Committee on Laboratory & Environmental Biosafety

Description and Composition

The Committee for Laboratory & Environmental Biosafety (CLEB) is the faculty oversight committee that functions as UC Berkeley’s institutional biosafety committee. 

CLEB is composed of faculty, EH&S personnel, occupational health personnel, and persons from the community.

Summary of Charges

The Committee for Laboratory & Environmental Biosafety (CLEB) formulates and recommends campus policy on laboratory and environmental safety aspects of teaching and research programs involving biohazards and potentially biohazardous materials in accordance with applicable local, State and Federal regulations and established policies.

CLEB functions as UC Berkeley’s institutional biosafety committee.  Principal Investigators require approval from CLEB before performing research with the following materials:

• Recombinant agents or materials covered by the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (NIH Guidelines) (http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/guidelines/guidelines.html)
  
• Infectious agents or materials handled at Biosafety Level 2 or 3 (http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl4/bmbl4toc.htm)
  
• Inactivated select agents (http://www.cdc.gov/od/sap/docs/salist.pdf) or inactivated agents that when viable, are handled at Biosafety Level 3 

Biological Use Authorizations (BUA)

The BUA application is the method by which Principal Investigators request CLEB approval for the materials listed above.  Once approved, the BUA will meet the requirements of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) laboratory-specific biosafety manual, California’s Occupational, Safety and Health Administration’s (Cal/OSHA) written Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Control Plan, and California’s Department of Health Services’ medical waste management plan.

Schedule

In accordance with the NIH Guidelines, a quorum of the Committee for Laboratory & Environmental Biosafety must meet in-person or by teleconference to approve a BUA.  While meetings are scheduled monthly, if a quorum cannot be in attendance, BUA review is postponed until the next meeting.

Contacts

Chair: Richard S. Stephens, Professor, School of Public Health, 643-9900, rss@berkeley.edu

EH&S Member: Bob Hashimoto, Biosafety Officer, 643-6562, bso@berkeley.edu

Administrative Support: Contact EH&S at 642-3073