[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34752-34753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-13721]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Docket Number 139]
The Potential Modification of the NIOSH Statement of Standard for
a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Full Facepiece
Air-Purifying Respirator (APR)
AGENCY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of document available for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
announces the opportunity for manufacturers and stakeholders to provide
NIOSH with input on the potential modification of the NIOSH Statement
of Standard for a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear
(CBRN) Full Facepiece Air-Purifying Respirator (APR), which would
permit an alternative to the single standard 40-mm screw mounted
canister for the Department of Defense. Authority: Occupational Safety
and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.
Public Comment Period: Submit input to the NIOSH Docket Office
within 120 days from June 18, 2008.
Status: Written comments may be submitted to the NIOSH Docket
Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, 4676 Columbia Parkway, M/S C 34,
CBRN APR Mechanical Connector Design, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, telephone
(513) 533-8303, Facsimile (513) 533-8285.
All material submitted should reference NIOSH Docket number 139.
Comments may be e-mailed to [email protected]. All electronic
comments should be formatted as Microsoft Word.
All information received in response to this notice will be
available for public examination and copies available at the NIOSH
Docket Office, Room 111, 4674 Colombia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
Background: The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
(NPPTL) is currently seeking stakeholder input regarding a request from
the Department of Defense (DoD). The request is for a proposed
modification to the CBRN APR Statement of Standard to allow for
mechanical connectors other than the specified single 40-mm thread
connector. The DoD is seeking modification of the standard to allow DoD
first responders to use a newly developed respirator, the Joint Service
General Protective Mask (JSGPM), for respiratory protection on military
installations in the United States, or when called upon to support
civil authorities. The JSGPM uses a bayonet mounted, dual filter design
instead of the single standard 40-mm screw mounted canister. DoD's
request is to supplement the existing NIOSH standard with an alternate
design for DoD application. The DoD request to NIOSH for modification
of the NIOSH Statement of Standard may be obtained from the NIOSH
Docket Office using the contact information available above.
Because of their experiences in responding to the terrorist events
of 2001, emergency responders identified the need for the
interoperability of canisters and facepieces as a respirator user issue
that NIOSH needed to address.
During the evolution of the CBRN Statement of Standard, NIOSH
identified a single mechanical connector design requirement to support
interchangeability of CBRN certified canisters and masks. The user
community strongly encouraged requiring interoperable capability at all
three public meetings held that discussed the requirements for the CBRN
APR, and interoperability was strongly recommended in the 2002 Rand
Report entitled, ``Protecting Emergency Responders Lessons Learned from
Terrorist Attacks.'' Through a collaborative approach with multiple
partnerships, applicable military and industrial technologies were
integrated by NIOSH in the CBRN APR standard to provide the full range
of protection needed by emergency responders.
Working with the partnerships from Federal government agencies, the
private sector, and user groups, NIOSH expedited development and
publication of new testing and certification standards for voluntary
use by
[[Page 34753]]
emergency responders in CBRN terrorist attacks. Information about the
public meetings that discussed the conceptual requirements for the CBRN
APR is available through this link: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/standardsdev/cbrn/meetings.html.
The NIOSH Statement of Standard and supporting concept papers for
the CBRN APR are available through this link: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/standardsdev/cbrn/apr/.
Since the Standard was established in 2003, multiple models of CBRN
APRs from multiple manufacturers have been certified to the Statement
of Standard.
The DoD's request is to supplement the existing NIOSH standard with
an alternate permissible design for DoD applications. DoD requirements
for the JSGPM require availability of replacement filters in the mask
carrier worn on the individual and field level logistic support for
additional filters. Neither of these are requirements for commercial
mask applications. For the DoD user, the advantages of the bayonet
attachment on the JSGPM does not compromise the interoperability
considerations for emergency responders outside of the DoD.
DoD Instruction 6055.1 indicates that in non-military unique
workplaces where OSHA standards or other Federal safety standards apply
but do not cover, or only partially cover, existing conditions, the DoD
Components shall use appropriate national safety and occupational
health consensus standards under Public Law 104-113. When there is no
relevant OSHA or national consensus standard, the DoD Components may
develop other protective measures to ensure the safety and health of
DoD personnel. Also, the DoD Components may prescribe more stringent
exposure limits or monitoring frequencies than those in the basic OSHA
standards. Requesting NIOSH to include another mechanical connector
design for DoD applications that may allow for NIOSH certification of
the JSGPM meets this intent.
Through this announcement, NIOSH/NPPTL is seeking input from
stakeholders and manufacturers to determine the following:
1. Opinions on the current design requirement for the single 40-mm
thread canister mechanical connector.
2. Rationale and data to maintain the current design requirement.
3. Rationale and data to support adding an alternative design for
DoD applications for canister mechanical connectors.
4. Identification of alternative approaches to implement the
alternative design concept for the canister mechanical connector.
5. Other comments on the subject.
Contact Person for Technical Information: Jonathan V. Szalajda,
General Engineer, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
(NPPTL), NIOSH, CDC, telephone (412) 386-6627, E-mail [email protected].
Dated: June 10, 2008.
James D. Seligman,
Chief Information Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. E8-13721 Filed 6-17-08; 8:45 am]
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