[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8072-8073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03242]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket Number CDC-2016-0020, NIOSH-289]


National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 
Quality Assurance Review of B Readers' Classifications Submitted in the 
Department of Labor (DOL) Black Lung Benefits Program

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

[[Page 8073]]


ACTION: Request for information and comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announces the 
availability of draft procedures pertaining to classifications referred 
to the NIOSH Respiratory Health Division (RHD) by the Department of 
Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, for quality assurance 
review and corrective measures. The draft, titled, National Institute 
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Quality Assurance Review of 
B Readers' Classifications Submitted in the Department of Labor (DOL) 
Black Lung Benefits Program, is available for public comment. To view 
the notice and related materials, visit www.regulations.gov and enter 
CDC-2016-0020 in the field and click ``Search.'' This draft document 
does not have the force or effect of the law.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

     DATES:
     ADDRESSES:
     FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
     SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:


DATES: Comments must be received by April 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by CDC-2016-0020 and 
docket number NIOSH-289, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health, NIOSH Docket Office, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS C-34, Cincinnati, 
Ohio 45226-1998.
    Instructions: All information received in response to this notice 
must include the agency name and docket number [CDC-2016-0020; NIOSH-
289]. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For 
access to the docket to read background materials and comments 
received, go to www.regulations.gov. All information received in 
response to this notice will also be available for public examination 
and copying at the NIOSH Docket Office, 1150 Tusculum Avenue, Room 155, 
Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Eileen Storey, NIOSH, Respiratory 
Health Division, Surveillance Branch, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, 
WV, 26505. Telephone (304) 285-5754 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2015, NIOSH and the DOL Office of 
Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) entered into a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) \1\ designed to establish a joint quality assurance 
program for the assessment of classifications of chest radiographic 
images performed by physicians in Black Lung Benefits proceedings who 
are ``B Readers'' certified by NIOSH. The B Reader Certification 
Program was established by NIOSH pursuant to the Federal Mine Safety 
and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. 843. NIOSH B Readers are physicians 
who have demonstrated proficiency in the use of the International 
Labour Organization (ILO) Classification of Radiographs of 
Pneumoconioses by passing a proficiency examination offered by NIOSH, 
as specified in 42 CFR 37.51. B Readers may submit classifications as 
part of OWCP's process of evaluating claims for compensation under the 
federal Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. 901 to 944.
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    \1\ The Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of 
Labor Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the 
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH) establishing a B reader quality assurance program, is 
found in the docket for this action.
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    To implement the MOU, NIOSH has developed a draft quality assurance 
review procedure entitled, NIOSH Quality Assurance Review of B Readers' 
Classifications Submitted in the Department of Labor (DOL) Black Lung 
Benefits Program, to provide a mechanism to assess the quality of 
classifications of certain chest radiographs performed by B Readers. 
NIOSH quality assurance review will focus on the classification of the 
presence or absence of large opacities as described in the ILO 
classification system in chest radiographs, because coal miners with 
large opacities are irrefutably presumed to be totally disabled, or to 
have died, from pneumoconiosis, pursuant to 30 U.S.C. 921(c)(3). Thus, 
determinations of large opacities have a significant impact on awarding 
benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act.
    NIOSH seeks comment from B Readers and other interested parties on 
the draft procedure. All comments submitted will be considered; the 
final version of this procedure will be published on the NIOSH Web 
site.

    Dated: February 8, 2016.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2016-03242 Filed 2-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4163-19-P