[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5888-5889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2652]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH); Meeting

ACTION: Publication of closed meeting summary of the Advisory Board on 
Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH), National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

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    Committee Purpose: This 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

[[Page 5889]]

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.
    Background: The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health met 
on January 8, 2003, in closed session to discuss the Proposed 
Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) for a contract. This 
contract, once awarded, will provide technical support to assist the 
Board in fulfilling its statutory duty to advise the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services regarding the dose reconstruction efforts 
under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
Act. A Determination to Close the meeting was approved and published, 
as required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
    Summary of the Meeting: Attendance was as follows:
    Board Members:

Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D., Chair
Larry J. Elliott, Executive Secretary
Henry A. Anderson, M.D., Member
Antonio Andrade, Ph.D., Member
Roy L. DeHart, M.D., M.P.H., Member
Richard L. Espinosa, Member
Michael H. Gibson, Member
Mark A. Griffon, Member
James M. Melius, M.D., Dr.P.H., Member
Robert W. Presley, Member
Genevieve S. Roessler, Ph.D., Member

    NIOSH Staff:

Jim Neton
David Naimon
Liz Homoki-Titus
Martha DiMuzio
Cori Homer

    Ray S. Green, Court Recorder.

Summary/Minutes

    Dr. Ziemer called to order the Advisory Board on Radiation and 
Worker Health (ABRWH) in closed session on January 8, 2003 at 9:45 a.m. 
The purpose of the closed meeting was to develop the Independent 
Government Cost Estimate for a contract to provide technical support to 
the ABRWH review of completed dose reconstructions.
    Dr. Ziemer noted that Ms. Wanda Munn and Mr. Leon Owens were not 
available to attend and could not be connected via conference call due 
to telephone line security issues.
    General topics discussed:
    [sbull] Closed session procedures.
    [sbull] Independent Government Cost Estimate.
    [sbull] Member of Board to be appointed to the Technical Review 
Panel for this procurement.
    Dr. Paul Ziemer adjourned the closed session of the ABRWH meeting 
at 11:18 a.m. with no further business being conducted by the ABRWH.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 
Health (``the Board'') was established under the Energy Employees 
Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) of 2000 to 
advise the President, through the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services (HHS), on a variety of policy and technical functions required 
to implement and effectively manage the new compensation program. Key 
functions of the Board include providing advice on the development of 
probability of causation guidelines which have been promulgated by HHS 
as a final rule, advice on methods of dose reconstruction which have 
also been promulgated by HHS as a final rule, evaluation of the 
scientific validity and quality of dose reconstructions conducted by 
the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for 
qualified cancer claimants, and advice on the addition of classes of 
workers to the Special Exposure Cohort.
    In December 2000 the President delegated responsibility for 
funding, staffing, and operating the Board to HHS, which subsequently 
delegated this authority to the CDC. NIOSH implements this 
responsibility for CDC. The charter was signed on August 3, 2001 and in 
November, 2001, the President completed the appointment of an initial 
roster of 10 Board members. In April, and again in August 2002, the 
President appointed additional members to ensure more balanced 
representation on the Board.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Executive Secretary, 
ABRWH, NIOSH, CDC, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, 
telephone 513/841-4498, fax 513/458-7125.
    The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, 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.

    Dated: January 30, 2003.
Joseph E. Slater,
Acting Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-2652 Filed 2-4-03; 8:45 am]
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