National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health.

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

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

Times and Dates: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., April 20, 2004. 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., April 20, 2004. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., April 21, 2004.

Place: Red Lion Hotel Richland, 802 George Washington Way, Richland, Washington 99352, telephone 509/946-7611, fax 509/943-8564.

Status: Open to the public, limited only by the space available. The meeting room accommodates approximately 65 people.

Background: The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health (“the Board”) was established under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) of 2000 to advise the President, through the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), on a variety of policy and technical functions required to implement and effectively manage the new compensation program. Key functions of the Board include providing advice on the development of probability of causation guidelines which have been promulgated by HHS as a final rule, advice on methods of dose reconstruction which have also been promulgated by HHS as a final rule, evaluation of the scientific validity and quality of dose reconstructions conducted by NIOSH for qualified cancer claimants, and advice on petitions to add classes of workers to the Special Exposure Cohort.

In December 2000 the President delegated responsibility for funding, staffing, and operating the Board to HHS, which subsequently delegated this authority to CDC. NIOSH implements this responsibility for CDC. The charter was issued on August 3, 2001, and renewed on August 3, 2003.

Purpose: This 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, advise 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 this meeting will focus on Program Status Reports from NIOSH and Department of Labor; Site Profile Status; Research Issues; Report on Access to Information for Performance of Dose Reconstruction; Blockson Chemical Update; an Update from Sanford Cohen and Associates, and a Board working session to discuss case selection processes. There will also be an evening public comment period scheduled for April 20, 2004.

The agenda is subject to change as priorities dictate.

For Further Information Contact: Larry Elliott, Executive Secretary, ABRWH, NIOSH, CDC, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, telephone 513/533-6825, fax 513/533-6826.

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.