[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2923-2924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00784]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2023-0005; NIOSH 248-J]


World Trade Center Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory 
Committee (WTCHP-STAC)

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

ACTION: Notice of meeting and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with provisions of Title 5 U.S.C. 10, the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
following meeting for the World Trade Center Health Program Scientific/
Technical Advisory Committee (WTCHP-STAC). This virtual meeting is open 
to the public. Time will be available for public comment.

DATES: The meeting will be held on February 9, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., EST. Written public comments must be received by February 9, 
2023. Written comments received prior to the meeting will be part of 
the official record of the meeting. Members of the public who wish to 
address the WTCHP-STAC during the oral public comment session must sign 
up to speak by February 3, 2023, at the email address provided in the 
Procedure for Oral Public Comment section below.

ADDRESSES: This is a virtual meeting conducted via Zoom. The public is 
welcome to follow the proceedings via live webcast at the following 
link: https://www.ustream.tv/channel/QyXBRzYjVCS. No registration is 
required. For additional information, please visit the World Trade 
Center Health Program website at https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/stac_meeting.html.
    You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2023-0005; 
NIOSH 248-J by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Ms. Sherri Diana, NIOSH Docket Office, National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, Mailstop C-34, 
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226. Attn: Docket No. CDC-2023-0005; NIOSH 248-J.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Agency name 
and Docket Number (CDC-2023-0005; NIOSH 248-J). The docket will close 
on February 9, 2023. All relevant comments, including any personal 
information provided, will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tania Carre[oacute]n-Valencia, Ph.D., 
M.S., Designated Federal Officer, World Trade Center Health Program 
Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee, National Institute for 
Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop R-12, Atlanta, Georgia 
30329-4027; Telephone: (513) 841-4515; Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, including 
the World Trade Center Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory 
Committee (WTCHP-STAC), was established by Title I of the James Zadroga 
9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, Public Law 111-347 (January 
2, 2011), as amended by Public Law 114-113 (December 18, 2015) and 
Public Law 116-59 (September 27, 2019), adding Title XXXIII to the 
Public Health Service (PHS) Act (codified at 42 U.S.C. 300mm to 300mm-
61). All references to the Administrator in this document mean the 
Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 
or his or her designee.
    Purpose: The purpose of the WTCHP-STAC is to review scientific and 
medical evidence and to make recommendations to the Administrator of 
the WTC Health Program regarding additional WTC Health Program 
eligibility criteria, potential additions to the List of WTC-Related 
Health

[[Page 2924]]

Conditions (List), and research regarding certain health conditions 
related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
    Title XXXIII of the PHS Act established the WTC Health Program 
within the Department of Health and Human Services. The WTC Health 
Program provides medical monitoring and treatment benefits to eligible 
firefighters and related personnel, law enforcement officers, and 
rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers who responded to the September 
11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in 
Shanksville, Pennsylvania (responders), and to eligible persons who 
were present in the dust or dust cloud on September 11, 2001, or who 
worked, resided, or attended school, childcare, or adult daycare in the 
New York City disaster area (survivors).
    The Administrator is responsible for the administration of the 
WTCHP-STAC. CDC and NIOSH provide funding, staffing, and administrative 
support services for the WTCHP-STAC. The WTCHP-STAC's charter was 
reissued on May 12, 2021, and will expire on May 12, 2023. In 
accordance with 42 U.S.C. 300mm-22(a)(6)(G)(i)(II), the Administrator 
must ask the WTCHP-STAC to review and evaluate any substantive 
amendment to any existing WTC Health Program policy or procedure.
    Matters To Be Considered: The agenda will include presentations on 
the state of the WTC Health Program, the Program's research activities, 
and uterine cancer coverage. There will be a presentation and 
discussion about substantive amendments to the existing Policy and 
Procedures for Adding Non-Cancer Health Conditions to the List of WTC-
Related Health Conditions. The amendments are intended to clarify the 
evaluation criteria used to assess the likelihood of a causal 
association between 9/11-related exposures and a health condition in 
the 9/11-exposed population. The revision also clarifies the nature of 
the rationale that provides the basis for the WTCHP-STAC 
recommendations.
    The amended draft Policy and Procedures for Adding Non-Cancer 
Health Conditions to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions as well 
as the agenda for this meeting are available on the WTC Health Program 
website at https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/stac_meeting.html. Agenda items are 
subject to change as priorities dictate.

Public Participation

    Interested parties may participate by submitting written views, 
opinions, recommendations, and data. You may submit comments on any 
topic related to the matters to be discussed by the Committee. Comments 
received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are 
part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. Do not 
include any information in your comment or supporting materials that 
you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure. If 
you include your name, contact information, or other information that 
identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be 
on public display. CDC will review all submissions and may choose to 
redact, or withhold, submissions containing private or proprietary 
information such as Social Security numbers, medical information, 
inappropriate language, or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-
mail campaign. CDC will carefully consider all comments submitted into 
the docket. CDC does not accept comments by email.
    Oral Public Comment: The public is welcome to participate, via 
Zoom, during the public comment period on February 9, 2023, from 1:30 
p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Each commenter will be provided up to five minutes 
for comment. A limited number of time slots are available and will be 
assigned on a first-come-first-served basis.
    Procedure for Oral Public Comment: Members of the public who wish 
to address the WTCHP-STAC during the oral public comment session at the 
February 9, 2023, WTCHP-STAC meeting must sign up to speak by providing 
their name to Ms. Mia Wallace, Committee Management Specialist, via 
email at [email protected], by February 3, 2023. Zoom instructions and 
participation details will follow.
    Written Public Comment: Written comments will also be accepted per 
the instructions provided in the Addresses section above. Written 
public comments received prior to the meeting will be part of the 
official record of the meeting. The docket will close on February 9, 
2023.
    Policy on Redaction of Committee Meeting Transcripts (Public 
Comment): Transcripts will be prepared and posted to https://www.regulations.gov within 60 days after the meeting. If individuals 
making a comment give their name, no attempt will be made to redact the 
name. NIOSH will take reasonable steps to ensure that individuals 
making public comments are aware that their comments (including their 
names, if provided) will appear in a transcript of the meeting posted 
on a public website. Such reasonable steps include a statement read at 
the start of the meeting stating that transcripts will be posted, and 
names of speakers will not be redacted. If individuals in making a 
statement reveal personal information (e.g., medical information) about 
themselves, that information will not usually be redacted. The CDC 
Freedom of Information Act coordinator will, however, review such 
revelations in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and, if 
deemed appropriate, will redact such information. Disclosures of 
information concerning third party medical information will be 
redacted.
    The Director, Strategic Business Initiatives Unit, Office of the 
Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices 
pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management 
activities, for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Kalwant Smagh,
Director, Strategic Business Initiatives Unit, Office of the Chief 
Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-00784 Filed 1-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P