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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>85369</law_id><section_number>32.1-162.20</section_number><catch_line>Applicability of federal policies</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="32.1">Health</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="5.1">Human Research</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p><span class="dictionary">Human research</span> which is subject to policies and regulations for the protection of human subjects promulgated by any <span class="dictionary">agency</span> of the federal government shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
		In lieu of promulgating regulations pursuant to the requirements of this chapter, an <span class="dictionary">institution</span> or <span class="dictionary">agency</span> may comply with this chapter by promulgating regulations under the provisions of the Administrative Process Act (&#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Short title; purpose" href="/2.2-4000/">2.2-4000</a> et seq.) governing <span class="dictionary">human research</span> projects which incorporate, explicitly or by reference, federal policies and regulations for the protection of human subjects. However, in the case of projects which are not required, by reason of their nature, the source of their funding, or the lack thereof, to comply with federal policies and regulations, the <span class="dictionary">institution</span> or <span class="dictionary">agency</span> may enforce compliance by filing a <span class="dictionary">petition</span> for an <span class="dictionary">injunction</span> in the appropriate <span class="dictionary">circuit</span> <span class="dictionary">court</span>. This section shall not preclude any other enforcement action available to the <span class="dictionary">institution</span> or <span class="dictionary">agency</span>.</p></section></text><history>1979, c. 38, &#xA7; 37.1-237; 1992, c. 603.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
