health of the nation's total technical enterprise.

Among the areas where OSTP's influence should be felt—but all in­dications are that it's not—is the critical issue of increasing federal administrative controls and require­ments over basic research, David says. Such controls are leading some aca­demic scientists to complain, some­what bitterly, that administrative detail is overwhelming their principal functions, research and education. The 30-year-old cooperative rela­tionship between the federal gov­ernment and the academic commu­nity is breaking down, David con­tends, adding tha t "this is an alarming prospect, and one that could

CIRCLE 30 O N READER SERVICE CARD David: relationship is breaking down

22 C&EN March 19, 1979

damage the nation's R&D funda­mentally."

Another area David believes OSTP should be concerned with is the Ad­ministration-backed move to transfer the National Science Foundation's science education programs into a new Department of Education. He believes that as far as science and engineering are concerned, innova­tion has come from NSF, in contrast to the Department of Health, Edu­cation & Welfare's Department of Education. Fundamentally, this leadership has stemmed from the close association of education with research and advanced technical ac­tivity. Thus, he says, it would be det­rimental to the entire technical en­terprise if NSF's education activities were divorced from its other activi­ties.

Further, he says, OSTP should have some input into rules now being written implementing the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. The new rules, apparently, will prohibit any contact between a former government official and his or her old department or agency in any capacity for at least two years. The provisions of the law, David says, may even rule out service on advisory committees by private citizens who are knowledgeable about the substance of the topics being ad­dressed.

Another witness at the hearings, Dr. Edward Wenk Jr., professor of engineering and public affairs at the University of Washington, Seattle, expressed concern that Congress' in­tent in setting up OSTP is not being met. Actions by the executive branch that should be reversed, Wenk says, are reductions in OSTP staff size; abolition of the President's Com­mittee on Science & Technology and dispersal of its functions; and shunt­ing to NSF responsibility for a criti­cally important annual report and a five-year outlook on science and technology affairs.

OSTP found a defender in Rep. Thomas J. Anderson of the Michigan State House of Representatives. An­derson has been a member of OSTP's Intergovernmental Science, Engi­neering & Technology Advisory Panel since its inception. He says that from the standpoint of the states, OSTP is "working well." The advisory panel, working with OSTP, has done quite a bit of work in categorizing and set­ting priorities for state and local government problems that have a science anji technology component, he says. Work already has begun on solving some of them and he finds "federal agencies that used to ignore us are now meeting with us regularly, beginning to be aware of our prob­lems, and helping to solve them." D

Federal Alert— new legislation This C&EN report lists new leg­islation introduced between Feb. 10 and March 5. Senate and House bills are listed under areas of interest by bill number, primary sponsor, and the committee to which the bill has been referred.

SENATE

Business. S. 520—Thurmond (R.-S.C.)· Provides for payment of losses resulting from ban on use of Tris as fabric flame retardant; referred to Judiciary.

Energy. S. 477—Bentsen (D.-Tex.). Re­moves price controls from oil produced using certified tertiary recovery technologies; re­ferred to Energy & Natural Resources.

Nuclear. S. 535—Schmitt (R.-N.M.). Gives DOT sole authority over shipping nuclear wastes, requires setting up emergency re­sponse mechanism for nuclear shipping accidents; referred to Commerce, Science & Transportation.

Resources. S. 493—Matsunaga (D.-Hawaii). Sets federal standards for development, recovery of hard mineral resources in deep seabed; referred to Commerce, Science & Transportation; Energy & Natural Resources; Foreign Relations.

HOUSE

Agriculture. H.R. 2588—Wampler (R.-Va.). Expands USDA's authority by consolidating into it food programs from other agencies, including FDA's Bureau of Foods; referred to Agriculture; Interior & Insular Affairs; Inter­state & Foreign Commerce.

Energy. H.R. 2156—Bingham (D.-N.Y.). Authorizes DOE as sole purchasing agent for all petroleum and petroleum products im­ported into U.S.; referred to Interstate & Foreign Commerce; Ways & Means.

H.R. 2153—Bedell (D.-lowa). Sets up loan guarantee program for construction, oper­ation of alcohol fuels plants; referred to Ag­riculture.

H.R. 2335—Flippo (D.-Ala.). Sets up RD&D program to determine feasibility of collecting solar energy in space for transmission to and use on earth; referred to Science & Tech­nology.

Health. H.R. 2554—Maguire (D.-N.J.). Repeals exemption of coal-tar-based hair dyes from FDA regulations; referred to In­terstate & Foreign Commerce.

Patents. H.R. 2414—Rodino (D.-N.J.). Sets uniform federal patent procedures for small businesses, nonprofit organizations con­cerning ownership of inventions made with federal funding; referred to Judiciary.

Research. H.R. 2425—Brown (D.-Calif.). Establishes new Foundation for International Scientific & Technological Cooperation to help developing countries strengthen their science and technology activities; referred to Foreign Affairs; Science & Technology.

Space. H.R. 2237—Fuqua (D.-Fla.). Estab­lishes Space Industrialization Corp.; referred to Banking, Finance & Urban Affairs; Science & Technology.

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March 19, 1979 C&EN 23