2016-30516. Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health: Working Group on Presumptions

AGENCY:

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Labor.

ACTION:

Announcement of meeting of the Working Group on Presumptions of the Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health (Advisory Board) for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

SUMMARY:

The working group will meet via teleconference on January 10, 2017, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

FOR PRESS INQUIRIES CONTACT:

For press inquiries: Ms. Amanda McClure, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-1028, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone [phone]; email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Advisory Board is mandated by Section 3687 of EEOICPA. The Secretary of Labor established the Board under this authority and Executive Order 13699 (June 26, 2015). The purpose of the Advisory Board is to advise the Secretary with respect to: (1) The Site Exposure Matrices (SEM) of the Department of Labor; (2) medical guidance for claims examiners for claims with the EEOICPA program, with respect to the weighing of the medical evidence of claimants; (3) evidentiary requirements for claims under Part B of EEOICPA related to lung disease; and (4) the work of industrial hygienists and staff physicians and consulting physicians of the Department of Labor and reports of such hygienists and physicians to ensure quality, objectivity, and consistency. The Advisory Board sunsets on December 19, 2019. This working group is being assembled to gather and analyze data and continue working on providing EEOICP with updated presumptions.

The Advisory Board operates in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and its implementing regulations (41 CFR part 102-3).

Agenda: The tentative agenda for the meeting of the Working Group on Presumptions includes: general comments on use of disease and exposure presumptions in compensation programs; current use of presumptions in EEOICP; expanding/improving the use of presumptions in EEOICP; any new business as proposed by working group members.

OWCP will transcribe the Advisory Board working group meeting. OWCP will post the transcripts on the Advisory Board Web page, http://www.dol.gov/​owcp/​energy/​regs/​compliance/​AdvisoryBoard.htm,, along with written comments and other materials submitted to the working group or presented at the working group meeting.

Public Participation, Submissions, and Access to the Public Record

Working group meeting: The working group will meet via teleconference on Tuesday, January 10, 2017, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Advisory Board working group meetings are open to the public. The teleconference number and other details for listening to the meeting will be posted on the Advisory Board's Web site no later than 72 hours prior to the meeting. This information will be posted at http://www.dol.gov/​owcp/​energy/​regs/​compliance/​AdvisoryBoard.htm.

Requests for special accommodations: Please submit requests for special accommodations to participate in the working group meeting by email, telephone, or hard copy to Ms. Carrie Rhoads, OWCP, Room S-3524, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210; telephone [phone]; email [e-mail].

Submission of written comments for the record: You may submit written comments, identified by the working group name and the meeting date of January 10, 2017, by any of the following methods:

• Electronically: Send to: [e-mail] (specify in the email subject line, “Working Group on Presumptions”).
• Mail, express delivery, hand delivery, messenger, or courier service: Submit one copy to the following address: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health, Room S-3522, 200 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20210. Due to security-related procedures, receipt of submissions by regular mail may experience significant delays.

Comments must be received by January 3, 2017. OWCP will make available publically, without change, any written comments, including any personal information that you provide. Therefore, OWCP cautions interested parties against submitting personal information such as Social Security numbers and birthdates.

Electronic copies of this Federal Register notice are available at http://www.regulations.gov. This notice, as well as news releases and other relevant information, are also available on the Advisory Board's Web page at http://www.dol.gov/​owcp/​energy/​regs/​compliance/​AdvisoryBoard.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

You may contact Antonio Rios, Designated Federal Officer, at [e-mail], or Carrie Rhoads, Alternate Designated Federal Officer, at [e-mail], U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Suite S-3524, Washington, DC 20210, telephone [phone]. This is not a toll-free number.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 14th day of December, 2016.

Leonard J. Howie III,

Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.