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HHS SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON RULLS TO ASSIST COMPENSATION OF NUCLEAR WORKERS



This may be of interest to the group.



-- John 

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist 

3050 Traymore Lane

Bowie, MD  20715-2024



E-mail:  jenday1@email.msn.com (H)      



-----Original Message-----

Date:    Fri, 5 Oct 2001 10:18:28 -0400

From:    "Henneghan, Martha (HHS/OS)" <MARTHA.HENNEGHAN@HHS.GOV>

Subject: HHS PRESS RELEASE--HHS SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON RULLS TO ASSIST CO

         MPENSATION OF NUCLEAR WORKERS



Date:  October 5, 2001

For Release:  Immediately

Contact: CDC/NIOSH Press Office

(202) 401-3749



Headline:  HHS SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON RULES TO ASSIST COMPENSATION

OF NUCLEAR WORKERS FOR JOB-RELATED CANCERS



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today asked for

public comment on two rules under which the department will provide

scientific expertise to assist in decision-making under the Energy Employees

Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000.  The two rules,

"Methods for Radiation Dose Reconstruction" and "Guidelines for Determining

the Probability of Causation," are published in today's Federal Register as

an interim final rule and a notice of proposed rulemaking, respectively.



Under the Compensation Act, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is

administering claims by current and former employees of nuclear weapons

production facilities and their survivors who seek compensation for cancers

caused by radiation exposures sustained in the performance of duty, chronic

beryllium disease, and silicosis.  The Act directs HHS to provide scientific

information that DOL will use to evaluate claims by workers who seek

compensation for certain cancers caused by occupational radiation exposures

but are not requesting compensation under the "Special Exposure Cohort"

provisions of the Act.  The Special Exposure Cohort includes workers with

specified cancers who were employed at specific sites designated in the Act.



"For a program as important as this, we have to bring the best scientific

expertise we can to the table and move as quickly as possible," HHS

Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said.  "With today's notices, we are taking

steps to put some key processes in place immediately as we proceed with

further steps to make sure that our products pass rigorous scientific

scrutiny and public review."



The interim final rule specifies the methods that HHS will use in developing

the scientific information that it will provide to DOL, and the proposed

rule presents scientific guidelines that DOL would follow in making use of

information from HHS:



·       The interim final rule establishes the methods that will be used by

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Institute

for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in estimating claimants' past

occupational exposures to radiation, in cancer cases referred to CDC/NIOSH

by DOL.  That process is called dose reconstruction.  The interim final rule

allows CDC/NIOSH to proceed with dose reconstructions while public comments

are received, reviewed, and incorporated into a final rule.



·       The notice of proposed rulemaking specifies the scientific

guidelines that DOL would use in determining whether it is at least as

likely as not that an energy employee's cancer was caused by occupational

exposure to radiation at nuclear weapons production sites.  That process is

called determining the probability of causation.  A final rule on

probability of causation will go into effect after the public and an

independent expert advisory board have had an opportunity to comment on

today's proposal.  To the extent that the science and data involve

uncertainties, those uncertainties will be handled to the advantage of the

claimant.



The methods and guidelines rely on well-established scientific procedures

and principles for estimating radiation exposures and determining

radiation-related cancer risks.  They will take into account available

radiation exposure and health data, including information obtained from the

work sites and from parties with expertise on exposure conditions at the

work sites, which includes the employees themselves.  CDC/NIOSH is drawing

on scientific models developed by the National Cancer Institute.



HHS is seeking public comment on the interim final rule on dose

reconstruction within 30 days, and public comment on the proposed rulemaking

on probability of causation within 60 days.



Comments should be sent to the CDC/NIOSH Docket Officer at CDC/NIOSH Docket

Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, M/S C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway,

Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, or may be submitted electronically by e-mail to

NIOCINDOCKET@CDC.GOV.



The interim final rule and the notice of proposed rulemaking will be

available online at www.cdc.gov/niosh. They also may be obtained through the

toll-free information number, 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674).



###



Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are

available at www.hhs.gov/news.



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