Daniel K. Inouye (D – Hawaii), who chairs the Sentate Commerce Committee, recently introduced a Senate bill which would increase the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s funding to address potential nanotechnology EHS issues by "[a]uthorize funding levels for 7 years starting at $80 million in 2009 and increasing at a rate of 10 percent per year through 2015." For 2008 and 2009, an additional $20 million would be authorized to upgrade CPSC laboratories and $1 million would be authorized to research the safety of nanotechnology in products. The bill was co-sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor (D – Arkansas) who has been a strong nanotechnology development advocate, and its progress can be tracked online here.
