Announcement of a Public Meeting to be held on July 19-20, 2005

Letter to All Interested Parties

Issue Date: June 23, 2005

From: Les Boord, Acting Laboratory Director, National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory

Subject: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Announcement of a Public Meeting to be held on July 19-20, 2005, to Continue Discussions of Concepts for Standards for Approval of Respirators for Use Against Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Agents (CBRN) and Guidelines for Their Use; and Concepts for Standards for a Multi-Function Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR), Docket Numbers NIOSH-008, NIOSH-010 and NIOSH-039

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), is planning to conduct a public stakeholder meeting on July 19-20, 2005, at the Holiday Inn Select Pittsburgh South, 164 Fort Couch Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The meeting will be held on July 19, 2005, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and on July 20, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

The meeting on July 19 will address concepts for standards for CBRN Closed Circuit, Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and guidelines for use of NIOSH approved CBRN respirators. The meeting on July 20 will address concepts for standards for a CBRN Powered Air Purifying Respirator and a Multi-Function PAPR.

The purpose of the meeting is to continue discussions of concepts for standards and testing processes for PAPR and Closed Circuit, SCBA suitable for respiratory protection against CBRN agents. NIOSH will also introduce concepts for establishing multi-function PAPR requirements and guidelines for use of NIOSH-approved CBRN respirators.

NIOSH, along with the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), will present information to attendees concerning the concept development for the CBRN PAPR standard and the CBRN Closed Circuit, SCBA standard. Participants will be given an opportunity to ask questions on these topics and to present individual comments for consideration.

Interested participants may obtain a copy of the CBRN PAPR, the Multi-Function PAPR concept paper, and the CBRN Closed Circuit, Self Contained Breathing Apparatus concept paper, and concepts for the guidance documents, as well as earlier versions of other concept papers used during the standard development effort, from the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) web site (www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl). The June 20, 2005, concept papers will be used as the basis for discussion at the public meeting.

Municipal, state, and federal responder groups, particularly in locations considered potential terrorism targets, have been developing and modifying response and consequence management plans for domestic security and preparedness issues. Since the World Trade Center and anthrax incidents, most emergency response agencies have operated with a heightened appreciation of the potential scope and sustained resource requirements for coping with such events. The federal Interagency Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability (IAB) has worked to identify personal protective equipment that is already available on the market for responders’ use. The IAB has identified the development of standards or guidelines for respiratory protection equipment as a top priority. NIOSH, NIST, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding defining each agency or organization’s role in developing, establishing, and enforcing standards or guidelines for responders’ respiratory protective devices. NIST has initiated Interagency Agreements with NIOSH and RDECOM to aid in the development of appropriate protection standards or guidelines. NIOSH has the lead in developing standards or guidelines to test, evaluate, and approve respirators.

NIOSH, RDECOM, and NIST have hosted public meetings on April 17 and 18, 2001; June 18 and 19, 2002; October 16 and 17, 2002; April 29, 2003; June 25, 2003; October 16, 2003; May 4, 2004, and December 15, 2004; presenting their progress in assessing respiratory protection needs of responders to CBRN incidents. The methods or models for developing hazard and exposure estimates and the status in evaluating test methods and performance standards that may be applicable as future CBRN respirator standards or guidelines were discussed at these meetings.

Three NIOSH CBRN respirator standards and several NFPA standards for ensembles, SCBA, and protective clothing were the first adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). On February 26, 2004, DHS adopted, as DHS standards, three NIOSH criteria for testing and certifying respirators for protection against CBRN exposures. NIOSH uses the criteria to test 1) SCBA for use by emergency responders against CBRN, 2) PAPR for use by emergency responders against CBRN exposures, and 3) escape respirators for protection against CBRN.

Interested parties should make hotel reservations directly with the Holiday Inn Select Pittsburgh South (412-833-5300 / 1-800-HOLIDAY) before the cut-off date of July 6, 2005. You must reference the NIOSH/NPPTL Public Meeting to receive the special group rate of $94 per night that has been negotiated for meeting guests.

Please confirm your attendance to this meeting by completing a registration form and forwarding it by e-mail (npptlevents@cdc.gov) or fax (304-225-2003) to the NPPTL Event Management Office. A registration form may be obtained from the NIOSH Homepage (www.cdc.gov/niosh) by selecting Conferences, and then the event.

An opportunity to make presentations regarding the discussions of concepts for standards and testing processes for PAPR standards and for Closed Circuit, SCBA Breathing Apparatus standards suitable for respiratory protection against CBRN agents, multi-function PAPRs for industrial applications, and guidelines for use of NIOSH-approved CBRN respirators will be given. Requests to make such presentations at the public meeting should be made by e-mail to the NPPTL Event Management Office (npptlevents@cdc.gov). All requests to present should include the name, address, telephone number, relevant business affiliations of the presenter, a brief summary of the presentation, and the approximate time requested for the presentation. Oral presentations should be limited to 15 minutes.

After reviewing the requests for presentations, NPPTL Event Management will notify each presenter of the approximate time that their presentation is scheduled to begin. If a participant is not present when their presentation is scheduled to begin, the remaining participants will be heard in order. At the conclusion of the meeting, an attempt will be made to allow presentations by any scheduled participants who missed their assigned times. Attendees who wish to speak but did not submit a request for the opportunity to make a presentation may be given this opportunity at the conclusion of the meeting, at the discretion of the presiding officer.

Comments on the topics presented in this notice and at the meeting should be mailed to the NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, M/S C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, Telephone 513–533–8303, Fax 513-533–8285. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to nioshdocket@cdc.gov. E-mail attachments should be formatted in Microsoft Word. Comments should be submitted to NIOSH no later than August 19, 2005. Comments regarding the Multi-Function PAPR should reference Docket Number NIOSH-008 in the subject heading. Comments regarding CBRN PAPR should reference Docket Number NIOSH-010 in the subject heading. Comments regarding the CBRN Closed Circuit, SCBA should reference Docket Number NIOSH-039.

For further information, please contact:

NPPTL Event Management
3604 Collins Ferry Road, Suite 100
Morgantown, West Virginia
26505-2353

Telephone 304-599-5941 x138
Fax 304-225-2003
E-mail npptlevents@cdc.gov.

Announcement of a Public Meeting to be held on July 19-20, 2005 [PDF - 111 KB]