2012-20705. Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee

AGENCY:

Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION:

Notice of Federal Advisory Committee Meeting.

SUMMARY:

The Merchant Mariner Medical Advisory Committee (MMMAC) will meet on September 25-26, 2012 to discuss matters relating to medical certification determinations for issuance of merchant mariner credentials, medical standards and guidelines for physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels, medical examiner education, and medical research. The meeting will be open to the public.

DATES:

MMMAC will meet on Tuesday, September 25, and Wednesday, September 26, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Please note that the meeting may close early if the committee has completed its business.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, 2nd floor conference room (Maryland Room), 45353 St. Georges Avenue, Piney Point, Maryland 20674-0075. Please be advised that in order to gain access to the Paul Hall Center, you must provide identification in the form of a government-issued picture identification card. If you plan to attend, please notify the individual listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, no later than September 14, 2012 so that administrative access into the Paul Hall Center can be processed prior to arrival.

For information on facilities or services for individuals with disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact Lieutenant Ashley Holm, the MMMAC Assistant Designated Federal Officer (ADFO), 202-372-1128 as soon as possible.

To facilitate public participation, we are inviting public comment on the issues to be considered by the committee as listed in the “Agenda” section below. Comments must be submitted in writing to the Coast Guard on or before September 14, 2012 and must be identified by USCG-2011-0138 and may be submitted by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments (preferred method to avoid delays in processing).
• Fax: [phone].
• Mail: Docket Management Facility (M-30), U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
• Hand delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the words “Department of Homeland Security” and the docket number for this action. Comments received will be posted without alteration at http://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided. You may review a Privacy Act notice regarding our public dockets in the January 17, 2008, issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316). If you would like a copy of your material distributed to each member of the committee in advance of the meeting, please provide an electronic copy to the ADFO, no later than September 14, 2012, and it will be placed on the MMMAC Web site to be made available to the members of the committee and the public.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments related to this notice, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

A public comment period will be held on September 25, 2012, from 9:35 a.m. to 10:05 a.m., and September 26, 2012 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Speakers are requested to limit their comments to 5 minutes. Please note that the public comment period may end before the time indicated, following the last call for comments. Additionally, public comment will be sought throughout the meeting as specific tasks and issues are discussed by the committee. Contact the individual listed below to register as a speaker.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lieutenant Ashley Holm, the MMMAC ADFO, at telephone [phone] or email [e-mail]. If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (Pub. L. 92-463). The MMMAC is authorized by section 210 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-281) and the committee's purpose is to advise the Secretary on matters related to medical certification determinations for issuance of merchant mariner credentials; medical standards and guidelines for the physical qualifications of operators of commercial vessels; medical examiner education; and medical research.

Agenda

Day 1, September 25

(1) Opening comments by Designated Federal Officer (DFO), Captain K. P. McAvoy.

(2) Remarks from Paul Hall Center staff representative.

(3) Introduction and swearing in of the new members.

(4) Review of Last Meeting's Minutes.

(5) Public Comments.

(6) Working Groups addressing the following task statements may meet to deliberate—

(a) Task Statement 1, Revision of Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 04-08. The NVIC can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/​hq/​cg5/​nvic/​. Medical and Physical Guidelines for Merchant Mariner Credentials.

(b) Task Statement 2, Top medical conditions leading to denial of mariner credentials.

(c) Task Statement 4, Revising the CG-719K Medical Evaluation Report Form for mariner physicals. The form can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/​nmc.

(d) Task Statement 5, Creating medical expert panels for the top medical conditions.

(e) Task Statement 6, Developing designated medical examiner program.

Day 2, September 26

(1) Working Group Discussions continued from Day 1.

(2) By mid-afternoon, the Working Groups will report, and if applicable, make recommendations for the full committee to consider for presentation to the Coast Guard. The committee may take official action on these recommendations on this date. The public will have an opportunity to speak after each Working Group's Report before the full committee takes any action on each report.

(3) General public comments/presentations.

(4) Closing remarks/plans for next meeting.

Dated: August 16, 2012.

J.A. Servidio,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy.