ABSTRACT
APHIS/AC and NIH/OLAW have overlapping regulatory functions codied in the AWA, the AWAR, the HREA, and the PHS Policy. These documents specify the various situations in which an IACUC is required. Although all components of an animal care and use program-the IO, the AV, the animal care staff, the research community and the IACUChave important roles to play, unquestionably, federal law, regulation, and policy place the IACUC in a pivotal position for ensuring animal welfare. In addition, the Guide and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook1 describe the key role IACUCs have in the assessment and oversight of the animal care and use program. This chapter explains the various circumstances in which institutions are required to have an IACUC and summarizes the regulatory requirements of the AWA, AWAR, HREA, and PHS Policy for an IACUC. The fact that the AWA and the HREA have separate mandates concerning the creation of an IACUC can be a source of confusion since the circumstances under which these two laws require IACUCs differ. In an effort to alleviate this confusion, the reader is directed to the specic sections of the AWA, AWAR, and PHS Policy that describe the regulatory requirements for the IACUC. The remainder of the chapter provides the answers to a series of questions designed to reveal whether IACUCs are always required at research institutions, and whether IACUCs are ever required at grade schools, secondary schools, science fairs, zoos, aquaria, animal shelters, or local humane organizations.
