[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 39568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14201]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2018-0094; NIOSH-321]


Infectious Diseases and Circumstances Relevant to Notification 
Requirements: Definition of Emergency Response Employee

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

ACTION: Notice of availability and response to comments.

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SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within 
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has added a 
definition of the term ``emergency response employees'' to the 
definitions section of the document entitled ``Implementation of 
Section 2695 (42 U.S.C. 300ff-131) Public Law 111-87: Infectious 
Diseases and Circumstances Relevant to Notification Requirements.'' 
This list of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases to which 
emergency response employees may be exposed and companion guidelines 
has been re-published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety 
and Health (NIOSH) and is available on the NIOSH website.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Weiss, Office of the Director, 
NIOSH; 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS:C-48, Cincinnati, OH 45226; telephone 
(855) 818-1629 (this is a toll-free number); email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory Authority

    The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 
1990 (Pub. L. 101-381) was reauthorized in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009. 
The most recent reauthorization, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment 
Extension Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-87), amended the Public Health 
Service Act (PHS Act, 42 U.S.C. 201-300ii) and requires the HHS 
Secretary to establish the following: a list of potentially life-
threatening infectious diseases, including emerging infectious 
diseases, to which emergency response employees (ERE) may be exposed in 
responding to emergencies; guidelines describing circumstances in which 
EREs may be exposed to these diseases, taking into account the 
conditions under which emergency response is provided; and guidelines 
describing the manner in which medical facilities should make 
determinations about exposures.
    In a Federal Register notice published on July 14, 2010, the HHS 
Secretary delegated this responsibility to the CDC Director.\1\ The CDC 
Director further assigned the responsibility to the NIOSH Director and 
formally re-delegated the authority to develop the list and guidelines 
to NIOSH on August 27, 2018.\2\
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    \1\ 75 FR 40842.
    \2\ 83 FR 50379 (October 4, 2018).
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II. Background

    On November 2, 2011, CDC published a notice in the Federal Register 
entitled Implementation of Section 2695 (42 U.S.C. 300ff-131) Public 
Law 111-87: Infectious Diseases and Circumstances Relevant to 
Notification Requirements.\3\ The notice included ``a list of 
potentially life-threatening infectious diseases, including emerging 
infectious diseases, to which EREs may be exposed in responding to 
emergencies . . .; guidelines describing circumstances in which 
employees may be exposed to these diseases; and guidelines describing 
the manner in which medical facilities should make determinations about 
exposures.'' The list and guidelines published in that notice did not 
include a definition for ``emergency response employee.''
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    \3\ 76 FR 67736.
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    In a request for information (RFI) published in the Federal 
Register on October 17, 2018,\4\ CDC solicited input on a definition of 
``emergency response employee.'' In the RFI, CDC explained that 
Congress included such a definition in earlier iterations of the Ryan 
White Act but inadvertently omitted it from the current version of the 
Act. Therefore, interested parties were invited to participate in the 
RFI by submitting written views, opinions, recommendations, and data 
regarding the definition of the term ``emergency response employee.''
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    \4\ 83 FR 52454.
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    Five submissions were received from the following commenters: Two 
private individuals, a professional organization representing fire 
chiefs, a union representing emergency response employees, and one city 
emergency management agency; all commenters were supportive of 
restoring the definition of ``emergency response employee'' to the 
publication. Two commenters asked that the definition offered in the 
RFI be revised to remove the word ``employee;'' change ``funeral 
service practitioners'' to ``coroner'' or ``medical examiner;'' and add 
the terms ``rescuers'' and ``emergency management personnel.''
    After careful consideration of the requested revisions, CDC has 
determined that adopting the original statutory definition, without 
change, in the definitions section accompanying the NIOSH list and 
guidelines allows the notification provisions to be implemented as 
Congress originally intended. Further, the definition references 
``other individuals,'' which allows discretion in determining whether 
individuals who are employed in job categories other than those 
enumerated can be considered EREs, including the specific groups 
recommended by the commenters. Therefore, CDC is retaining the 
definition of ``emergency response employee'' provided in the RFI:

    firefighters, law enforcement officers, paramedics, emergency 
medical technicians, funeral service practitioners, and other 
individuals (including employees of legally organized and recognized 
volunteer organizations, without regard to whether such employees 
receive nominal compensation) who, in the course of professional 
duties, respond to emergencies in the geographic area involved.

    NIOSH has updated the guidelines and list with the ERE definition 
and has re-published them on the NIOSH Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment 
Extension Act of 2009 topic page, at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ryanwhite/.

John J. Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2020-14201 Filed 6-30-20; 8:45 am]
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