The biocontainment laboratory grant application prepared by the University of California, Davis, in response to a National Institutes of Health request will be available for public review beginning Feb. 10.

The proposed facility would accommodate research that focuses on protecting public health by developing new and improved vaccines, new diagnostic techniques and new therapeutic treatments for reducing and eliminating the health consequences of the most serious emerging and re-emerging diseases. The facility would also serve as a national and regional resource for diagnosing and characterizing samples of potentially infectious materials that may arise from public health threats due to either natural causes or bioterrorism.

The grant application is accompanied by a preliminary evaluation of the environmental and community effects of the proposed project, as required by NIH. If NIH awards the grant to UC Davis, the project's potential environmental effects would be fully evaluated in an environmental review satisfying the requirements of state and federal law. NIH is expected to award funding for one or two such national labs by September 2003.

The application and attached preliminary environmental analysis are available for review between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. beginning Feb. 10 at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research in 402 Mrak Hall on the Davis campus, at the reserve desk in UC Davis' Shields Library and Carlson Health Sciences Library, at the Yolo County Public Library at 315 E. 14th St. in Davis, and at the Vacaville Public Library at 1020 Ulatis Drive in Vacaville.

Comments or requests for information about the environmental implications of the proposed project should be sent to Vice Chancellor John A. Meyer, Office of Resource Management and Planning, UC Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. Comments are due by March 13.