[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66443-66444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26911]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Renewal of the Defense Health Board

AGENCY: DoD.

ACTION: Renewal of Federal Advisory Committee.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 
1972 (5 U.S.C. Appendix), the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (5 
U.S.C. 552b), and 41 CFR 102-3.50(d), the Department of Defense gives 
notice that it is renewing the charter for the Defense Health Board 
(hereinafter referred to as ``the Board''). The Board has been 
determined to be in the public interest.
    The Board is a discretionary federal advisory committee that shall 
provide the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, through the 
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (hereafter 
referred to as ``the Under Secretary of Defense''), and the Assistant 
Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, independent advice and 
recommendations on matters pertaining to:
    a. DoD healthcare policy and program management;
    b. Health research programs;
    c. Requirements for the treatment and prevention of disease and 
injury by DoD;
    d. Promotion of health and the delivery of efficient, effective and 
high quality health care services to DoD beneficiaries; and
    e. Other matters of special interest to DoD, as determined by the 
Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense or the Under 
Secretary.
    The Board is not established to provide advice on individual DoD 
procurements, but instead shall be concerned with the DoD healthcare 
issues facing the Department of Defense in the areas referenced above. 
No matter shall be assigned to the Board for its consideration that 
would require any Board member to participate personally and 
substantially in the conduct of any specific procurement or place him 
or her in the position of acting as a contracting or procurement 
official.
    The Board shall be composed of not more than 19 members who are 
appointed by the Secretary of Defense. The members shall be eminent 
authorities in one or more of the following disciplines: clinical 
health care, disease and injury prevention, health care delivery and 
administration, or strategic decision-making in government, industry, 
or academia.
    Board members shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense and 
their appointments will be renewed on an annual basis according to DoD 
policy and procedures. Board members who are not full-time or permanent 
part-time Federal employees shall be appointed to serve as experts and 
consultants under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 3109 and serve as special 
government employees. Each Board member is appointed to provide advice 
on behalf of the government on the basis of his or her best judgment 
without representing any particular point of view and in a manner that 
is free from conflict of interest. With the exception of travel and per 
diem for official travel, Board members shall serve without 
compensation.
    The Secretary of Defense may approve the appointment of Board 
members for one-to-four year terms of service, with annual renewals; 
however, no member, unless authorized by the Secretary of Defense, may 
serve more than two consecutive terms of service on the Board. This 
same term of service limitation also applies to any DoD authorized 
Subcommittee of the Board.
    Appointments will normally be staggered among the Board membership 
to ensure an orderly turnover in the Board's overall composition on a 
periodic basis. Regular government officers or employees who 
participate in DoD's decision-making process for this Board are 
prohibited from serving on the Board or its subcommittees.
    The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Under Secretary 
of Defense, shall appoint the Board's President. The Under Secretary of 
Defense shall appoint the Vice President. The Under Secretary of 
Defense, pursuant to DoD policies and procedures, may appoint, as 
deemed necessary, non-voting experts and consultants, with special 
expertise, to assist the Board on an ad hoc basis. These experts and 
consultants, if not full-time or part-time government employees, shall 
be appointed under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 3109, shall serve as 
special government employees, shall be appointed on an intermittent 
basis to work specific Board-related efforts, and shall have no voting 
rights. Non-voting experts and consultants appointed by the Under 
Secretary of Defense shall not count toward the Board's total 
membership, and shall not engage in Board deliberations.
    The Department, when necessary, and consistent with the Board's 
mission and DoD policies/procedures, may establish subcommittees, task 
groups, and working groups to support the Board. Establishment of 
subcommittees will be based upon a written determination, to include 
terms of reference, by the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary 
of Defense, or the Board's sponsor.
    Such Subcommittees shall not work independently of the chartered 
Board, and shall report all of their recommendations and advice solely 
to the Board for full deliberation and discussion. Subcommittees have 
no authority to make decisions and recommendations, verbally or in 
writing, on behalf of the chartered Board; nor can any Subcommittee or 
its members update or report directly to the DoD or any Federal 
officers or employees.
    All Subcommittee members shall be appointed in the same manner as 
the Board members; that is, the Secretary of Defense shall appoint 
Subcommittee members even if the member in question is already a Board 
member.

