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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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