NIH Blue Ribbon Panel to Advise on the Risk Assessment of the NEIDL at Boston University Medical Center: Information Update

Project Update

July 2012

Extension of Public Comment Period for the Final Supplementary Risk Assessment
A Notice of Availability for the Final Supplementary Risk Assessment for the Boston University (BU) National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) was published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2012. Upon the publication of the Notice of Availability, a required 30 day comment period began in which the National Institutes of Health would accept and consider comments from the public on the final supplementary risk assessment. This comment period was set to end on August, 6, 2012. In order to provide the public with additional time to review and comment on the final supplementary risk assessment, the National Institutes of Health has decided to extend the public comment period for the final supplementary risk assessment until August 24, 2012. A notice of this extension was published in the July 23, 2012, edition of the Federal Register.
Written comments on the final supplementary risk assessment must be postmarked no later than August 24, 2012. Comments should be sent to The National Institutes of Health, Office of Biotechnology Activities, ATTN: NEIDL Risk Assessment, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Suite 750, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892. E-mail comments should be sent to NIH_BRP@od.nih.gov. Please note that comments sent by e-mail must be received by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the comment period, August 24, 2012.
Copies of the Final Supplementary Risk Assessment for the Boston University National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories and the accompanying final reader’s guide may be obtained at no cost by calling (301) 496-9838, or by emailing requests to NIH_BRP@od.nih.gov. The documents can also be downloaded here. A copy of the final supplementary risk assessment and the final reader’s guide has also been made available for review at each of the following locations: Central Branch of the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA; South End Library, 685 Tremont Street, Boston, MA; Grove Hall Library, 42 Geneva Avenue, Boston, MA; and Dudley Library, 65 Warren Street, Boston, MA.