The Davis City Council may send a letter to the University of California regents asking them to withdraw their application for a controversial biolab on the UC Davis campus because a proper environmental review of the project cannot be conducted.

Attorneys for the city have drafted a proposed letter to the regents that asks them to drop their bid for the lab, saying the application process for the $190 million facility is "flawed" because an alternative site for the facility cannot be studied as required under the California Environmental Quality Act.

On Wednesday, council members agreed to consider an edited version of the letter next week. Council members did not discuss how the letter might be altered.

"The letter we will consider will be a good, legal, technical analysis of the (California Environmental Quality Act) problems (with the proposal)," City Councilman Mike Harrington said.

The council agreed to consider sending a letter after voting in closed session not to join a citizens' lawsuit against the project. Members of the citizens' group, Stop UCD Bio Lab Now, have filed a suit challenging the lab, claiming the university's inability to consider alternative sites blocks them from conducting an adequate environmental review.

The letter drafted by the city's attorneys states that city leaders "concur" with the environmental issues raised in the citizens' lawsuit.

Don Mooney, attorney for Stop UCD Bio Lab Now, said the approval of such a strong letter by the council would put a "tremendous amount of pressure on the university."

"It tells (the university) it should withdraw (the application) and do what it can to restore the relationship with the community," said Mooney.

Steven Drown, attorney for UC Davis, declined to comment on the proposed letter, but said he believes the citizens' lawsuit is without merit. He said the university intends to conduct a full environmental review of the project.

"They're entitled to their view. We simply, respectfully, disagree with that view," he said of the litigants.

In February, officials at UC Davis, after receiving approval from the UC Board of Regents, submitted an application to the National Institutes of Health that seeks federal funds to build the Western National Center for Biodefense and Emerging Diseases. The center, which is proposed on campus near the intersection of Highway 113 and Interstate 80, would house high-security laboratories where scientists would study some of the most dangerous pathogens known to science.

Proponents of the laboratory say it would fill a critical need on the West Coast, providing scientists with state-of-the-art laboratories to research emerging infectious diseases. Proponents also claim that the lab would allow public health officials on the West Coast to respond more quickly to disease outbreaks.

The biolab proposal has garnered significant opposition from members of the Davis community who fear the facility could become the target of terrorists. They also claim acts of sabotage or safety breaches by employees could spread dangerous pathogens throughout the community. Many lab opponents also claim the project is best suited for a secure facility such as a military base.

In February, the City Council unanimously voted to oppose the project, citing community opposition. In a letter to UC Davis Provost Virginia Hinshaw, city officials urged campus officials to seek another site for the lab.

NIH officials consider community support for or opposition to the labs when weighing the bids, although officials at the institute will not state how large a factor the community position plays. At least six other universities or public institutions in the nation are seeking the NIH funds for similar Bio Safety Level 4 labs. The project funds are expected to be awarded in early fall.

University officials solicited queries from other jurisdictions in the region that expressed interest in the lab. Those jurisdictions included Sacramento and Sutter counties, where officials hoped to put the lab at active or shuttered military bases. The cities of West Sacramento and Woodland also expressed interest.

But NIH officials notified UC Davis last month that alternative sites for the project cannot be considered.

That notification by NIH prompted members of Stop UCD Bio Lab Now to file their suit.