Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (ABRWH or Advisory Board), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

In accordance with section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463), CDC announces the following meeting of the aforementioned committee:

Time and Date: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, March 31, 2009.

Place: Audio Conference Call via FTS Conferencing. The USA toll free dial in number is 1-866-659-0537 with a pass code of 9933701.

Status: Open to the public, but without a public oral comment period.

Background: The Advisory Board was established under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to advise the President on a variety of policy and technical functions required to implement and effectively manage the new compensation program. Key functions of the Advisory Board include providing advice on the development of probability of causation guidelines which have been promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a final rule, advice on methods of dose reconstruction which have also been promulgated by HHS as a final rule, advice on the scientific validity and quality of dose estimation and reconstruction efforts being performed for purposes of the compensation program, and advice on petitions to add classes of workers to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC).

In December 2000, the President delegated responsibility for funding, staffing, and operating the Advisory Board to HHS, which subsequently delegated this authority to the CDC. NIOSH implements this responsibility for CDC. The charter was issued on August 3, 2001, renewed at appropriate intervals, most recently, August 3, 2007, and will expire on August 3, 2009.

Purpose: This Advisory Board is charged with (a) providing advice to the Secretary, HHS, on the development of guidelines under Executive Order 13179; (b) providing advice to the Secretary, HHS, on the scientific validity and quality of dose reconstruction efforts performed for this program; and (c) upon request by the Secretary, HHS, advising the Secretary on whether there is a class of employees at any Department of Energy facility who were exposed to radiation but for whom it is not feasible to estimate their radiation dose, and on whether there is reasonable likelihood that such radiation doses may have endangered the health of members of this class.

Matters To Be Discussed: The agenda for the conference call includes: Dose Reconstruction Interview Scripts and Procedures; Special Exposure Cohort Petition Status Updates; Board Subcommittee and Work Group Updates; Update on Board Technical Support Contractor Activities; Future Plans.

Due to administrative matters, this Federal Register Notice is being published on less than 15 calendar days notice to the public (41 CFR 102-3.150(b)).

The agenda is subject to change as priorities dictate.

Because there is no public comment period, written comments may be submitted. Any written comments received will be included in the official record of the meeting and should be submitted to the contact person below in advance of the meeting.

Contact Person for More Information: Theodore M. Katz, M.P.A., Executive Secretary, NIOSH, CDC, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE., Mailstop: E-20, Atlanta, GA 30333, Telephone (513) 533-6800, Toll Free 1-800-CDC-INFO, E-mail ocas@cdc.gov.

The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management activities, for both CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.