The U.S. EPA is open to public comments on its Draft Nanotechnology White Paper. An excerpt:

“We are currently nearing the end of basic research and development on the first generation of materials resulting from nanotechnologies that include coatings, polymers, more reactive catalysts, etc. (Figure 2). The second generation, which we are beginning to enter, involves targeted drug delivery systems, adaptive structures and actuators, and has already provided some interesting examples. The third generation, anticipated within the next 10-15 years, will bring novel robotic devices, three-dimensional networks and guided assemblies. The fourth stage will result in molecule-by-molecule design and self-assembly capabilities. Although it is not likely to happen for some time, this integration of these fourth-generation nanotechnologies with information, biological, and cognitive technologies will lead to products we can only now vaguely imagine. The Agency need not develop the ability to predict the future, it only needs to prepare for it.”