A recent report (November 2010) from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars explores a variety of voluntary options available for the oversight of nanotechnology products and processes. The report "Voluntary Initiatives, Regulation, and Nanotechnology Oversight: Charting a Path" by Dr. Daniel Fiorino, Director of the Center for Environmental Policy at American University, provides a historical overview of voluntary approaches to environmental protection and assesses their applicability to the emerging field of nanotechnology.

The report provides a taxonomy of the various types of voluntary initiatives and the partnerships that underlie them, as well as an assessment of the factors that are most likely to contribute to program success. The main thesis of this report is that both non-regulatory and voluntary initiatives can play a constructive role in nanotechnology oversight.

PEN web page with report download link

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