Cambridge City Council Adopts Advisory Committee's Recommendations
This article was authored and contributed by Terrence F. Smith, Director of Government Affairs, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.
The report of the Nanomaterials Advisory Committee was on the agenda at the July 28 meeting of the Cambridge City Council. The Council’s actions bode well for continued manufacturing, processing, research and development using nanotechnology in Cambridge. The Council accepted the report of the Nanomaterials Advisory Committee with little comment and placed the report on file.
The discussion was brief. Councillor Davis, who filed the original order, said she was satisfied with the report. City Manager Healy stated that the report is balanced and the next steps will provide the City with a better idea of who does what in Cambridge. He also said that the LEPC has prepared the survey recommended in the report. Councillor Murphy said that the report reflects on the strengths of the Cambridge Public Health Department and the ability of the City to bring together “World Class” experts on the Nanomaterials Advisory Committee.
There was a question about nanomaterials getting into the City water supply. The Manager stated that he did not know whether it is possible to test for nano, as the City had done for pharmaceutical products several months ago, but would look into it. It should be noted that Massachusetts strictly regulates industrial wastewater. The Council took no formal action regarding this request but this issue may come up again.
If readers wish to view the discussion, the video of the meeting should be posted later this week on the City of Cambridge website at http://www.cambridgema.gov/council-archive.cfm. The discussion took place beginning around 8:15 p.m. which would be about 2 hours and 45 minutes into the meeting.
Terrence F. Smith
Director of Government Affairs
Cambridge Chamber of Commerce
859 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-876-4213
tsmith@cambridgechamber.org
Cambridge Nanotechnology Advisory Committee Recommends Nanoscale Material Registration
Cambridge, Massachusetts Nanotechnology Advisory Committee
Recommends Registration of Engineered Nanoscale Materials
Deadline for Similar Voluntary Registration Program by U.S. EPA Closes
Washington, D.C. – July 28, 2008 – Porter Wright attorney John C. Monica, Jr., served as part of the Nanotechnology Advisory Committee of Cambridge, Massachusetts (NAC), which, after a year of deliberation and information gathering, recommended that the City require the registration of engineered nanoscale materials within city limits. The Cambridge City Counsel is set to adopt those recommendations at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Cambridge – host to approximately one dozen nanotechnology-related businesses – is just the second U.S. city (behind Berkeley, California) to require registration of nanomaterials.
“Interest in regulating nanotechnology has increased in recent years due to the recognition that certain materials may take on new and unexpected properties when they are engineered at the nanoscale,” said Monica, a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP and a recognized national authority on nanotechnology product liability and environmental health and safety issues. “The City of Cambridge has approached nanotechnology in a very deliberate, considered manner and appears poised to take steps that promote public safety without stifling nanoscale innovation,” he continued.
The NAC – comprised of citizens, scientists, industrial hygienists, university faculty, nano-businesses, and private environmental consulting firms – also recommended that Cambridge’s City Counsel act to assist businesses with updates to health and safety plans for workers; educate the public; track health and safety developments; and monitor regulatory initiatives in other jurisdictions.
The City’s steps follow closely on the heels of the July 28, 2008 deadline for the first phase of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) voluntary registration program – the Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP). NMSP asked companies to report voluntarily to EPA existing data concerning nanoscale materials’ uses, hazards, exposure levels, and risk-management practices. To date, about 20 companies have provided or promised to provide information.
For more information regarding nanotechnology-related legal issues, visit www.nanolawreport.com.
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP is a nationally recognized law firm with more than 250 lawyers in its offices in Washington, D.C.; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton, Ohio; and Naples, Florida. Porter Wright provides counsel to a worldwide base of clients.
Cambridge Investigates Nanotechnology Regulations
On the heels of Berkeley, California's decision last December to impose regulations on nanotechnology businesses, the Boston suburb of Cambridge, Mass -- home to MIT and my alma mater, Harvard -- is now looking at nanotechnology regulation. According to the linked article from the Boston Globe, it appears that the Cambridge City Council is aware of the potential for stifling nanotechnology innovation with regulation:
We hope that nanotech is going to be a big part of new industry in Cambridge," said council member Henrietta Davis. But Davis said the city should make sure that nano-based businesses ply their trade safely. "It's not my intention to stifle it," she said. "It's more to be proactive."
This concept of "proactive" regulation, on which my co-blogger John Monica will be speaking this week, raises the question of how well government regulators can strike the balance between the need for innovation and the need of safety in the absence of good information about the probability and magnitude of risks associated with a given activity. On that note, I am glad that Cambridge has decided to explicitly bring industry representatives to the table when deciding whether to impose nano regulations:
Igor Linkov, managing scientist at Intertox Inc., a technology consulting firm in Brookline, said there is some evidence that nanoparticles could pose health risks. He cited a study that found that rats developed scar tissue when liquid mixed with carbon nanoparticles was sprayed into their lungs. But Linkov said far more research is needed before jumping to conclusions about the safety of nanoparticles.
"We know that some nanomaterials, at some point during their life cycle, may pose risks," said Linkov. "We really cannot quantify how high the risk is."
On Jan. 8, the Cambridge City Council voted to ask Lipson to study the nanotechnology regulation enacted in Berkeley last year, and recommend a similar statute for Cambridge. * * * The City Council ordered Lipson to study the Berkeley law and determine whether it makes sense to draw up a similar statute.
We at the Nanotechnology Law Report will continue to follow these developments.
