The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) has been amended a number of times to broaden its scope and provide greater protection for the general care and use of animals. An amendment that directly affects the care and use of animals in research is the amendment of 1985, commonly called The Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act.

This amendment:

• Clarified the meaning of "humane care" by addressing such specifics as sanitation, housing, and ventilation.
  
  
• Directed the Secretary of Agriculture to establish regulations pertaining to exercise and an adequate physical environment, promoting the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates.
  
  
• Specified that pain and distress must be minimized in experimental procedures and that alternative procedures must be considered by the principal investigator.
  
  
• Defined painful practices and limited an animal’s exposure to major operative experiments.
  
  
• Required the establishment of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and established its roles, composition, and responsibilities.
  
  
• Provided for forming an information service assisting those who fall under the jurisdiction of the act to prevent the duplication of research, train employees, search for ways to reduce or replace animal use, and provide information on how to decrease pain and distress.