[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4685]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 2, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
 

Savannah River Site Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project; 
Public Meetings

    The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) of the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic 
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) announce the following 
meetings.


    Date: Wednesday, March 16, 1994, Wednesday, March 30, 1994.
    Time: 1 p.m.-7 p.m., 1 p.m.-7 p.m.
    Place: City of Aiken Conference Center, 215 ``The Alley,'' 
Aiken, South Carolina 29801; Savannah Coastal Georgia Conference 
Center, 305 Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, Savannah, Georgia 
31401.
    Date: Tuesday, April 12, 1994.
    Time: 1 p.m.-7 p.m.,
    Place: Ramada Hotel, 8105 Two Notch Road, Columbia, South 
Carolina 29223.
    Status: Open to the public for observation and comment, limited 
only by space available. The meeting room will accommodate 
approximately 100 people.
    Purpose: Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 
December 1990 with the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) has been given the responsibility 
and resources for conducting analytic epidemiologic investigations 
of residents of communities in the vicinity of DOE facilities and 
other persons potentially exposed to radiation or to potential 
hazards from non-nuclear energy production and use. HHS delegated 
program responsibility to CDC.
    In addition, an MOU was signed in October 1990 and renewed in 
November 1992 between ATSDR and DOE. The MOU delineates the 
responsibilities and procedures for ATSDR's public health activities 
at DOE sites required under sections 104, 107, and 120 of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 
Act (CERCLA), or ``Superfund''). These activities include health 
consultations and public health assessments at DOE sites listed on, 
or proposed for, the Superfund National Priorities List and at sites 
that are the subject of petitions from the public; and other health-
related activities such as epidemiologic studies, health 
surveillance, exposure and disease registries, health education, 
substance-specific applied research, emergency response, and 
preparation of toxicological profiles.
    Community involvement is a critical part of the HHS energy-
related research and activities. With an environmental dose 
reconstruction for DOE's Savannah River Site near Augusta, Georgia, 
as well as a worker study at the same site, the availability of a 
formal site-specific advisory committee composed of South Carolina 
and Georgia citizens to provide consensus advice regarding these 
projects is necessary. CDC and ATSDR are currently taking steps to 
obtain authorization for a ``Citizen' Advisory Committee on Public 
Health Service Activities and Research at Department of Energy 
Sites'' to be chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
    The draft charter for this proposed committee states, ``Because 
of the varying concerns within communities at each DOE site, 
operational guidelines at each site must be developed separately to 
clarify the scope of activities and the responsibilities of the 
Committee members and agencies.'' Therefore, CDC and ATSDR are 
holding a series of public meetings to begin developing operational 
guidelines at specific DOE sites. The purpose of these public 
meetings is to update the public on the status of CDC's and ATSDR's 
community involvement plans and to seek individual advice and 
recommendations from interested parties concerning operational 
guidelines. A copy of the proposed ``Citizens' Advisory Committee on 
Public Health Service Activities and Research at DOE Sites'' draft 
charter is available upon request from the contact person listed 
below.
    Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate.
    Contact Person for More Information: Paul Renard, Radiation 
Studies Branch, Division of Environmental Hazards and Health 
Effects, NCEH, CDC, 4770 Buford Highway, NE., (F-35), Atlanta, 
Georgia 30341-3724, telephone 404/488-7040, FAX 404/488-7044.


    Dated: February 24, 1994.
Elvin Hilyer,
Associate Director for Policy Coordination, Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 94-4685 Filed 3-1-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-M