Spotlight on Zoning Practice
Should Zoning Play a Bigger Role in Promoting Biosafety?
Over the past several years, the COVID-19 lab leak theory has elevated awareness of biosafety and biosecurity issues among planners, emergency managers, and the public. Many experts and commentators have sounded alarms over the risks posed by "gain of function" pathogen research, the global proliferation of microbiological and biomedical laboratories (biolabs) that use highly dangerous infectious agents or toxins, and the lack of consistent and coordinated oversight of these facilities. Given these concerns, what role might local zoning play in promoting biosafety?
As Scarlet Andrzejczak notes in the July issue of Zoning Practice, "Zoning for Biosafety," zoning regulations that address biosafety are rare but not unheard of. Early adopters illustrate a few distinct approaches to shielding communities from potential harms associated with the riskiest biolabs.
Biolabs Are Everywhere
If you've ever taken a high school or undergraduate biology course that involved lab work, you've been in a biolab. But not all biolabs are this innocuous. Andrzejczak explains that researchers and policymakers often use the concept of biosafety to draw functional distinctions between biolabs. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health have defined four biosafety levels (BSL 1–4) for biolabs. The higher the number, the greater the risk.
Most labs used for educational or medical diagnostic purposes are BSL-1 or 2 facilities. Meanwhile, labs that work with seriously pathogenic or toxic biological agents, like anthrax and SARS-CoV-2, are BSL-3 facilities, and those that handle extremely dangerous agents, like the Ebola virus, are BSL-4 facilities.
According to Andrzejczak, demand for higher biosafety level labs is on the rise, but so far, most lab operators are looking for locations in larger metropolitan areas or near major research institutions. However, there is an open question about whether the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence or the mainstreaming of recent breakthroughs in vaccine development will eventually lead to a more even distribution of small, private biolabs seeking lower-cost locations. The discovery of an unlicensed "invisible" biolab in Fresno County, California, last year may be a warning bell or just a sensationalistic blip.
Zoning Alternatives
Zoning is a fairly blunt tool for promoting biosafety. Conceptually, the easiest approach is to simply prohibit BSL-3 or 4 labs in all zoning districts across an entire jurisdiction. Andrezecjak reports that some communities do precisely this. Others take a more moderate approach, restricting riskier biolabs to high-intensity commercial or industrial districts. As Andrezecjak notes, there are even a few communities, such as Brisbane, California, that have established performance standards for biolabs.
According to Andrezecjak, zoning isn't necessarily the only regulatory option. Several communities have followed the lead of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and established local oversight bodies for higher-risk facilities. Public health regulations governing lab licensing and operations take the lead in these communities. Meanwhile, zoning plays more of a supporting role, focusing on more traditional concerns, like built form, and supporting a synergistic mix of uses.
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