§285l–3 Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods

Summary

Designates ICCVAM as a permanent interagency committee inside the National Toxicology Program’s center for evaluating alternative toxicology methods. The Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences must keep any powers they already had over ICCVAM from before December 19, 2000, unless those powers conflict with the rules in sections 285l–2 to 285l–5. ICCVAM’s main goals are to make federal test reviews faster and better, avoid duplicate work across agencies, use outside scientific experts, make sure new test methods are validated for federal needs, and, when possible, reduce, refine, or replace animal testing. ICCVAM must include the heads (or their designees) of the listed federal agencies and any other agency that uses or regulates animal tests. The Director must also set up a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) to advise ICCVAM; the SAC must follow the rules in chapter 10 of title 5. The SAC will include voting members from industry groups, a national animal protection organization, and other experts, plus the agency heads as nonvoting members. ICCVAM must review and recommend new or revised test methods, help harmonize test rules across agencies and countries, guide validation of methods, accept public petitions for review, publish its final recommendations and agency responses, and report its progress publicly. The first report must be finished no later than 12 months after December 19, 2000, and later reports must be issued every two years.