WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced a bipartisan bill to spur innovation in the field of sustainable chemistry. The Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act would encourage the design, development, and commercialization of high-performing chemicals, products, and processes that reduce or eliminate risk to human health and benefit the environment. 

“Encouraging innovation in sustainable chemistry is an important way we can grow our economy while improving American health,” said Senator Coons. “We have only scratched the surface of developing new ways to ensure products we use every day – from our laundry detergent to our shoes – are produced in a way that maintains their high quality and benefits our health and the environment. By creating a cohesive vision for our nation’s sustainable chemistry research and building new partnerships with the private sector, the bipartisan Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act is an exciting opportunity to create jobs and maintain our scientific leadership.”

“This bipartisan legislation will help to create American jobs and maintain the scientific leadership of the United States,” said Senator Collins. “Through the promotion of a coordinated effort that supports research, development, and commercialization in the burgeoning field of sustainable chemistry, this bill will help to advance new and innovative ways to safely produce quality and safe products for all Americans.”

The Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act would support sustainable chemistry research, development, technology transfer, commercialization, education, and training through federal grants and loans, targeted studies, partnerships with industry, and interagency coordination. Importantly, the bill does not include any regulatory components, nor does it authorize new spending. Its goal, rather, is to increase and coordinate federal activities in sustainable chemistry and encourage the private sector, academia, nonprofits, and the general public to innovate, develop, and bring to market cutting-edge sustainable chemistry products and processes. To achieve this, the legislation creates a federal interagency working group tasked with developing and implementing a national strategy to advance sustainable chemistry.

“We support the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2015 because it will drive innovation, accelerate research and development of safer chemicals and processes, and create jobs,” said David Levine, CEO of the American Sustainable Business Council. “The safer chemistries space has the potential to be an economic and job creation engine, and this bill will put us on a path to get there.  We appreciate the leadership shown by Senator Coons and Senator Collins for introducing this legislation.”

“The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) endorses the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2015,” said Ken Zarker, Chair Emeritus at the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable. “We applaud Senator Coons' actions to advance the research and innovation into the design and use of safer chemicals. We are encouraged this legislation will accelerate market based solutions to our most significant challenges. This is an important investment for the United States to remain in the forefront of chemical innovation.”   

“As a science company with a broad portfolio of products using renewable materials, we support Senator Coons’ bill because it will foster a step change in innovation through advancements in sustainable chemistry research and development, technology transfer, education, and training,” said James Romine, Vice President of Product Stewardship and Regulatory Affairs at DuPont. “We applaud Senator Coons for his leadership in promoting innovation through unique partnerships among the public and private sector and look forward to seeing this bill become law.”

“EDF applauds Senator Coons for his leadership in promoting sustainable chemistry research and development,” said Richard Denison, Lead Senior Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. “As we work to ensure that the chemicals in our homes, consumer products, and workplaces are safe for people and for the environment, we need to build our society’s capacity to develop and commercialize safer chemical innovations.”

The legislation is supported by the American Chemistry Council (ACC); the American Chemical Society (ACS); the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) Action Fund; the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (DESCA); the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF); the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3); the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR); The Renewable Chemicals and Materials Alliance (re:chem); The Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA); Air Liquide; Ashland; BASF; Braskem; Croda; Dow Chemical; DuPont; Musea Ventures; Simply Sustain LLC; The Honest Company; White Dog Labs; Dr. Paul Anastas, Yale Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering; 3M; and University of Delaware.