Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH or the Advisory Board), Subcommittee on Procedures Review (SPR), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the CDC announces the following meeting for the Subcommittee for Procedure Reviews (SPR) of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH). This meeting is open to the public, but without a public comment period. 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 audio conference (information below). The audio conference line has 150 ports for callers.

DATES:

The meeting will be held on February 13, 2019, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST.

ADDRESSES:

Audio Conference Call via FTS Conferencing. The USA toll-free dial-in number is 1-866-659-0537; the pass code is 9933701.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Theodore Katz, MPA, Designated Federal Officer, NIOSH, CDC, 1600 Clifton Road, Mailstop E-20, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, Telephone (513) 533-6800, Toll Free 1 (800) CDC-INFO, Email ocas@cdc.gov.

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 that 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 CDC. NIOSH implements this responsibility for CDC. The charter was issued on August 3, 2001, renewed at appropriate intervals, rechartered on February 12, 2018, pursuant to Executive Order 13708, and will terminate on March 22, 2020.

Purpose: The 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, advise 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. SPR is responsible for overseeing, tracking, and participating in the reviews of all procedures used in the dose reconstruction process by the NIOSH Division of Compensation Analysis and Support (DCAS) and its dose reconstruction contractor (Oak Ridge Associated Universities—ORAU).

Matters to be Considered: The agenda will include discussions on the following dose reconstruction procedures: (a) Procedures associated specifically with the following sites: Aliquippa Forge, Hooker Electrochemical Co., Birdsboro Steel, Simonds Saw, Idaho National Laboratory, General Steel Industries; (b) general procedures for dose reconstructions: Internal Coworker Dosimetry Data Completeness Test, Parameters when Processing Claims for Construction Trade Workers. Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate.

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.