In accordance with existing Russian Federation legislation, FMBA is responsible for medical-sanitary support functions and state sanitary-epidemiological monitoring for organizations in certain industries in which working conditions are particularly hazardous and for the population in certain areas (Decree of the Russian Federation President No. 1304, On the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, dated October 11, 2004; Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 789, Issues Regarding the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, dated December 15, 2004; and Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 206, On the Federation Medical-Biological Agency, dated April 11, 2005). It also performs state regulatory functions related to the use of nuclear power (Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 412, On Federal Executive Branch Agencies Involved in State Management of the Use of Nuclear Power and State Regulation of Safety in the Use of Nuclear Power, dated July 3, 2006). There is no comparable organization in the United States that focuses on very hazardous environments at nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities.

According to Russian Federation government directives (No. 1156-r of August 21, 2006, and No. 1745-r of December 16, 2006), the list of entities served by FMBA includes all of the main radiation-, chemical-, and biological-hazard organizations operating under the auspices of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, the Federal Industrial Agency, the Federal Oversight Service for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Human Welfare, and other executive branch agencies of the federal government and the various jurisdictions in which those organizations are located.

FMBA carries out its activities both directly and through its subsidiary local monitoring offices and organizations. The local offices and FMBA hygiene and epidemiology centers are part of the unified system of agencies and institutions responsible for state sanitary-epidemiological oversight in the Russian Federation. Policies and procedures governing their activities are set forth in Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 569, Statute on the Provision of State Sanitary-Epidemiological Oversight in the Russian Federation, dated September 15, 2005.

The scientific research institutes under FMBA’s auspices provide scientific support for the activities of the agency’s practical health care institutions, local offices, and hygiene and epidemiology centers. They study the health status of assigned populations and provide state sanitary-epidemiological oversight in the development of regulatory-legal acts on monitoring of organizations presenting radiation, chemical, and other hazards.

Furthermore, FMBA’s scientific research institutes have produced fundamental results in studying the effects of ionizing radiation on the human body, radiobiology, and radiation medicine and hygiene and in developing medical preparations that protect against radiation and chemical impacts and individual gear and devices that protect the respiratory systems and skin of workers at radiation-hazard facilities. The institutes have also made progress in the area of