Announcement of a Public Meeting to be held on August 25, 2004

Letter to All Interested Parties

Issue Date: July 14, 2004

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

Subject: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Announcement of a Public Meeting to be held on August 25, 2004, to Begin Initial Discussions for Concepts of Total Inward Leakage (TIL) Requirements and Test Methods for Halfmask Respirators Including Elastomeric and Filtering Facepiece Styles, Docket Number NIOSH-036

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) is planning to conduct a public stakeholder meeting on August 25, 2004 , from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Marriott Key Bridge Hotel, 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington, Virginia .

The purpose of the meeting is to begin initial discussions for concepts of total inward leakage (TIL) requirements and test methods for halfmask respirators including elastomeric and filtering facepiece styles.

NIOSH will initiate discussions of conceptual standards and testing processes for TIL requirements and test methods suitable for halfmask respirators. NIOSH also wishes to obtain comments from individuals regarding the tentative schedules and priorities for future TIL respirator and other personal protective equipment standards development efforts.

NIOSH will present information to attendees concerning the concept development for the overall TIL program and the initial concept for TIL testing for halfmask respirator testing and certification requirements. 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 TIL concept paper from the NIOSH NPPTL website (www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/) . The April 20, 2004, concept paper will be used as the basis for discussion at the public meeting. NIOSH wishes to obtain comments from individuals regarding the priorities for future standards efforts following the completion of the halfmask TIL standard.

Interested parties should make hotel reservations directly with the Marriott Key Bridge Hotel (703-524-6400 / 1-800-228-9290) before the cut-off date of August 4, 2004 . You must reference the NIOSH/NPPTL Public Meeting to receive the special group rate of $150 per night.

Please confirm your attendance to this meeting by completing a registration form and forwarding it by fax ( 304-285-4459 ) or e-mail (npptlevents@cdc.gov) to the NPPTL Event Management Office. You may fax the enclosed form or obtain an electronic registration form 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 TIL requirements and test methods suitable for halfmask 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 niocindocket@cdc.gov . E-mail attachments should be formatted in Microsoft Word. Comments should be submitted to NIOSH no later than September 25, 2004, and should reference Docket Number NIOSH-036 in the subject heading.

For further information, please contact the Event Management Office, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880 , Morgantown, West Virginia 26507-0880, Telephone 304-285-4750.

Fax 304-285-4459, E-mail npptlevents@cdc.gov.