[[Page 66444]]

Subcommittee members, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense, 
may serve a term of service on the Subcommittee of one-to-four years; 
however, no member shall serve more than two consecutive terms of 
service on the subcommittee.
    Subcommittee members, if not full-time or part-time government 
employees, shall be appointed to serve as experts and consultants under 
the authority of 5 U.S.C. 3109, and shall serve as special government 
employees, whose appointments must be renewed by the Secretary of 
Defense on an annual basis. With the exception of travel and per diem 
for official Board related travel, Subcommittee members shall serve 
without compensation.
    Each Subcommittee member is appointed to provide advice on behalf 
of the government on the basis of his or her best judgment without 
representing any particular point of view and in a manner that is free 
from conflict of interest.
    All Subcommittees operate under the provisions of FACA, the 
Sunshine Act, governing Federal statutes and regulations, and governing 
DoD policies/procedures.
    Currently, DoD has approved the following permanent subcommittees 
to the Defense Health Board.
    a. Public Health Subcommittee: This Subcommittee shall be composed 
of not more than 10 members who are eminent authorities in at least one 
of the following disciplines: Infectious Disease; Occupational Health/
Medicine; Preventive Medicine; Public Health; and Toxicology.
    The Subcommittee, when tasked according to DoD policy/procedures, 
provides advice on matters pertaining to improving the overall health 
of members of the Armed Forces and their families through the 
evaluation of DoD public health programs and initiatives including 
education, health promotion and prevention activities, as well as 
disease and injury prevention research.
    b. Health Care Delivery Subcommittee: This Subcommittee shall be 
composed of not more than nine members who are eminent authorities in 
at least one of the following disciplines: Health Care Academia; Health 
Care Finance/Economics; Health Care Policy/Executive Leadership; and 
Patient Care.
    The Subcommittee, when tasked according to DoD policy/procedures, 
provides advice on matters pertaining to health care delivery, to 
include DoD health care policy and program management, and research.
    c. Neurological/Behavioral Health Subcommittee: This Subcommittee 
shall be composed of not more than 10 members who are eminent 
authorities in at least one of the following disciplines: Neurology; 
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; Psychiatry; Psychology; and Traumatic 
Brain Injury.
    The Subcommittee, when tasked according to DoD policy/procedures, 
provides advice on matters pertaining to psychological/mental health 
issues and neurological symptoms or conditions among members of the 
Armed Forces and their families.
    d. Medical Ethics Subcommittee: This Subcommittee shall be composed 
of not more than five members who are eminent authorities in at least 
one of the following disciplines: Clergy, DoD leadership, Human 
Research Protection, attorneys with expertise in medical ethics, and 
Military Health System beneficiaries. One member must have formal 
bioethics or medical ethics training or experience.
    The Subcommittee, when tasked according to DoD policy/procedures, 
provides advice on matters pertaining to medical ethics.
    e. Trauma and Injury Subcommittee: This Subcommittee shall be 
composed of not more than 10 members who are eminent authorities in at 
least one of the following disciplines: civilian or military trauma 
medicine systems.
    The Subcommittee, when tasked according to DoD policy/procedures, 
provides advice on matters pertaining to trauma and injury, to include 
methods for prevention, recognition, clinical management, and 
treatment. It is the parent Subcommittee of the Committee on Tactical 
Combat Casualty Care.
    f. Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care: The Committee on 
Tactical Combat Casualty Care is a permanent work group of the Trauma 
and Injury Subcommittee and shall be composed of not more than 31 
members who are physicians, nurses, physician assistants, or combat 
medics with experience in at least one of the following: military 
trauma medicine or systems; or tactical combat casualty care.
    The Subcommittee, when tasked according to DoD policy/procedures, 
provides advice on matters pertaining in-theater care in the tactical 
environment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Freeman, Advisory Committee 
Management Officer for the Department of Defense, 703-692-5952.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board's DFO, pursuant to DoD policy, 
shall be a full-time or permanent part-time DoD employee, and shall be 
appointed in accordance with established DoD policies and procedures.
    In addition, the Board's DFO is required to be in attendance at all 
Board and Subcommittee meetings for the entire duration of each and 
every meeting. However, in the absence of the Board's DFO, a properly 
approved Alternate DFO, duly appointed to the Board according to DoD 
policies/procedures, shall attend the entire duration of the Board or 
Subcommittee meeting. The DFO, or the Alternate DFO, shall call all of 
the Board's and Subcommittee's meetings; prepare and approve all 
meeting agendas; adjourn any meeting, when the DFO, or the Alternate 
DFO, determines adjournment to be in the public interest or required by 
governing regulations or DoD policies/procedures; and chair meetings 
when directed to do so by the official to whom the Board reports.
    Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.105(j) and 102-3.140, the public or 
interested organizations may submit written statements to the Defense 
Health Board's membership about the Board's mission and functions. 
Written statements may be submitted at any time or in response to the 
stated agenda of planned meeting of Defense Health Board.
    All written statements shall be submitted to the Designated Federal 
Officer for the Defense Health Board, and this individual will ensure 
that the written statements are provided to the membership for their 
consideration. Contact information for the Defense Health Board's 
Designated Federal Officer can be obtained from the GSA's FACA 
Database--https://www.fido.gov/facadatabase/public.asp.
    The Designated Federal Officer, pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.150, will 
announce planned meetings of the Defense Health Board. The Designated 
Federal Officer, at that time, may provide additional guidance on the 
submission of written statements that are in response to the stated 
agenda for the planned meeting in question.

    Dated: October 31, 2012.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2012-26911 Filed 11-2-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P