[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13854-13855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6529]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Meeting

    The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
following meeting:

    Name: Continued Discussions for Concepts of Powered Air-
Purifying Respirator (PAPR) Standards Development Efforts Used for 
Respiratory Protection Against Chemical, Biological, Radiological, 
and Nuclear (CBRN) Agents.
    Date and Time: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., May 4, 2004.
    Place: Hilton Garden Inn, Pittsburgh/Southpointe, 1000 Corporate 
Drive, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
    Status: This meeting is hosted by NIOSH and will be open to the 
public, limited only by the space available. The meeting room will 
accommodate approximately 175 people. Interested parties should make 
hotel reservations directly with the Hilton Garden Inn (724-743-
5000/1-800-445-8667) before the cut-off date of April 20, 2004. 
Special group rates of $55 per night for Federal participants and 
$79 per night for non-federal participants have been negotiated for 
this meeting. The NIOSH/National Personal Protective Technology 
Laboratory (NPPTL) public meeting must be referenced to receive 
these special rates. Interested parties should confirm their 
attendance to this meeting by completing a registration form and 
forwarding it by e-mail ([email protected]) or fax (304-285-4459) 
to the NPPTL Event Management Office. A registration form may be 
obtained from the NIOSH home page (www.cdc.gov/niosh) by selecting 
conferences and then the event.
    An opportunity to make presentations regarding the discussions 
of concepts for standards and testing processes for PAPR standards 
suitable for respiratory protection against CBRN agents will be 
given. Requests to make such presentations at the public meeting 
should be made by e-mail to the NPPTL Event Management Office 
([email protected]). All requests to present should include the 
name, address, telephone number, relevant business affiliations of 
the presenter, a brief summary of the presentation, and the 
approximate time requested for the presentation. Oral presentations 
should be limited to 15 minutes.
    After reviewing the requests for presentations, NPPTL Event
    Management will notify each presenter of the approximate time 
that their presentation is scheduled to begin. If a participant is 
not present when their presentation is scheduled to begin, the 
remaining participants will be heard in order. At the conclusion of 
the meeting, an attempt will be made to allow presentations by any 
scheduled participants who missed their assigned times. Attendees 
who wish to speak but did not submit a request for the opportunity 
to make a presentation may be given this opportunity at the 
conclusion of the meeting, at the discretion of the presiding 
officer.
    Comments on the topics presented in this notice and at the 
meeting should be mailed to the NIOSH Docket Office, Robert Taft 
Laboratories, M/S C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 
45226, Telephone (513) 533-8303, Fax (513) 533-8285. Comments may 
also be submitted by e-mail to [email protected]. E-mail 
attachments should be formatted in Microsoft Word. Comments should 
be submitted to NIOSH no later than June 4, 2004, and should 
reference Docket Number NIOSH-010 in the subject heading.
    Purpose: NIOSH will continue discussions of conceptual standards 
and testing processes for PAPR standards suitable for respiratory 
protection against CBRN agents. NIOSH also wishes to obtain comments 
from individuals regarding the tentative schedules and priorities 
for future CBRN respirator standards development efforts.
    NIOSH, along with the U.S. Army Research, Development and 
Engineering Command (RDECOM, formerly SBCCOM) and the National 
Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) will present 
information to attendees concerning the concept development for the 
PAPR CBRN standard. Participants will be given an opportunity to ask 
questions on these topics and to present individual comments for 
consideration. Interested participants may obtain a copy of the PAPR 
CBRN concept paper, as well as earlier versions of other concept 
papers used during the standard development effort, from the NIOSH 
NPPTL Web site, address: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl. The April 
1, 2004, concept paper will be used as the basis

[[Page 13855]]

for discussion at the public meeting. During the October 16, 2003, 
public meeting, NIOSH indicated that subsequent future standards 
efforts following the completion of the PAPR CBRN standard would be 
in this sequence: Integrated self-contained breathing apparatus 
(SCBA)/PAPR, integrated SCBA/air-purifying respirators (APR), 
closed-circuit SCBA, and supplied air respirators. NIOSH wishes to 
obtain comments from individuals regarding this tentative priority 
order sequence to determine if it reflects the priorities of the 
stakeholder community's needs for respiratory protection. Recent 
acts of terrorism have created an urgent awareness of domestic 
security and preparedness issues. Municipal, State, and Federal 
responder groups, particularly these in locations considered 
potential targets, have been developing and modifying response and 
consequence management plans. Since the World Trade Center and 
anthrax incidents, most emergency response agencies have operated 
with a heightened appreciation of the potential scope and sustained 
resources requirements for coping with such events. The Federal 
Interagency Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability 
(IAB) has worked to identify personal protective equipment that is 
already available on the market for responders' use. The IAB has 
identified the development of standards or guidelines for 
respiratory protection equipment as a top priority. NIOSH, NIST, the 
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the Occupational 
Safety and Health Administration have entered into a Memorandum of 
Understanding defining each agency or organization's role in 
developing, establishing, and enforcing standards or guidelines for 
responders' respiratory protective devices. NIST has initiated 
Interagency Agreements with NIOSH and RDECOM to aid in the 
development of appropriate protection standards or guidelines. NIOSH 
has the lead in developing standards or guidelines to test, 
evaluate, and approve respirators.
    NIOSH, RDECOM, and NIST have hosted public meetings on April 17 
and 18, 2001; June 18 and 19, 2002; October 16 and 17, 2002; April 
29, 2003; June 25, 2003, and October 16, 2003, presenting their 
progress in assessing respiratory protection needs of responders to 
CBRN incidents. The methods or models for developing hazard and 
exposure estimates and the status in evaluating test methods and 
performance standards that may be applicable as future CBRN 
respirator standards or guidelines were discussed at these meetings.
    Three NIOSH CBRN respirator standards and several NFPA standards 
for ensembles, SCBA and protective clothing were the first adopted 
by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On February 26, 
2004, DHS adopted, as DHS standards, three NIOSH criteria for 
testing and certifying respirators for protection against CBRN 
exposures. NIOSH uses the criteria to test (1) SCBA for use by 
emergency responders against CBRN, (2) APR for use by emergency 
responders against CBRN exposures, and (3) escape respirators for 
protection against CBRN.
    For Further Information Contact: NPPTL Event Management, 3610 
Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, West Virginia 26507-
0880, Telephone (304) 285-4750, Fax (304) 285-4459, e-mail 
[email protected].
    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 CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry.

    Dated: March 18, 2004.
Alvin Hall,
Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 04-6529 Filed 3-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P