Congressman Phil Gingrey (GA-11) today introduced H.R. 1215, the Green Chemistry bill.  This legislation strengthens federal efforts to find benign alternatives to today’s chemical products. 

“Chemical manufacturing is the source of so many products we depend on, from medicine to fuel to fabric,” said Gingrey. “However, the process can result in harmful byproducts for the environment and human health.  We need to invest greater resources into finding ways to reduce and hopefully eliminate potential harm.  Several major chemical corporations have already experienced great success using green chemistry, and we can help our environment and ourselves by encouraging further developments in this area.”

H.R. 1215 is nearly identical to legislation Rep. Gingrey introduced last year, which was overwhelmingly approved by the House in April of 2004.   Companion legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate shortly.

“Chemists can design chemicals to be safe, just as they can design them to have other properties, like color and texture,” said Gingrey. “As chemists design products, they should factor the elimination of hazardous byproducts into the process.  Congress needs to support these efforts, and make it easier for more research to be conducted on green chemistry.”

H.R. 1215 would authorize a coordinated research and development program using existing funds under the Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Department of Energy.

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