[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71277-71279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19624]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Docket No. CDC-2024-0064; NIOSH 248-L]


Meeting of the World Trade Center Health Program Scientific/
Technical Advisory Committee

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 the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
following meeting for the World Trade Center Health Program Scientific/
Technical Advisory Committee (STAC). This virtual meeting is open to 
the public. Time will be available for public comment.

DATES: The meeting will be held on September 23, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 
3 p.m., EDT.
    Written public comments must be received by September 23, 2024, at 
11:59 p.m., EDT. Members of the public who wish to address the STAC 
during the oral public comment session must sign up to speak by 
September 16, 2024, 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 YouTube Live at the following 
link: https://youtube.com/live/7Pokfh4kcsc?feature=share. 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-2024-0064; 
NIOSH 248-L by either of the methods listed below. CDC does not accept 
comments by email.
     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-2024-0064; NIOSH 248-L.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Agency name 
and docket number (CDC-2024-0064; NIOSH 248-L). The docket will close 
on

[[Page 71278]]

September 23, 2024. 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 WTC Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), 
was established by title I of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and 
Compensation Act of 2010, Public Law 111-347, as amended by Public Law 
114-113, Public Law 116-59, Public Law 117-328, and Public Law 118-31, 
adding title XXXIII to the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (codified at 
42 U.S.C. 300mm to 300mm-64). 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).
    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 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 Conditions (List), and research regarding certain health 
conditions related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 
accordance with section 3312(a)(6)(G)(i)(II) of the PHS Act, the 
Administrator must ask the STAC to review and evaluate any substantive 
amendment to any existing WTC Health Program policy or procedure used 
to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to support adding a 
health condition to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions.
    The Administrator is responsible for the administration of the 
STAC. CDC and NIOSH provide funding, staffing, and administrative 
support services for the Committee. The STAC's charter was reissued on 
May 12, 2023, and will expire on May 12, 2025.
    Matters to Be Considered: The agenda will include updates on the 
status of WTC Health Program Research and the Youth Research Cohort. It 
will include a presentation on the expansion of the WTC Health Program 
enrollment eligibility for Pentagon and Shanksville responders. In 
addition, there will be a presentation about non-substantive revisions 
to the existing Policy and Procedures for Adding Non-Cancer Health 
Conditions to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions.
    Background documents 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.
    Oral Public Comment: The public is welcome to participate, via 
Zoom, during the public comment period on September 23, 2024, from 1:15 
p.m. to 1:45 p.m., EDT. 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 STAC during the oral public comment session at the 
September 23, 2024, STAC meeting must sign up to speak by providing 
their name to Ms. Mia Wallace, Committee Management Specialist, via 
email at [email protected], by September 16, 2024. 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 September 23, 
2024.
    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 
that 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, Office of Strategic Business Initiatives, 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

[[Page 71279]]

Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Kalwant Smagh,
Director, Office of Strategic Business Initiatives, Office of the Chief 
Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-19624 Filed 8-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P