every year 30 to 50 major military tech­nology systems and 10 to 12 civil projects. This means that his group, unlike Fun-dingsland's, does not initiate evaluations but only reviews evaluations conducted by DOD or NASA. His group will receive, for example, a DOD report evaluating progress on developing a new plane and the plane's performance. His job, Barmby says, is to determine whether the plane is meeting the altitude, speed, and distance requirements specified for it and whether it is cost-effective.

According to Barmby, much of his work is detective work. He points out that all the data needed to do a good evaluation aren't always contained in an official re­port. Large agencies such as DOD, he says, have "umpteen reports," thus the "name of the game is to find those re­ports." This is where having scientists and engineers in the auditing group comes in handy, Barmby says, because they have sources of information that are different from those available to the conventional auditor. For example, members of his group go to a number of professional so­ciety meetings where the papers being presented and the conversations going on may give them information on what con­tractors are doing and reporting to the agency. Also, Barmby says, former col­leagues in industry and universities can give GAO information on the strengths and weaknesses of various programs. These hints then enable his group to re­quest specific data from the agency.

Still other scientists are integrated into the operation of GAO's regular divisions. Kevin Bowen, who works in GAO's energy and minerals division, says that his group has 105 professionals, 30 of whom hold advanced degrees in areas other than ac­counting, and, of that 30, 15 are in the physical sciences. The division has per­manent staff members at each of the en­ergy and mineral agencies, including ERDA, the Nuclear Regulatory Com­mission, the Federal Power Commission, and the Department of the Interior, who keep a day-to-day eye on agency opera­tions. The division was reorganized this summer to take into account its changing responsibilities that, Bowen says, "have moved from the mode of audit, where most of our effort was hindsight, into a policy analysis role." The division is "in the middle of issues that Congress is grappling with right now," such as the question of loan guarantees for synthetic fuel plants. The result of the influx of scientists and engineers into GAO, ac­cording to Fundingsland, is that "the whole organization is becoming educated and leavened to an understanding of how science and technology pervades many national programs and issues" and their number will continue to grow. At the present time about 30% of GAO's per­sonnel are nonaccounting types. The ob­jective, he says, is to raise this level to 50%. So GAO's recruiting programs for col­lege-level hires and higher levels will, for some time to come, be emphasizing other than accounting backgrounds.

Janice R. Long, C&EN Washington

Report advises U.S. on world food problems What worries U.S. consumers most about food is the rising prices, and perhaps catching the bargains at the right time. To the average consumer, the "world food problem" is really one of certain devel­oping nations, and one of no concern to the U.S. This is just not so, says a report prepared by the House Subcommittee on Domestic & International Scientific Planning & Analysis. Any problem for other nations, it contends, is a problem for the U.S., simply because all nations are interdependent on one another. The U.S. may be long on food, but it is short on and must depend on other countries for oil and tin, for instance.

There are a number of ways for the U.S. to help other countries with a food shortage problem. But shipping food to them is only a short-term solution, the report points out. The principal contri­bution that the U.S. can make is by shar­ing its "reservoir of technology" with these countries to help them increase their agricultural production. To be able to do this, the U.S. first must strengthen its own agricultural research program. And the report suggests four ways in which this could be done: improvements in policy formulation, management structure, and coordination of research; stimulation of higher-quality research; isolation and removal of research gaps; and increasing communication among researchers, users of agricultural research, and consumers. The report's findings could influence federal research policies in this area and in legislative activity next year.

In the area of policy formulation, the report calls for a clearly defined national agricultural policy. This policy, it stresses, must address such questions as: What trade-offs is the U.S. willing to make among agricultural production, energy consumption, materials availability, land use, and environmental quality; among agricultural production, the survival of the independent family farm, and the preservation of rural life as it now exists; and among agricultural production, im­proved nutrition, and food safety. Fur­ther, the report says that the scientific community must do away with the con­cept that agricultural research is inferior to the other sciences and that agricultural scientists are of a lower caliber than other scientists.

Also in this area, the report points out the need for improved coordination and communication among the public and private research efforts. In light of pro­prietary problems, the report recognizes that it might be impossible for industry to clue the government in on some of its re­search efforts. However, it believes that much still can be gained by giving indus­try access to information on government research, which is supported by public funds.

Stimulation of higher-quality research can be achieved by opening the competi-

Federal Alert— new regulations

This listing covers regulations ap­pearing in the Federal Register from Oct. 8 through Νου. 4. Page numbers refer to those issues.

