Encouraging an ACS policy ecosystem

ACS has a long history of engagement in public policy and working with policymakers. When US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the National Charter for the American Chemical Society in 1937, the US government charged the society to “encourage. . . the advancement of chemistry in all its branches, to promote research in chemical science and industry, . . . aid the development of our country’s industries, and add to the material prosperity and happiness of our people.” To assist the society in carrying out its federal charter, the ACS Committee of Chemistry and Public Affairs (CCPA) helps identify and analyze legislative, regulatory, public funding, and other science policy issues that affect the chemical sciences. To that end, the committee is tasked with making recommendations on policy statements, facilitating communications between experts and the government on questions concerning chemical sciences and technologies, and encouraging ACS members to become involved in