[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8072-8073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03242]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Docket Number CDC-2016-0020, NIOSH-289]
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Quality Assurance Review of B Readers' Classifications Submitted in the
Department of Labor (DOL) Black Lung Benefits Program
AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
[[Page 8073]]
ACTION: Request for information and comment.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announces the
availability of draft procedures pertaining to classifications referred
to the NIOSH Respiratory Health Division (RHD) by the Department of
Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, for quality assurance
review and corrective measures. The draft, titled, National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Quality Assurance Review of
B Readers' Classifications Submitted in the Department of Labor (DOL)
Black Lung Benefits Program, is available for public comment. To view
the notice and related materials, visit www.regulations.gov and enter
CDC-2016-0020 in the field and click ``Search.'' This draft document
does not have the force or effect of the law.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DATES:
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES: Comments must be received by April 18, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by CDC-2016-0020 and
docket number NIOSH-289, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, NIOSH Docket Office, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS C-34, Cincinnati,
Ohio 45226-1998.
Instructions: All information received in response to this notice
must include the agency name and docket number [CDC-2016-0020; NIOSH-
289]. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For
access to the docket to read background materials and comments
received, go to www.regulations.gov. All information received in
response to this notice will also be available for public examination
and copying at the NIOSH Docket Office, 1150 Tusculum Avenue, Room 155,
Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Eileen Storey, NIOSH, Respiratory
Health Division, Surveillance Branch, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown,
WV, 26505. Telephone (304) 285-5754 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2015, NIOSH and the DOL Office of
Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) \1\ designed to establish a joint quality assurance
program for the assessment of classifications of chest radiographic
images performed by physicians in Black Lung Benefits proceedings who
are ``B Readers'' certified by NIOSH. The B Reader Certification
Program was established by NIOSH pursuant to the Federal Mine Safety
and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. 843. NIOSH B Readers are physicians
who have demonstrated proficiency in the use of the International
Labour Organization (ILO) Classification of Radiographs of
Pneumoconioses by passing a proficiency examination offered by NIOSH,
as specified in 42 CFR 37.51. B Readers may submit classifications as
part of OWCP's process of evaluating claims for compensation under the
federal Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. 901 to 944.
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\1\ The Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of
Labor Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) and the
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) establishing a B reader quality assurance program, is
found in the docket for this action.
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To implement the MOU, NIOSH has developed a draft quality assurance
review procedure entitled, NIOSH Quality Assurance Review of B Readers'
Classifications Submitted in the Department of Labor (DOL) Black Lung
Benefits Program, to provide a mechanism to assess the quality of
classifications of certain chest radiographs performed by B Readers.
NIOSH quality assurance review will focus on the classification of the
presence or absence of large opacities as described in the ILO
classification system in chest radiographs, because coal miners with
large opacities are irrefutably presumed to be totally disabled, or to
have died, from pneumoconiosis, pursuant to 30 U.S.C. 921(c)(3). Thus,
determinations of large opacities have a significant impact on awarding
benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act.
NIOSH seeks comment from B Readers and other interested parties on
the draft procedure. All comments submitted will be considered; the
final version of this procedure will be published on the NIOSH Web
site.
Dated: February 8, 2016.
John Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2016-03242 Filed 2-16-16; 8:45 am]
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