Local Regulation of Biotechnology

Although the federal government’s regulation of environmental aspects of biotechnology has received the greatest attention, local regulation is extremely important as well. Compared to some other industrialized nations, regulatory power in the U.S. is often widely diffused. Health and environmental regulations can be adopted at many different levels of government. Unless Congress chooses to “preempt” regulation by other government bodies.1 regulatory restrictions can be imposed by non-federal lawmakers. That is, federal law often sets a minimum standard, and other governments can then impose supplemental or more stringent specifications. Thus, in many situations companies need to satisfy not only federal law, but also meet state, county, and municipal requirements