[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 231 (Monday, December 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57272-57273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25955]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2017-0115]


Availability of Draft Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) Operations 
Manual and VSP Construction Guidelines

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within 
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announces the 
opening of a public docket to obtain comment on the draft Vessel 
Sanitation Program (VSP) Operations Manual and the VSP Construction 
Guidelines. Information about locating these documents can be found in 
the supporting materials section and on the VSP Web site. VSP 
established the public health standards found in the VSP Operations 
Manual and Construction Guidelines to target the control and prevention 
of gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships. The VSP Operations 
Manual and Construction Guidelines were last updated in 2011. New 
technology, advanced food science, and emerging pathogens require 
updates to these documents.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by February 2, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CDC-
2017-0115, by any of the following methods:
     Internet: Access the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Vessel Sanitation Program, National Center for 
Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 
Buford Highway, MS F-59, Chamblee, Georgia 30341-3717.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Commander Aimee Treffiletti, Chief, 
Vessel Sanitation Program, National Center for Environmental Health, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE., MS 
F-59, Chamblee, Georgia 30341-3717; phone: 800-323-2132 or 954-356-
6650; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HHS/CDC established the Vessel Sanitation

[[Page 57273]]

Program (VSP) in the 1970s as a cooperative activity with the cruise 
ship industry. VSP helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control 
the introduction, transmission, and spread of gastrointestinal 
illnesses (GI) on cruise ships. VSP operates under the authority of the 
Public Health Service Act (Section 361 of the Public Health Service 
Act; 42 U.S.C. 264, ``Control of Communicable Diseases''). Regulations 
found at 42 CFR 71.41 state that carriers arriving at U.S. ports from a 
foreign area are subject to sanitary inspections to determine whether 
rodent, insect, or other vermin infestations exist, or whether 
contaminated food or water or other sanitary conditions requiring 
measures for the prevention of the introduction, transmission, or 
spread of communicable diseases are present.
    VSP established the public health standards found in the current 
version of the VSP Operations Manual and VSP Construction Guidelines. 
These standards target the control and prevention of GI illnesses on 
cruise ships.
    VSP is updating the VSP Operations Manual to reflect new 
technologies, current food science, disease patterns and trends, and 
emerging pathogens. VSP also is updating the VSP Construction 
Guidelines as a framework of consistent construction and design 
guidelines related to public health, including vessel facilities 
related to food storage, preparation, and service and water bunkering, 
storage, disinfection, and distribution.
    The draft VSP Operations Manual and the draft VSP Construction 
Guidelines are available online at www.regulations.gov, Docket No. CDC-
2017-0115, under Supplemental Materials.

    Dated: November 27, 2017.
Sandra Cashman,
Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2017-25955 Filed 12-1-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P