[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 232 (Monday, December 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72436-72437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23653]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

    Name: Continued Discussions of Concepts for Standards for Approval 
of Respirators for Use against Chemical, Biological, Radiological and 
Nuclear Agents (CBRN) and Concepts for Standards for Industrial, 
Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR).
    Date and Time: December 13, 2005, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
    The meeting will address concepts for standards for CBRN Closed 
Circuit, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), CBRN PAPR, and 
Industrial PAPR.
    Place: Sheraton Station Square Hotel, 300 W. Station Square Drive, 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219-1162.
    Purpose: NIOSH will continue discussions of concepts for standards 
and testing processes for PAPR and Closed Circuit, SCBA suitable for 
respiratory protection against CBRN agents. NIOSH will also continue 
conceptual discussions for establishing Industrial PAPR requirements. 
NIOSH, along with the United States Army Research, Development and 
Engineering Command (RDECOM) and the National Institute for Standards 
and Technology (NIST), will present information to attendees concerning 
the concept development for the CBRN PAPR standard and the CBRN Closed 
Circuit, SCBA 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 CBRN 
PAPR, the Industrial PAPR concept paper, the CBRN Closed Circuit and 
SCBA concept paper, as well as earlier versions of other concept papers 
used during the standard development effort, from the NIOSH National 
Personnel Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) Web site, address: 
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl. The November 4, 2005 concept paper will 
be used as the basis for discussion at the public meeting. Municipal, 
state, and Federal responder groups, particularly in locations 
considered potential terrorism targets, have been developing and 
modifying response and consequence management plans for domestic 
security and preparedness issues. Since the World Trade Center and 
anthrax incidents, most emergency response agencies have operated with 
a heightened appreciation of the potential scope and sustained resource 
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 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; October 16, 2003; May 4, 2004; December 15, 2004; 
and July 19 and 20, 2005; 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) PAPR for use by emergency 
responders against CBRN exposures,

[[Page 72437]]

and (3) escape respirators for protection against CBRN.
    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 150 people. Interested parties should make 
hotel reservations directly with the Sheraton Station Square Hotel 
(412-261-2000 or 800-325-3535) before the cut-off date of December 8, 
2005. A special group rate of $91 per night for meeting guests has been 
negotiated for this meeting. The NIOSH/NPPTL Public Meeting must be 
referenced to receive this rate. Interested parties should confirm 
their attendance to this meeting by completing a registration form and 
forwarding it by e-mail ([email protected]) or fax (304-225-2003) to 
the NPPTL Event Management Office. A registration form may be obtained 
from the NIOSH Homepage (http://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 and for 
Closed Circuit, SCBA standards suitable for respiratory protection 
against CBRN agents and PAPRs for industrial applications of NIOSH-
approved CBRN respirators 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 presentation, 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: NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. 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 regarding the Industrial PAPR should reference 
Docket Number NIOSH-008 in the subject heading. Comments regarding CBRN 
PAPR should reference Docket Number NIOSH-010 in the subject heading. 
Comments regarding the CBRN Closed Circuit, SCBA should reference 
Docket Number NIOSH-039.
    Due to administrative issues that had to be resolved, the Federal 
Register notice is being published on short notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: NPPTL Event Management, 3604 Collins 
Ferry Road, Suite 100, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505-2353, Telephone 
304-599-5941 x138, Fax 304-225-2003, 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 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency 
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

    Dated: November 30, 2005.
Diane Allen,
Acting Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 05-23653 Filed 12-1-05; 10:03 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P