OMB To Agencies: Coordinate Nanotech Budgets In Tight Fiscal Year

The White House continues to push for national nanotechnology research, but in a resource-tight environment is asking federal agencies to coordinate their efforts and wipe out potential duplication. The Office of Management and Budget pegged nanotechnology as an area that warrants greater cross-agency collaboration in a recent memo urging agencies to cut 5 percent from their 2011 discretionary spending levels but to strategically protect certain programs. OSHA has been a non-funding participant in the interagency discussions, sources say. OMB said in the memo it will soon formalize efforts tha