Notice2024-20763
Request for Public Comment on the Draft Hazard Review: Wildland Fire Smoke Exposure Among Farmworkers and Other Outdoor Workers
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 13, 2024
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Abstract
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an Operating Division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), requests public comment and technical review on the draft Hazard Review: Wildland Fire Smoke Exposure Among Farmworkers and Other Outdoor Workers.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 178 (Friday, September 13, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74960-74961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20763]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[Docket No. CDC-2024-0065, NIOSH-352-A]
Request for Public Comment on the Draft Hazard Review: Wildland
Fire Smoke Exposure Among Farmworkers and Other Outdoor Workers
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an
Operating Division of the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), requests public comment and technical review on the draft Hazard
Review: Wildland Fire Smoke Exposure Among Farmworkers and Other
Outdoor Workers.
DATES: Electronic or written comments must be received by November 12,
2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CDC-
2024-0065 and docket number NIOSH-352-A, by either of the following
methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> 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-2024-0065; NIOSH-
352-A). All relevant comments, including any personal information
provided, will be posted without change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Do not submit comments by email. CDC does not accept comments by email.
For access to the docket to read the draft Hazard Review document or
comments received, go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Todd Niemeier, Ph.D., National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, MS-C15, 1090 Tusculum
Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45226. Telephone: (513) 533-8166.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NIOSH is requesting public comment and
technical review of the draft Hazard Review: Wildland Fire Smoke
Exposure Among Farmworkers and Other Outdoor Workers, which is
accessible in the docket (CDC-2024-0065; NIOSH-352-A). The final
document will be edited, so comments that focus on the technical
content are requested. The final document will be used as the
scientific evidence base to inform the development of supplementary
educational materials for workers, employers, and other relevant
audiences to support the implementation of the recommendations.
Therefore, comments that focus on the understandability, accessibility,
and feasibility of the recommendations are requested. To facilitate the
review of this document, NIOSH requests that responses to the following
specific questions be considered:
1. How could the outdoor worker populations who may be exposed to
wildland fire smoke be more completely characterized in Chapter 2?
Please provide supporting references.
[[Page 74961]]
2. How could this document better identify and characterize the
health hazards of exposures to wildland fire smoke based on the
available scientific literature in Chapter 3? Is there additional
scientific information to be considered regarding the adverse health
endpoints associated with exposure to wildland fire smoke? Please
provide scientific references to support your response as necessary.
3. What additional information should NIOSH consider adding or how
should NIOSH modify the discussion of exposure assessment methods for
wildland fire smoke (based on PM<INF>2.5</INF> airborne concentration,
and when desired, other airborne exposures) to measure outdoor worker
exposures in Chapter 4? What are the barriers to employers to implement
these recommended methods? Please provide scientific evidence to
support your response as necessary.
4. How can the recommendation in Chapter 4 to use the air quality
index (AQI) for PM<INF>2.5</INF> to define exposure control categories
be better explained and supported from both a scientific and health
communications standpoint? Please provide scientific evidence to
support your response as necessary.
5. What additional information should NIOSH consider to improve the
strategies identified in Chapter 5 for controlling exposure to wildland
fire smoke (e.g., engineering controls, work practices, personal
protective equipment) to make them more effective and reduce barriers
to implementation? What additional controls could be considered to
protect outdoor workers from wildland fire smoke? Please provide
scientific evidence to support your response as necessary.
6. Do the recommendations in Chapter 5 adequately address the
protection of potentially disadvantaged or at-risk outdoor workers,
such as persons with pre-existing health conditions (e.g., asthma,
cardiovascular disease), migrant workers, persons of lower
socioeconomic status, and elderly or minor workers? If not, how could
the recommendations be changed to better protect these populations? Are
there additional recommendations to consider to protect these at-risk
workers?
7. How could the recommendations in Chapter 5 better address
accessibility and feasibility for outdoor workers and employers?
8. What are the potential barriers to the understandability of the
recommendations in Chapter 5 for outdoor workers and employers? When
developing supplementary educational materials to support the
implementation of these recommendations, how can NIOSH best address
those barriers?
9. What other research needs should be considered in addition to
those included in Chapter 6, Research Needs? Please provide a
scientific justification for additional research needs.
The draft Hazard Review was developed to provide the scientific
rationale for characterizing hazards of exposure to wildland fire smoke
for outdoor workers. The draft Hazard Review also provides
recommendations and guidance for minimizing exposures and potential
health effects associated with wildland fire smoke for outdoor workers.
After the comments received on the draft Hazard Review are
considered and addressed, the final Hazard Review will be posted on the
NIOSH website.
Background: The purpose of the Hazard Review document is to provide
an overview of the relevant health effects literature and present
evidence-based recommendations to protect outdoor workers, including
farm workers, construction workers, oil and gas workers, park rangers,
emergency responders, and others from the adverse health effects of
occupational exposure to wildland fire smoke. On March 14, 2024, CDC/
NIOSH published a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register
(89 FR 18638). The Federal Register notice announced plans to develop a
Hazard Review document that summarizes the scientific literature about
the health effects from exposures to wildland fire smoke and provides
recommendations to protect outdoor workers [NIOSH 2024]. In response to
the RFI, NIOSH received 10 comment submissions, all of which were
reviewed and considered during the development of this draft Hazard
Review. The RFI and comments received are accessible in the docket
(CDC-2024-0019, NIOSH-352). In addition to requesting information from
the public, the Hazard Review development process involved review and
assessment of the scientific literature about exposures to wildland
fire smoke, potential health effects, outdoor worker populations at
risk, and development or update of recommendations to protect outdoor
workers. The information presented in this draft Hazard Review
represents the scientific rationale and the current methodology about
approaches to assess and control the hazards of wildland fire smoke to
outdoor workers. Scientific information related to wildland fire smoke
presented in the draft Hazard Review covers the following topics:
<bullet> Background on wildland fire smoke
<bullet> History of NIOSH and other government organizations' related
activity
<bullet> Chemical and physical properties of the smoke
<bullet> Population of outdoor workers with potential exposure
<bullet> Routes of worker exposure
<bullet> Health equity
<bullet> Health effects of exposure
<bullet> Exposure assessment
<bullet> Controlling workplace exposures
<bullet> Medical surveillance and medical monitoring
<bullet> Research needs
Reference
NIOSH [2024]. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health;
Outdoor workers exposed to wildland fire smoke; Request for
information. 89 FR 18638. <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/14/2024-05403/national-institute-for-occupational-safety-and-health-outdoor-workers-exposed-to-wildland-fire-smoke">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/14/2024-05403/national-institute-for-occupational-safety-and-health-outdoor-workers-exposed-to-wildland-fire-smoke</a>.
Dated: September 9, 2024.
John J. Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and
Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2024-20763 Filed 9-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P
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