[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 26, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74456-74458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25916]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Renewal of Charters for Certain Federal Advisory Committees

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the 
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 
amended (5 U.S.C. App), the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services is hereby announcing that the charters have been renewed for 
the following federal advisory committees for which Office of

[[Page 74457]]

the Assistant Secretary for Health provides management support: Chronic 
Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC); President's Council on 
Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition (PCFSN; the Council); Secretary's 
Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP); and Advisory 
Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability (ACBTSA). 
Functioning as federal advisory committees, these committees are 
governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(FACA). Under FACA, it is stipulated that the charter for a federal 
advisory committee must be renewed every two years in order for the 
committee to continue to operate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Olga B. Nelson, Committee Management 
Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health; U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services; 200 Independence Avenue SW., Room 714B; 
Washington, DC 20201; (202) 690-5205.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CFSAC was established on September 5, 2002 
as a discretionary federal advisory committee. The Committee provides 
science-based advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, through the Assistant Secretary for Health, on a broad 
range of issues and topics pertaining to myalgic encephalomyelitis/
chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), including (1) opportunities to 
improve knowledge and research about the epidemiology, etiologies, 
biomarkers and risk factors for ME/CFS; (2) research on the diagnosis, 
treatment, and management of ME/CFS and potential impact of treatment 
options; (3) strategies to inform the public, health care 
professionals, and the biomedical academic and research communities 
about ME/CFS advances; (4) partnerships to improve the quality of life 
of ME/CFS patients; and (5) strategies to insure that input from ME/CFS 
patients and care givers is incorporated into HHS policy and research.
    The new charter includes the following amendments: (1) The language 
in the Description of Duties has been simplified. A fifth duty has been 
added to emphasize the importance of getting stakeholder input on HHS 
policy and research concerning ME/CFS; (2) authority has been given to 
the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) as an official to whom the 
Committee will report. Extending this authority to include the ASH 
gives clear responsibility to the ASH for better monitoring and 
implementation of the recommendations that are approved by the 
Secretary; and (3) the Committee structure has been changed to (a) 
increase the number of voting public members to 13 to give patients 
and/or caretakers of ME/CFS more representation on the Committee. This 
amendment has been made to the charter to respond to recent concerns 
that had been expressed by CFS advocates, (b) remove the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as a non-voting ex-officio member. 
A determination was made that there is not much for CMS to contribute 
to or to seek advice from CFSAC. It would be more beneficial to have 
CMS involved in the Committee's deliberative process if diagnostics or 
treatments are developed for ME/CFS. This activity is not projected to 
take place during the two-year period that the new charter will be in 
effect, and (c) expand the Committee structure to add two new ex-
officio positions for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the 
Department of Defense (DoD). Expanding the Committee structure to 
include these two government agencies will provide valuable information 
on services available to patients with ME/CFS and research being 
conducted on illnesses with similar symptoms to ME/CFS.
    On September 5, 2016, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
approved for the CFSAC charter with the proposed amendments to be 
renewed. The new charter has been made effective; the charter was filed 
with the appropriate Congressional committees and the Library of 
Congress on September 5, 2016. Renewal of the CFSAC charter provides 
authorization for the Committee to continue to operate until September 
5, 2018. A copy of the Committee charter is available on the CFSAC Web 
site at http://www.hhs.gov/advcomcfs.
    The PCFSN is a non-discretionary federal advisory committee. The 
PCFSN was established under Executive Order 13545, dated June 22, 2010. 
This authorizing directive was issued to amend the purpose, function, 
and name of the Council, which formerly operated as the President's 
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). The scope of the 
Council was changed to include nutrition to bring attention to the 
importance of good nutritional habits with regular physical activity 
for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The PCFSN is the only federal 
advisory committee that is focused solely on the promotion of physical 
activity, fitness, sports, and nutrition. Since the PCFSN was 
established by Presidential directive, appropriate action had to be 
taken by the President or agency head to authorize continuation of the 
PCFSN. The President issued Executive Order 13708, dated September 30, 
2015. Under the authority given in this directive, the Council can 
continue to operate until September 30, 2017.
    No amendments were recommended for the PCFSN charter. The charter 
was approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on September 
8, 2016, and it was filed with the appropriate Congressional committees 
and the Library of Congress on September 10, 2016. A copy of the 
Council charter is available on the PCFSN Web site at http://fitness.gov.
    SACHRP is a discretionary federal advisory committee. SACHRP 
provides advice to the Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary for 
Health, on matters pertaining to the continuance and improvement of 
functions within the authority of the Department of Health and Human 
Services concerning protections for human subjects in research.
    There was one amendment recommended and approved for the SACHRP 
charter. The charter stipulated that appointment of the Designated 
Federal Officer (DFO) was restricted to the Director of the Office for 
Human Research Protections. This restriction has been removed to allow 
for other senior level program and management OHRP staff to be 
considered for appointment as the DFO. On September 30, 2016, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services approved for the SACHRP charter 
to be renewed. The new charter was filed with the appropriate 
Congressional committees and the Library of Congress on October 1, 
2016. SACHRP is authorized to continue to operate until October 1, 
2018. A copy of the charter is available on the Committee Web site at 
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sachrp/.
    The ACBTSA is a discretionary federal advisory committee. The 
Committee provides advice to the Secretary, through the Assistant 
Secretary for Health, on a range of policy issues related to the safety 
of blood, blood products, organs and tissues. For organs and blood stem 
cells, the Committee's work is limited to policy issues related to 
donor derived infectious disease complications of transplantation 
around the safety and availability of the blood supply and blood 
products.
    There were two minor amendments recommended and approved for the 
ACBTSA charter. The charter has been amended to include the option for 
a Vice Chair and/or Co-Chairs to be

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appointed for the Committee leadership. The Committee structure has 
been expanded to include ex-officio representation from the Department 
of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA has the largest conglomerate of 
hospitals in the United States. The agency has responsibility for the 
largest patient population that uses the largest quantity of blood and 
tissue products in the United States. Therefore, it was determined that 
involvement of the VA would be beneficial to the ACBTSA for ensuring 
that the Committee properly addresses current issues and concerns 
regarding blood and tissue safety and availability.
    On October 5, 2016, the new charter for the ACBTSA was approved by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and it was filed with the 
appropriate Congressional committees and the Library of Congress on 
October 9, 2016. ACBTSA is authorized to operate until October 9, 2018. 
A copy of the charter can be obtained on the ACBTSA Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ash/bloodsafety.
    Copies of the charters for the designated committees also can be 
obtained by accessing the FACA database that is maintained by the 
Committee Management Secretariat under the General Services 
Administration. The Web site address for the FACA database is http://facadatabase.gov/.

    Dated: October 20, 2016.
Karen B. DeSalvo,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Health.
[FR Doc. 2016-25916 Filed 10-25-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4150-28-P