2020-15028. Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice of meeting and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the CDC, announces the following meeting of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH). This meeting is open to the public, limited only by the space available. The audio conference line has 150 ports for callers. The public is welcome to submit written comments in advance of the meeting, to the contact person below. Written comments received in advance of the meeting will be included in the official record of the meeting. The public is also welcome to listen to the meeting by joining the teleconference (information below).

DATES:

The meeting will be held on August 26, 2020 from 1:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., EDT and August 27, 2020 from 1:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., EDT. An oral public comment session will be held on August 26, 2020 at 5:15 p.m. and conclude at 6:15 p.m., or following the final call for public comment, whichever comes first.

Written comments must be received on or before August 21, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-0077, Docket No. NIOSH-338 by either of the following methods listed below. CDC does not accept comment by email.

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Docket No. CDC-2020-0077, Docket number NIOSH-338 c/o Sherri Diana, NIOSH Docket Office, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS C-34, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Agency name and Docket Number. All relevant comments received in conformance with the https://www.regulations.gov suitability policy will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rashaun Roberts, Ph.D., Designated Federal Officer, NIOSH, CDC, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, Mailstop C-24, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, Telephone [phone], Toll Free 1(800)CDC-INFO, Email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: The Advisory Board was established under the

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to advise the President on a variety of policy and technical functions required to implement and effectively manage the new compensation program. Key functions of the Advisory Board include providing advice on the development of probability of causation guidelines which have been promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a final rule, advice on methods of dose reconstruction which have also been promulgated by HHS as a final rule, advice on the scientific validity and quality of dose estimation and reconstruction efforts being performed for purposes of the compensation program, and advice on petitions to add classes of workers to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC). In December 2000, the President delegated responsibility for funding, staffing, and operating the Advisory Board to HHS, which subsequently delegated this authority to the CDC. NIOSH implements this responsibility for CDC.

The Advisory Board's charter was issued on August 3, 2001, renewed at appropriate intervals, rechartered on March 22, 2020, and will terminate on March 22, 2022.

Purpose: This Advisory Board is charged with (a) providing advice to the Secretary, HHS, on the development of guidelines under Executive Order 13179; (b) providing advice to the Secretary, HHS, on the scientific validity and quality of dose reconstruction efforts performed for this program; and (c) upon request by the Secretary, HHS, advising the Secretary on whether there is a class of employees at any Department of Energy facility who were exposed to radiation but for whom it is not feasible to estimate their radiation dose, and on whether there is reasonable likelihood that such radiation doses may have endangered the health of members of this class.

Matters to Be Considered: The agenda will include discussions on the following: NIOSH Program Update; Department of Labor Program Update; Department of Energy Program Update; SEC Petitions Update; Completed Site Profile Review for W.R Grace Company (Erwin, Tennessee); Update on Site Profile Review for Idaho National Laboratory Site (Burial Ground and other Exposure Scenarios), and Hanford (Richland, Washington); SEC Petition Reviews for Superior Steel (Carnegie, Pennsylvania; 1952-2957), and Reduction Pilot Plant (Huntington, West Virginia; 1976-1978), and a Board Work Session. Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate.

Meeting Information: The USA toll-free dial-in number is 1-866-659-0537; the pass code is 9933701. Web conference by Skype: meeting Connection: https://webconf.cdc.gov/​zab6/​yzdq02pl?​sl=​1.

Public Participation

Comments received are part of the public record and are subject to public disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure. If you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be on public display. CDC will review all submissions and may choose to redact, or withhold, submissions containing private or proprietary information such as Social Security numbers, medical information, inappropriate language, or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign. CDC will carefully consider all comments submitted into the docket. CDC does not accept comment by email.

Oral Public Comment: An oral public comment session will be held on August 26, 2020 at 5:15 p.m., EDT and conclude at 6:15 p.m., EDT or following the final call for public comment, whichever comes first.

Written Public Comment: Written comments will also be accepted from those unable to attend the public session per the instructions provided in the address section above. Written comments received in advance of the meeting will be included in the official record of the meeting.

The Director, Strategic Business Initiatives Unit, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management activities, for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Kalwant Smagh,

Director, Strategic Business Initiatives Unit, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.