The mandate of oversight sits squarely with congress. Congress has oversight role on executive agencies among other state departments (Greenberger, Kovacs, & Mike, 2010). Nevertheless, the paper discussion is bias with regard to oversight of the federal laboratories.
Federal laboratories are created by and work under government agencies and industries (Vinovskis, 2011). There is research on hazardous material and organisms, facilities handling such services are referred as high containment laboratories. Researched can pose a great risk to the nation’s security. Particularly, where there is intentional or accidental release of hazardous waste. Some of the laboratory investigations are on highly contagious diseases such as Ebola and the multidrug-resistant strains of the tuberculosis bacteria. The information acquired from the research in these laboratories has been of great importance to areas such as public health. An example is the recently developed Ebola vaccine (Vinovskis, 2011).
Also of great importance is the necessity for stringent oversight of these high-containment laboratories. There are some fears that if left unchecked, these laboratories will increase and if oversight is not strict, the possibility that some of the materials being researched may find their way outside laboratory environment or into the public space increases. In addition, oversight is required to ensure that laboratory personnel and scientists meet certain quality standards. This may be achieved via examination, licensing, and certification by government programs such as the Laboratory Field Services in California.
References
Greenberger, M., Kovacs, T., & Mike, M. (2010). Governance and Biosecurity: Strengthening Security and Oversight of the Nation's Biological Agent Laboratories.
Vinovskis, M. (2011). Revitalizing Federal Education Research and Development: Improving the R&D Centers, Regional Educational Laboratories, and the "New" OERI. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
