This submission will incorporate the National Coal Workers' X-Ray Surveillance Program 42 CFR 37 (0920-0020) and National Coal Workers' Autopsy Study 42 CFR Part 37.204 (0920-0021) into one complete package which will be called the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP). The expiration date for 0920-0020 is 4/30/2011. Upon OMB approval, 0920-0021 will be discontinued (expiration date, 1/31/2013). CWHSP is a congressionally-mandated medical examination program for monitoring the health of underground coal miners, established under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended in 1977 and 2006, PL-95-164 (the Act). The Act provides the regulatory authority for the administration of the CWHSP. This Program, which includes both a health surveillance and an autopsy component, has been useful in providing tools for protecting the health of miners (whose participation is entirely voluntary), and also in documenting trends and patterns in the prevalence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis ('black lung' disease) among miners employed in U.S. coal mines. During the early 1970s, one out of every three miners examined through the CWHSP who had worked at least 25 years underground had evidence of pneumoconiosis on their chest x-ray. An analysis among over 25,000 miners who participated in the x-ray Programs from 1996 to 2002 indicated that the proportion of affected individuals had decreased to about one in 20. However, recent surveillance analyses and research studies have confirmed that the prevalence of 'black lung' disease is increasing, there is regional clustering of rapidly progressive pneumoconiosis cases, and coal miners have a higher risk of disease if they perform certain jobs, work in smaller mines, or are from certain geographic areas. Importantly, young coal miners are developing the disabling and lethal forms of 'black lung'.
PL:
Pub.L. 95 - 164 111
Name of Law: Federal Mine Safety & Health Act of 1977, Public Law 91-173, as amended by Public Law 95-164
PL:
Pub.L. 91 - 596 20
Name of Law: Occupational Safety and Health
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Roentgenographic Interpretation