PROPOSED

Environmental Protection Agency—Sets forth emission guidelines for control of sul­furic acid mist from existing sulfuric acid production units; comments by Jan. 3, 1977 (Nov. 4, page 48705).

Describes interim effluent limitations for pesticide chemicals industry; comments by Jan. 3, 1977 (Nov. 1, page 48087).

Food & Drug Administration—Withdraws approval of Syntex Corp.'s Naprosyn tablets for use in rheumatoid arthritis, because data submitted by company contained serious discrepancies; comments by Nov. 15 (Oct. 15, page 45605).

Nuclear Regulatory Commission—Re­sumes consideration of licenses, construc­tion permits, and limited work authorizations for nuclear power plants; comments by Dec. 2 (Oct. 18, page 45849).

FINAL

Department of Health, Education & Wel­fare—Spells out procedures for public and regulatory hearings and regulations gov­erning standards of conduct and conflict of interest for agency employees involved with hearings; effective Dec. 2 (Nov. 2, page 48258).

Environmental Protection Agency—Limits air and water emissions of vinyl chloride from ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, and polyvinyl chloride plants to 10 ppm, requires plants to install best available control tech­nology; effective Jan. 21, 1977 (Oct. 21, page 46559).

Food & Drug Administration—Spells out instructions for proper labeling of vitamin and mineral products; effective immediately (Oct. 19, page 46155).

National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health—Describes procedures agency will follow in inspecting work places; effec­tive Nov. 15 (Oct. 14, page 45002).

Occupational Safety & Health Administra­tion—Limits worker exposure to coke oven emissions to 150 micrograms per eu m as determined for an eight-hour period, speci­fies minimum engineering controls and work practice controls; effective Jan. 22, 1977 (Oct. 22, page 46741).

NOTICES

Environmental Protection Agency—Issues rebuttable presumption of risk against pes­ticide benzene hexachloride, registrants to submit information by Nov. 29 (Oct. 19, page 46024).

Requests information on contribution of synthetic organic chemicals to air pollution; for instance, emission data, toxicological data, demonstrated control technology, costs associated with emissions control; com­ments anytime (Oct. 22, page 46618).

Nov. 22, 1976 C&EN 15

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tion for research grants to the widest va­riety of institutions possible, the report suggests. In addition, grant proposals should be subject to peer review. The Department of Agriculture could use a system like that of the National Science Foundation, the report says. Reviewers should be drawn from the same variety of institutions as those eligible for support under the grants program. In cases where the research is more applied in nature, the report suggests that opinions be sought outside the research community, from farmers, consumers, and industry. In cases where the research is national in scope and large investments are needed, the report recommends that the U.S. abandon its decentralized system and concentrate the research in a few labora­tories best equipped to carry it out. And USDA should maintain flexibility in its funding system so that if an area of re­search suddenly becomes ripe, funds can be shifted and made available.

This flexibility is essential in doing away with research gaps, the report adds. It identifies several areas in which re­search is needed. There should be in­creased research on the basic biological processes—photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and genetic improvement—and on energy and environmentally sound practices. And there should be more human nutrition research, which the re­port labels "primitive." Although recog­nizing that the National Institutes of Health conducts a substantial program in nutrition, the report points out that the bulk of the agency's efforts is focused on the relationships between specific nutri­ents and particular diseases. Instead, it recommends that NIH put more empha­sis on primary human nutrient require­ments, which might prevent the occur­rence of diseases in many cases.

Further, the report suggests research on high-yield systems of agriculture, which would benefit small-scale farm opera­tions. Small farms must remain compet­itive with large-scale production units, it explains. Also, technology applicable to small farms can be transferred more conveniently to other countries that op­erate farms on a small scale. And research is needed on climate and weather pre­diction and modification to reduce the vulnerability of the agricultural system to weather fluctuation. For the same reason, there should be increased research on soil and water resources. Further, the U.S. should adopt a better balance between short-term commodity-oriented programs and long-term, high-risk work. Currently, it says, U.S. efforts primarily are focused on the commodity strategy, which is geared toward improvements in the pro­duction of specific commodities.

And the report calls for improved communication among researchers, users of research, and consumers. This can be done, it says, by workshops, symposia, and research projects involving a broad range of scientists, and by wide dissemi­nation of proceedings and conclusions of conferences relating to agricultural re­search. D

16 C&EN Nov. 22, 1976