[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 19, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20108-20109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-5851]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Summary of Special Exposure Cohort Petitions and National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Findings

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the requirements of 42 CFR 83.15(a), the 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice of petitions 
to add classes of employees to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) and 
the findings of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH) from evaluating these petitions that are to be 
considered by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health April 
25-27, 2006 (see notice: Federal Register/Vol. 71, No. 66/Thursday, 
April 6, 2006/Notices, p. 17470).
    Summary of petitions and NIOSH findings:

1. Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

    Qualified Petitioners: Survivors of Y-12 Plant Department of Energy 
(DOE) contractor employees.
    Initial Proposed Class Definition, Subject to Revision as Warranted 
by the Evaluation: All steamfitters, pipefitters, and plumbers who 
worked at Y-12 from October, 1944 through December, 1957.
    Basis of the Petition: Documentation or statements provided by 
affidavit indicating that radiation exposures and doses to members of 
the proposed class were not monitored either through personal or area 
monitoring.
    NIOSH Finding and NIOSH Proposed Class Definition: NIOSH does not 
have access to sufficient information to estimate radiation dose with 
sufficient accuracy for employees of the DOE or DOE contractors or 
subcontractors who were monitored or should have been monitored for 
thorium exposures while working in Building 9202, 9204-1, 9204-3, 9206, 
or 9212 at Y-12 during the period January 1948 through December 1957. 
NIOSH has determined that health was endangered for those workers who 
were employed for at least 250 aggregated work days within the 
parameters established for this class or in combination with work days 
within the parameters for one or more classes of employees in the SEC.

2. Rocky Flats Plant, Golden, Colorado

    Qualified Petitioner: Labor organization representing or formerly 
having represented DOE or DOE contractor or subcontractor employees who 
would be included in the proposed class of employees.
    Initial Proposed Class Definition, Subject to Revision as Warranted 
by the Evaluation: All represented members, past, present and current, 
of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 8031 and its 
predecessors, that worked at the Rocky Flats Plant, Golden, Colorado, 
from April 1952 to February 15, 2005.
    Bases of the Petition:
    a. Documents or statements provided by affidavit indicating that 
radiation exposures and doses to members of the proposed class were not 
monitored, either through personal or area monitoring.

[[Page 20109]]

    b. Documents or statements provided by affidavit indicating that 
radiation monitoring records for members of the proposed class have 
been lost, falsified, or destroyed; or that there is no information 
regarding monitoring, source, source term, or process from the site 
where the employees worked.
    c. A report from a health physicist or other individual with 
expertise in radiation dose reconstruction documenting the limitations 
of existing DOE records on radiation exposures at the facility, as 
relevant to the petition.
    d. A scientific or technical report, issued by an agency of the 
Executive Branch of Government, or published in a peer-reviewed 
journal, that identifies dosimetry and related information that are 
unavailable (due to either a lack of monitoring or the destruction or 
loss of records) for estimating the radiation doses of employees 
covered by the petition.
    NIOSH Finding: NIOSH has established that it has access to 
sufficient information to estimate the maximum radiation dose incurred 
by any member of the class as identified above, or estimate radiation 
doses more precisely than a maximum dose estimate. Information 
available from the Rocky Flats Site Profile document and additional 
resources is sufficient to estimate the maximum internal and external 
potential exposure to members of the proposed class under plausible 
circumstances during the specified period.

3. Nevada Test Site, Mercury, Nevada

    Qualified Petitioner: DOE contractor or subcontractor employee who 
would be included in the proposed class of employees.
    Initial Proposed Class Definition, Subject to Revision as Warranted 
by the Evaluation: Employees of the DOE or DOE contractors or 
subcontractors who worked at the Nevada Test Site during the period 
January 27, 1951 through December 31, 1962.
    Basis of the Petition: NIOSH has determined that there is 
insufficient information to complete a dose reconstruction for the 
employee identified in the petition, and NIOSH has notified the 
employee, Department of Labor (DOL), and DOE of this finding. HHS will 
consider this finding sufficient, without further consideration, to 
determine that it is not feasible to estimate the levels of radiation 
doses of members of the class with sufficient accuracy.
    NIOSH Finding and NIOSH Proposed Class Definition: NIOSH does not 
have access to sufficient information to estimate the potential 
internal radiation dose with sufficient accuracy for employees of the 
DOE or DOE contractors or subcontractors who worked at the Nevada Test 
Site during the period January 27, 1951 through December 31, 1962. 
NIOSH has determined that health was endangered for those workers who 
were employed for at least 250 aggregated work days within the 
parameters established for this class or in combination with work days 
within the parameters for one or more classes of employees in the SEC.

4. Pacific Proving Ground, Marshall Islands

    Qualified Petitioner: Survivor of former DOE or DOE contractor or 
subcontractor employee.
    Initial Proposed Class Definition, Subject to Revision as Warranted 
by the Evaluation: All Scientists and Scientific Couriers that worked 
on Enewetak Atoll, Pacific Proving Grounds, Marshall Islands, from July 
1, 1958 until August 31, 1958 (Operation Hardtack I).
    Basis of the Petition: Documentation or statements provided by 
affidavit indicating that radiation exposures and doses to members of 
the proposed class were not monitored, either through personal or area 
monitoring.
    NIOSH Finding and NIOSH Proposed Class Definition: NIOSH does not 
have access to sufficient information to document or estimate either 
the potential maximum internal radiation dose, or to estimate such 
radiation doses more precisely than a maximum dose estimate for 
employees of the DOE or DOE contractors or subcontractors who were 
monitored or should have been monitored for exposures to ionizing 
radiation as a result of nuclear weapons testing, under plausible 
circumstances during the period of Atomic Energy Commission operations 
at the Pacific Proving Ground, 1946 through 1962. NIOSH has determined 
that health was endangered for those workers who were employed for at 
least 250 aggregated work days within the parameters established for 
this class or in combination with work days within the parameters for 
one or more classes of employees in the SEC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Elliott, Director, Office of 
Compensation Analysis and Support, National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health, 4676 Columbia Parkway, MS C-46, Cincinnati, OH 
45226, Telephone 513-533-6800 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Information requests can also be submitted by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated: April 13, 2006.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 8
[FR Doc. E6-5851 Filed 4-18-06; 8:45 am]
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