[Federal Register: March 24, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 57)]
[Notices]
[Page 13854-13855]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24mr04-62]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Meeting
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the
following meeting:
Name: Continued Discussions for Concepts of Powered Air-
Purifying Respirator (PAPR) Standards Development Efforts Used for
Respiratory Protection Against Chemical, Biological, Radiological,
and Nuclear (CBRN) Agents.
Date and Time: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., May 4, 2004.
Place: Hilton Garden Inn, Pittsburgh/Southpointe, 1000 Corporate
Drive, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
Status: This meeting is hosted by NIOSH and will be open to the
public, limited only by the space available. The meeting room will
accommodate approximately 175 people. Interested parties should make
hotel reservations directly with the Hilton Garden Inn (724-743-
5000/1-800-445-8667) before the cut-off date of April 20, 2004.
Special group rates of $55 per night for Federal participants and
$79 per night for non-federal participants have been negotiated for
this meeting. The NIOSH/National Personal Protective Technology
Laboratory (NPPTL) public meeting must be referenced to receive
these special rates. Interested parties should confirm their
attendance to this meeting by completing a registration form and
forwarding it by e-mail (npptlevents@cdc.gov) or fax (304-285-4459)
to the NPPTL Event Management Office. A registration form may be
obtained from the NIOSH home page (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh) by selecting
conferences and then the event.
An opportunity to make presentations regarding the discussions
of concepts for standards and testing processes for PAPR standards
suitable for respiratory protection against CBRN agents will be
given. Requests to make such presentations at the public meeting
should be made by e-mail to the NPPTL Event Management Office
npptlevents@cdc.gov). All requests to present should include the
name, address, telephone number, relevant business affiliations of
the presenter, a brief summary of the presentation, and the
approximate time requested for the presentation. Oral presentations
should be limited to 15 minutes.
After reviewing the requests for presentations, NPPTL Event
Management will notify each presenter of the approximate time
that their presentation is scheduled to begin. If a participant is
not present when their presentation is scheduled to begin, the
remaining participants will be heard in order. At the conclusion of
the meeting, an attempt will be made to allow presentations by any
scheduled participants who missed their assigned times. Attendees
who wish to speak but did not submit a request for the opportunity
to make a presentation may be given this opportunity at the
conclusion of the meeting, at the discretion of the presiding
officer.
Comments on the topics presented in this notice and at the
meeting should be mailed to the NIOSH Docket Office, Robert Taft
Laboratories, M/S C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio
45226, Telephone (513) 533-8303, Fax (513) 533-8285. Comments may
also be submitted by e-mail to niocindocket@cdc.gov. E-mail
attachments should be formatted in Microsoft Word. Comments should
be submitted to NIOSH no later than June 4, 2004, and should
reference Docket Number NIOSH-010 in the subject heading.
Purpose: NIOSH will continue discussions of conceptual standards
and testing processes for PAPR standards suitable for respiratory
protection against CBRN agents. NIOSH also wishes to obtain comments
from individuals regarding the tentative schedules and priorities
for future CBRN respirator standards development efforts.
NIOSH, along with the U.S. Army Research, Development and
Engineering Command (RDECOM, formerly SBCCOM) and the National
Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) will present
information to attendees concerning the concept development for the
PAPR CBRN standard. Participants will be given an opportunity to ask
questions on these topics and to present individual comments for
consideration. Interested participants may obtain a copy of the PAPR
CBRN concept paper, as well as earlier versions of other concept
papers used during the standard development effort, from the NIOSH
NPPTL Web site, address: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl. The April
1, 2004, concept paper will be used as the basis
[[Page 13855]]
for discussion at the public meeting. During the October 16, 2003,
public meeting, NIOSH indicated that subsequent future standards
efforts following the completion of the PAPR CBRN standard would be
in this sequence: Integrated self-contained breathing apparatus
(SCBA)/PAPR, integrated SCBA/air-purifying respirators (APR),
closed-circuit SCBA, and supplied air respirators. NIOSH wishes to
obtain comments from individuals regarding this tentative priority
order sequence to determine if it reflects the priorities of the
stakeholder community's needs for respiratory protection. Recent
acts of terrorism have created an urgent awareness of domestic
security and preparedness issues. Municipal, State, and Federal
responder groups, particularly these in locations considered
potential targets, have been developing and modifying response and
consequence management plans. Since the World Trade Center and
anthrax incidents, most emergency response agencies have operated
with a heightened appreciation of the potential scope and sustained
resources requirements for coping with such events. The Federal
Interagency Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability
(IAB) has worked to identify personal protective equipment that is
already available on the market for responders' use. The IAB has
identified the development of standards or guidelines for
respiratory protection equipment as a top priority. NIOSH, NIST, the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration have entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding defining each agency or organization's role in
developing, establishing, and enforcing standards or guidelines for
responders' respiratory protective devices. NIST has initiated
Interagency Agreements with NIOSH and RDECOM to aid in the
development of appropriate protection standards or guidelines. NIOSH
has the lead in developing standards or guidelines to test,
evaluate, and approve respirators.
NIOSH, RDECOM, and NIST have hosted public meetings on April 17
and 18, 2001; June 18 and 19, 2002; October 16 and 17, 2002; April
29, 2003; June 25, 2003, and October 16, 2003, presenting their
progress in assessing respiratory protection needs of responders to
CBRN incidents. The methods or models for developing hazard and
exposure estimates and the status in evaluating test methods and
performance standards that may be applicable as future CBRN
respirator standards or guidelines were discussed at these meetings.
Three NIOSH CBRN respirator standards and several NFPA standards
for ensembles, SCBA and protective clothing were the first adopted
by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On February 26,
2004, DHS adopted, as DHS standards, three NIOSH criteria for
testing and certifying respirators for protection against CBRN
exposures. NIOSH uses the criteria to test (1) SCBA for use by
emergency responders against CBRN, (2) APR for use by emergency
responders against CBRN exposures, and (3) escape respirators for
protection against CBRN.
For Further Information Contact: NPPTL Event Management, 3610
Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, West Virginia 26507-
0880, Telephone (304) 285-4750, Fax (304) 285-4459, e-mail
npptlevents@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.
Dated: March 18, 2004.
Alvin Hall,
Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 04-6529 Filed 3-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-19-P