[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34752-34753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-13721]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket Number 139]


The Potential Modification of the NIOSH Statement of Standard for 
a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Full Facepiece 
Air-Purifying Respirator (APR)

AGENCY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department 
of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of document available for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
announces the opportunity for manufacturers and stakeholders to provide 
NIOSH with input on the potential modification of the NIOSH Statement 
of Standard for a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear 
(CBRN) Full Facepiece Air-Purifying Respirator (APR), which would 
permit an alternative to the single standard 40-mm screw mounted 
canister for the Department of Defense. Authority: Occupational Safety 
and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.
    Public Comment Period: Submit input to the NIOSH Docket Office 
within 120 days from June 18, 2008.
    Status: Written comments may be submitted to the NIOSH Docket 
Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, M/S C 34, 
CBRN APR Mechanical Connector Design, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, telephone 
(513) 533-8303, Facsimile (513) 533-8285.
    All material submitted should reference NIOSH Docket number 139. 
Comments may be e-mailed to [email protected]. All electronic 
comments should be formatted as Microsoft Word.
    All information received in response to this notice will be 
available for public examination and copies available at the NIOSH 
Docket Office, Room 111, 4674 Colombia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
    Background: The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory 
(NPPTL) is currently seeking stakeholder input regarding a request from 
the Department of Defense (DoD). The request is for a proposed 
modification to the CBRN APR Statement of Standard to allow for 
mechanical connectors other than the specified single 40-mm thread 
connector. The DoD is seeking modification of the standard to allow DoD 
first responders to use a newly developed respirator, the Joint Service 
General Protective Mask (JSGPM), for respiratory protection on military 
installations in the United States, or when called upon to support 
civil authorities. The JSGPM uses a bayonet mounted, dual filter design 
instead of the single standard 40-mm screw mounted canister. DoD's 
request is to supplement the existing NIOSH standard with an alternate 
design for DoD application. The DoD request to NIOSH for modification 
of the NIOSH Statement of Standard may be obtained from the NIOSH 
Docket Office using the contact information available above.
    Because of their experiences in responding to the terrorist events 
of 2001, emergency responders identified the need for the 
interoperability of canisters and facepieces as a respirator user issue 
that NIOSH needed to address.
    During the evolution of the CBRN Statement of Standard, NIOSH 
identified a single mechanical connector design requirement to support 
interchangeability of CBRN certified canisters and masks. The user 
community strongly encouraged requiring interoperable capability at all 
three public meetings held that discussed the requirements for the CBRN 
APR, and interoperability was strongly recommended in the 2002 Rand 
Report entitled, ``Protecting Emergency Responders Lessons Learned from 
Terrorist Attacks.'' Through a collaborative approach with multiple 
partnerships, applicable military and industrial technologies were 
integrated by NIOSH in the CBRN APR standard to provide the full range 
of protection needed by emergency responders.
    Working with the partnerships from Federal government agencies, the 
private sector, and user groups, NIOSH expedited development and 
publication of new testing and certification standards for voluntary 
use by

[[Page 34753]]

emergency responders in CBRN terrorist attacks. Information about the 
public meetings that discussed the conceptual requirements for the CBRN 
APR is available through this link: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/standardsdev/cbrn/meetings.html.
    The NIOSH Statement of Standard and supporting concept papers for 
the CBRN APR are available through this link: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/standardsdev/cbrn/apr/.
    Since the Standard was established in 2003, multiple models of CBRN 
APRs from multiple manufacturers have been certified to the Statement 
of Standard.
    The DoD's request is to supplement the existing NIOSH standard with 
an alternate permissible design for DoD applications. DoD requirements 
for the JSGPM require availability of replacement filters in the mask 
carrier worn on the individual and field level logistic support for 
additional filters. Neither of these are requirements for commercial 
mask applications. For the DoD user, the advantages of the bayonet 
attachment on the JSGPM does not compromise the interoperability 
considerations for emergency responders outside of the DoD.
    DoD Instruction 6055.1 indicates that in non-military unique 
workplaces where OSHA standards or other Federal safety standards apply 
but do not cover, or only partially cover, existing conditions, the DoD 
Components shall use appropriate national safety and occupational 
health consensus standards under Public Law 104-113. When there is no 
relevant OSHA or national consensus standard, the DoD Components may 
develop other protective measures to ensure the safety and health of 
DoD personnel. Also, the DoD Components may prescribe more stringent 
exposure limits or monitoring frequencies than those in the basic OSHA 
standards. Requesting NIOSH to include another mechanical connector 
design for DoD applications that may allow for NIOSH certification of 
the JSGPM meets this intent.
    Through this announcement, NIOSH/NPPTL is seeking input from 
stakeholders and manufacturers to determine the following:
    1. Opinions on the current design requirement for the single 40-mm 
thread canister mechanical connector.
    2. Rationale and data to maintain the current design requirement.
    3. Rationale and data to support adding an alternative design for 
DoD applications for canister mechanical connectors.
    4. Identification of alternative approaches to implement the 
alternative design concept for the canister mechanical connector.
    5. Other comments on the subject.
    Contact Person for Technical Information: Jonathan V. Szalajda, 
General Engineer, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory 
(NPPTL), NIOSH, CDC, telephone (412) 386-6627, E-mail [email protected].

    Dated: June 10, 2008.
James D. Seligman,
Chief Information Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. E8-13721 Filed 6-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P