§ 13.13 High-Containment Research Laboratories; Required Reports.
RCNY § 13.13
(a)Loss or theft of a biological agent. No later than four hours after determining that there has been a theft or loss of a biological agent from a high-containment research laboratory, the laboratory operator or a person designated on the registration form of such laboratory must notify the Department of such theft or loss at a telephone number designated by the Department. Any theft or loss must be reported even if the lost or stolen biological agent is subsequently recovered and/or the responsible parties are identified. The following information must be provided: (1) The name of the biological agent and any and all of its identifying information (e.g., strain or other characterization information); (2) The quantity or an estimate of the quantity of the biological agent that was lost or stolen; (3) The time or an estimate of the time during which the theft or loss occurred; (4) The location (building, room) from which the theft or loss occurred.
(b)Exposure to or unintentional release of biological agents. Within one hour of determining that a person may have been exposed to a biological agent stored or used in a high-containment research laboratory, or of any unintentional release of a biological agent, or of an illness associated with exposure to a biological agent used or stored in a high-containment research laboratory, the laboratory operator or a person designated on the registration form of such laboratory must notify the Department of the actual or potential exposure at a telephone number designated by the Department. The following information must be provided: (1) The name of the biological agent and any and all of its identifying information (e.g., strain or other characterization information); (2) An estimate of the number of persons potentially exposed to the biological agent in or by the research laboratory and within the entity; (3) An estimate of the quantity of biological agent that was released; (4) An estimate of the time and duration of the release of the biological agent; (5) The environment into which the biological agent was released (e.g., within vs. outside building, into a waste system); (6) The location (building, room) from which the release of the biological agent occurred; (7) Identification and contact information for all persons known to be exposed to the biological agent; (8) Actions taken to respond to the release of the biological agent; and (9) Hazards posed by the release of the biological agent.
(c)No requirement of this section affects any other obligation under any other law or regulation for a high-containment laboratory to report the loss, theft or release of a biological agent to any other law enforcement or regulatory agency.
(d)All information, records and reports required by this section shall be kept confidential, provided that the Commissioner may disclose to a city, state or federal agency information necessary to respond to an emergency after determining such an emergency exists. (Added City Record 6/15/2016, eff. 12/12/2016)
