These are the slides from the invited plenary talk I gave on June 18, 2014 at the 4th International Conference on Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The presentation discussed the U.S. regulatory framework for the industrial uses of genetically modified algae and the scientific issues involved in the risk assessments that determine decision-making under such regulations. I argued that these regulations, particularly the US EPA "TERA" regulations, are not difficult to navigate and are well designed to allow careful, stepwise testing of modified algae strains both in contained reactors and in open ponds. I also discussed the roles that academic, industry and government researchers can play in developing the research database to support regulatory decision-making.