The Petition to define "alternatives" is unnecessary because the definition is already adequately provided in Policy #12 of the Animal Care Resource Guide. Policy #12, which has been in place since 1997, requires principal investigators to provide a written narritive to the IACUC to enable the committee to "access that a resonsable and good faith effort was made to determind the availavility of alternatives or alternative methods." If an indentified alternative is not used, the investigator must justify why. This policy, which had been in place since 1997, functions well and there is no need to alter it.