The Lancaster Board of Health acting under the authority of
MGL c. 31, § 111, and amendments and additions thereto,
and by any other power thereto enabling, has duly made and adopted
the following rules and regulations in the interest of and for the
preservation of the public health.
All activities associated with constructing recombinant DNA (RDNA) molecules and organisms and viruses containing RDNA molecules within the Town of Lancaster shall be performed in strict accordance with these regulations and with the National Institute for Health (NIH) Guidelines as defined in §
303-80.10 below. These regulations shall govern where they differ from the Guidelines. These regulations do not apply to finished products which contain RDNA molecules and which have been approved by other government regulatory agencies for medical or other purposes.
For the purpose of these regulations, the following definitions
are adopted:
GUIDELINES
A.
NIH Guidelines for Research involving Recombinant or Synthetic
Nucleic Acid Molecules published in the Federal Register of April
2002, and any subsequent federal amendment thereto approved by the
Board of Health.
B.
In the event that the National Institutes of Health shall discontinue
or abolish their guidelines, those guidelines in effect and approved
by the Board of Health at the time of such discontinuance shall remain
in effect.
LARGE-SCALE
The use of more than 10 liters but less than 5,000 liters
of RDNA culture.
The salaries and expenses paid by the Town of Lancaster for
inspections, reviews, staff and consultants for work directly related
to carrying out the requirements of these regulations shall be assessed
to the institutions holding permits under these regulations. An accounting
of these costs will be furnished annually to each institution.
The Board of Health may vary the application of any provision
of these regulations with respect to any particular case when, it
its opinion, the enforcements thereof would do manifest injustice,
provided that the decision of the Board of Health is not in conflict
with the spirit of these standards. Any variance granted by the Board
of Health must be in writing with a copy available to the public at
all reasonable hours in the office of the Town Clerk and in the office
of the Board of Health.