Digest of Federal Resource Laws of Interest to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Great Lakes Tissue Bank
Great Lakes Tissue Bank -- Title II of P.L. 102-440, signed October 23, 1992, establishes the
Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Tissue Bank and requires the Service to coordinate facilities for
the storage, preparation, examination, and archiving of tissues from fish and wildlife in the Great
Lakes. In addition, the Service is directed to:
- Issue guidance (in consultation with appropriate Federal and State agencies and the Council
of Great Lakes Research Managers) for tissue collection, preparation, archiving and quality
control procedures;
- Maintain a central data base for tracking and assessing relevant data on Great Lakes fish
and wildlife, including data on tissues collected for and maintained in the Great Lakes Fish and
Wildlife Tissue Bank; and
- Establish criteria for public access to the data base.
The appropriation of $250,000 is authorized for each of Fiscal Years 1993 and 1994 to carry
out this program.
The legislative history includes House Report 102-759 and pages H7223 - 24 of the August
3, 1992, Congressional Record.
The Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey is responsible for
implementation of the Tissue Bank, in coordination with Fish and Wildlife Service Regions 3
and 5, the Office of Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance, Division of Environmental
Contaminants, and the Division of Information Resources Management.
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