[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 30 (Monday, February 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-3458]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 14, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
 

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Environmental Dose 
Reconstruction Project; Public Meetings

    The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) of the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Agency for Toxic 
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) announce the following 
meetings.

    Date: Wednesday, February 16, 1994.
    Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
    Place: Best Western-Ameritel Inn, 900 Lindsay Boulevard, Idaho 
Falls, Idaho 83402.

    Date: Wednesday, March 2, 1994.
    Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
    Place: Best Western-Cotton Tree Inn, 1415 Bench Road, Pocatello, 
Idaho 83201.

    Date: Wednesday, March 23, 1994.
    Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
    Place: Red Lion Inn-Riverside, 2900 Chinden Boulevard, Boise, 
Idaho 83714.

STATUS: Open to the public for observation and comment, limited only by 
space available. The meeting room will accommodate approximately 100 
people.

PURPOSE: Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in December 
1990 with the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS) has been given the responsibility and resources 
for conducting analytic epidemiologic investigations of residents of 
communities in the vicinity of DOE facilities and other persons 
potentially exposed to radiation or to potential hazards from non-
nuclear energy production and use. HHS delegated program responsibility 
to CDC.
    In addition, an MOU was signed in October 1990 and renewed in 
November 1992 between ATSDR and DOE. The MOU delineates the 
responsibilities and procedures for ATSDR's public health activities at 
DOE sites required under sections 104, 107, and 120 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA, or ``Superfund''). These activities include health 
consultations and public health assessments at DOE sites listed on, or 
proposed for, the Superfund National Priorities List and at sites that 
are the subject of petitions from the public; and other health-related 
activities such as epidemiologic studies, health surveillance, exposure 
and disease registries, health education, substance-specific applied 
research, emergency response, and preparation of toxicological 
profiles.
    Community involvement is a critical part of the HHS energy-related 
research and activities. With an environmental dose reconstruction for 
DOE's Idaho National Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, as 
well as a worker study at the same site, the availability of a formal 
site-specific advisory committee composed of Idaho citizens to provide 
consensus advice regarding these projects is necessary. CDC and ATSDR 
are currently taking steps to obtain authorization for a ``Citizens' 
Advisory Committee on Public Health Service Activities and Research at 
Department of Energy Sites'' to be chartered under the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act. The draft charter for this proposed committee states, 
``Because of the varying concerns within communities at each DOE site, 
operational guidelines at each site must be developed separately to 
clarify the scope of activities and the responsibilities of the 
Committee members and agencies.'' Therefore, CDC and ATSDR are holding 
a series of public meetings to begin developing operational guidelines 
at specific DOE sites. The purpose of these public meetings is to 
update the public on the status of CDC's and ATSDR's community 
involvement plans and to seek individual advice and recommendations 
from interested parties concerning operational guidelines. A copy of 
the proposed ``Citizens' Advisory Committee on Public Health Service 
Activities and Research at DOE Sites'' draft charter is available upon 
request from the contact person listed below.
    Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: Leeann S. Denham, Radiation 
Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, 
NCEH, CDC, 4770 Buford Highway, NE., (F-35), Atlanta, Georgia, 30341-
3724, telephone 404/488-7040, FAX 404/488-7044.

    Dated: February 7, 1994.
Elvin Hilyer,
Associate Director for Policy Coordination; Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 94-3458 Filed 2-10-94;11:44 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-18-M