[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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