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E. Compliance with the Guidelines 
The Guidelines also establish an administrative framework for assign- 
ing the responsibility for ensuring safety in recombinant DNA research 
supported by NIH. (See Appendix C of this EIS and Section IV of the 
Guidelines.) This responsibility is shared among the principal inves- 
tigators, their institutions, and NIH. The principal investigators have 
the primary responsibility for hazard assessment and for implementation 
of appropriate safeguards. The institutions are responsible for ensuring 
that the principal investigators have the capabilities for meeting the 
requirements stipulated in the Guidelines. NIH is responsible for 
securing an independent assessment of the potential dangers of this 
research and for ensuring that no research is supported unless the 
Guidelines are followed. 
The Guidelines require that the institutions establish biohazards 
committees to carry out the institutional responsibility, and stipulate 
the qualifications and expertise of the committee membership. NIH 
responsibilities are detailed in the Guidelines (Section IV). They are 
divided among (1) NIH initial review groups, (2) the Recombinant 
Advisory Committee, and (3) the NIH staff. 
Several factors contribute to the expectation that compliance with 
the Guidelines by NIH grantees, contractors, and intramural scientists 
will be achieved. First, there is the fact that noncompliance will result 
in termination of funding. The importance of this threat is enormous. 
Adequate funding for research efforts is pivotal to independent investigators. 
Worthwhile scientific achievement is the main relevant currency- -the 
single most important criterion for reputation, for institutional advance- 
ment, and for personal satisfaction- -in the scientific community, and 
achievement is totally dependent on funds to purchase equipment and 
supplies and to support assistants. Because alternative sources of funds 
are very limited, NIH funding is of primary importance. 
Secondly, the Guidelines require that investigators and their 
institutions share responsibility for compliance. Local biohazards 
committees must be fully informed of the activities of the laboratories 
engaged in use of recombinant technology. They must certify the 
existence and efficacy of the physical containment required, and must 
judge the training and competence of those conducting the experiments. 
