[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75794-75795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-24291]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Veterans' Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction

AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

ACTION: Notice of advisory board meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Department 
of Veterans Affairs (VA) will hold the second public meeting of the 
Veterans' Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction (VBDR). The VBDR was 
established at the recommendation of the National Research Council 
report, entitled ``Review of the Dose Reconstruction Program of the 
Defense Threat Reduction Agency.'' The report recommended the need to 
establish an advisory board that will provide suggestions for 
improvements in dose reconstruction and claim adjudication procedures. 
The goal of VBDR is to provide guidance and oversight of the dose 
reconstruction and claims compensation programs for veterans of U.S.-
sponsored atmospheric nuclear weapons tests from 1945-1962; veterans of 
the 1945-1946 occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan; and veterans 
who were prisoners of war in those regions at the conclusion of World 
War II. In addition, the advisory board will assist VA and DTRA in 
communicating with the veterans.
    Radiation does reconstruction has been carried out by the 
Department of Defense under the Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) 
program since the 1970s. DTRA is the executive agent for the NTPR 
program which provides participation data and actual or estimated 
radiation dose information to veterans and the VA.
    Board members were selected to fulfill the statutory requirements 
mandated by Congress in Section 601 of Public Law 108-183. The Board 
was appointed on June 3, 2005, and is comprised of 16 members. Board 
members were selected to provide expertise in historical dose 
reconstruction, radiation health matters, risk communications, 
radiation epidemiology, medicine, quality management, decision analysis 
and ethics in order to appropriately enable the VBDR to represent and 
address veterans' concerns.
    The Board is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463, which sets forth standards for 
the formation and conduct of government advisory committees.

[[Page 75795]]


DATES: Thursday, January 12, 2006, from 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. 
with a public comment session from 1:30-3:30 p.m., and Friday, January 
13, 2006, from 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 3:15-5 p.m., with a public comment 
session from 1:30-3 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Sheraton Gateway Hotel, Los Angeles Airport, 6101 West 
Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

AGENDA: On Thursday, the meeting will open with a discussion of the 
charge and responsibilities of the advisory board, and will review and 
approve the minutes of the inaugural VBDR meeting conducted August 17-
18, 2005 in Tampa, FL. The following briefings will be presented: 
``Interactive Radio-Epidemiological Program: Future Development'' by 
Dr. Charles Land; ``NAS Report: Assessment of the Scientific 
Information for the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education 
Program'' by Dr. Julian Preston; ``NTPR Dose Reconstruction, Quality 
Assurance Manuals and Veterans Communication Activities'' by Dr. Paul 
Blake; and ``VA Radiation Claims Compensation Program for Veterans, and 
VA Quality Assurance Manuals'' by Mr. Thomas Pamperin.
    On Friday, the four subcommittees established during the inaugural 
VBDR session will report on their activities since August 2005. The 
subcommittees are the ``Subcommittee on DTRA Dose Reconstruction 
Procdures'', the ``Subcommittee on VA Claims Adjudication Procedures'', 
the ``Subcommittee on Quality Management and VA Process Integration 
with DTRA Nuclear Test Personnel Review Program'', and the 
``Subcommittee on Communication and Outreach.'' The Board will close 
with a discussion of the Subcommittee reports, future business and 
meeting dates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Veterans' Advisory Board on Dose 
Reconstruction hotline at 1-866-657-VBDR (8237).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: May be found at http://vbdr.org.

    Dated: December 15, 2005.
L.M. Bynum,
OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 05-24291 Filed 12-20-05; 8:45 am]
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