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On September 14, 1983, a lawsuit against NIH was filed in the United 
States Olstrict Court for the District of Columbia. (M) The suit claimed that 
NIH had approved experiments involving release of recombinant DNA organisms 
into the environment without the preparation of an Environmental Assessment 
and/or an Environmental Impact Statement, in violation of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the CEO NEPA Regulations. 
On May 16, 1984, the Court enjoined the NIH from "approving or continuing 
to approve experimentation involving the deliberate release of recombinant ONA 
under ... the ... NIH Guidelines ... until such time as the Court enters final 
judgment." The University of California was enjoined from proceeding with the 
Lindcw-Panepoulos frost damage experiment approved by NIH on June 1, 1983, 
until such time as the Court enters final judgment. In Its decision, the Court 
stated, among other things, that the NIH decision "not to support the very 
first deliberate release experiment with even an environmental assessment, ... 
strongly suggests the absence of a hard look inquiry." (N) 
In response to the Court's decision, NIH has prepared this EA and FONSI. 
3.0 Purpose and Need 
3.1 Purpose of the Proposed Action 
The purpose of the proposed field test is to determine the degree of 
protection from frost damage which the recombinant ONA-modifled bacterial 
strain will afford to potato, tomato and bean plants under the prevailing 
conditions at the test site. The purpose of NIH approval of this proposed 
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