MINUTES OF MEETING - March 6-7 
4 
the Guidelines, and Dr. Richard Krause, NIAID, NIH, had reported on the 
NIH recombinant DNA risk assessment program. Dr. Morris Levin had 
reported on the risk assessment program of the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA). Dr. Bernard Talbot, OD, NIH, had summarized the work of 
the RAC in reviewing industrial applications, and Dr. Barkley, ORS, NIH, 
had reviewed the proposed supplement for large-scale physical containment 
practices. Dr. Burke Zimmerman, OD, NIH, had briefly reviewed Senator 
Stevenson's bill, S. 2234. 
Dr. Perpich said the FIC met primarily to be briefed on RAC activities 
and to consider what actions, if any, were necessary regarding the indus- 
trial application of recombinant ENA technology. Dr. Perpich reported 
that Dr. Bingham, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, 
Department of Labor, summarized the interest and involvement of the 
Occupational Safety and Health ^ministration (OSHA) , and that Dr. Robbins, 
Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), seconded her concerns. In response to these concerns, the 
Interagency Committee recommended that a subcommittee be created to 
examine occupational health issues attendant upon industrial application 
of recombinant DNA techniques. Dr. Perpich said this subcommittee, the 
Industrial Practices Subcommittee, will be chaired by Dr. Gilbert Cmenn 
of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) , and will include 
representatives of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the 
Department of Commerce (DOC), the National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Food 
and Drug Administration (FEA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) , the National 
Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Science and Technology 
Policy (OSTP). Dr. Perpich said the minutes of the FIC meeting would be 
distributed to the RAC. 
Dr. Parkinson stated his belief that OSHA has the authority to regulate 
the industrial application of recombinant ENA technology and questioned 
the need for another committee. Dr. Robbins of NIOSH said that OSHA is 
responsible for regulating workplaces employing recombinant technology 
as for workplaces using any other technology. He stated that presently 
there is no clear guidance as to what standards should be used to enforce 
the OSHA mandate. He said the absence of standards in terms of work 
practices, engineering, etc, does not eliminate OSHA's responsibility to 
protect the workplace and that OSHA and NIOSH have begun to examine this 
area. He added that NIOSH and OSHA do not want to wait a lifetime of 
worker exposure before examining potential hazards and instituting regu- 
lations. He said that if principles of protection are developed early 
in the industrial application of these techniques, implementation costs 
to industry would be substantially less than in a "retrofit" situation. 
Dr. Baltimore stated that regulation of industrial recombinant DNA prac- 
tices should be part of the general question of regulating the industrial 
application of microorganisms. Dr. Robbins agreed. 
[ 39 ] 
