Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 3669 

Calendar/default.htm. Scroll down to 

the appropriate advisory committee 

meeting link. The meeting will include 

slide presentations with audio and 

video components to allow the 

presentation of materials in a manner 

that most closely resembles an in-person 

advisory committee meeting. 

Procedure: Interested persons may 

present data, information, or views, 

orally or in writing, on issues pending 

before the Committee. All electronic and 

written submissions to the Docket (see 

ADDRESSES) on or before February 20, 

2024, will be provided to the 

Committee. Oral presentations from the 

public will be scheduled between 

approximately 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. 

Eastern Time. Those individuals 

interested in making formal oral 

presentations should notify the contact 

person and submit a brief statement of 

the general nature of the evidence or 

arguments they wish to present, the 

names and addresses of proposed 

participants, and an indication of the 

approximate time requested to make 

their presentation on or before February 

9, 2024. Time allotted for each 

presentation may be limited. If the 

number of registrants requesting to 

speak is greater than can be reasonably 

accommodated during the scheduled 

open public hearing session, FDA may 

conduct a lottery to determine the 

speakers for the scheduled open public 

hearing session. The contact person will 

notify interested persons regarding their 

request to speak by February 12, 2024. 

For press inquiries, please contact the 

Office of Media Affairs at fdaoma@

fda.hhs.gov or 301–796–4540. 

FDA welcomes the attendance of the 

public at its advisory committee 

meetings and will make every effort to 

accommodate persons with disabilities. 

If you require accommodations due to a 

disability, please contact Jessica Seo 

(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) 

at least 7 days in advance of the 

meeting. 

FDA is committed to the orderly 

conduct of its advisory committee 

meetings. Please visit our website at 

https://www.fda.gov/Advisory

Committees/AboutAdvisoryCommittees/ 

ucm111462.htm for procedures on 

public conduct during advisory 

committee meetings. 

Notice of this meeting is given under 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). This meeting notice 

also serves as notice that, pursuant to 21 

CFR 10.19, the requirements in 21 CFR 

14.22(b), (f), and (g) relating to the 

location of advisory committee meetings 

are hereby waived to allow for this 

meeting to take place using an online 

meeting platform. This waiver is in the 

interest of allowing greater transparency 

and opportunities for public 

participation, in addition to 

convenience for advisory committee 

members, speakers, and guest speakers. 

The conditions for issuance of a waiver 

under 21 CFR 10.19 are met. 

Dated: January 16, 2024. 

Lauren K. Roth, 

Associate Commissioner for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01016 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4164–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Indian Health Service 

Notice of Proposed Purchased/ 

Referred Care Delivery Area 

Redesignation for the Mashantucket 

Pequot Tribal Nation in the State of 

Connecticut 

AGENCY: Indian Health Service, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This Notice advises the public 

that the Indian Health Service (IHS) 

proposes to expand the geographic 

boundaries of the Purchased/Referred 

Care Delivery Area (PRCDA) for the 

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to 

include the counties of Fairfield, 

Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New 

Haven, Tolland, and Windham in the 

State of Connecticut. The current 

PRCDA for the Mashantucket Pequot 

Tribal Nation includes the Connecticut 

county of New London. Mashantucket 

Pequot Tribal Nation members residing 

outside of the PRCDA are eligible for 

direct care services, however, they are 

not eligible for Purchased/Referred Care 

(PRC) services. The sole purpose of this 

expansion would be to authorize 

additional Mashantucket Pequot Tribal 

Nation members and IHS beneficiaries 

to receive PRC services. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted by 

February 20, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Because of staff and 

resource limitations, we cannot accept 

comments by facsimile (FAX) 

transmission. You may submit 

comments in one of four ways (please 

choose only one of the ways listed): 

1. Electronically. You may submit

electronic comments on this regulation 

to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the ‘‘Submit a Comment’’ instructions. 

2. By regular mail. You may mail

written comments to the following 

address ONLY: Carl Mitchell, Director, 

Division of Regulatory and Policy 

Coordination, Indian Health Service, 

5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop: 09E70, 

Rockville, Maryland 20857. 

Please allow sufficient time for mailed 

comments to be received before the 

close of the comment period. 

3. By express or overnight mail. You

may send written comments to the 

above address. 

4. By hand or courier. If you prefer,

you may deliver (by hand or courier) 

your written comments before the close 

of the comment period to the address 

above. If you intend to deliver your 

comments to the Rockville address, 

please call telephone number (301) 443– 

1116 in advance to schedule your 

arrival with a staff member. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

CAPT John Rael, Director, Office of 

Resource Access and Partnerships, 

Indian Health Service, 5600 Fishers 

Lane, Mail Stop: 10E85C, Rockville, 

Maryland 20857. Telephone (301) 443– 

0969 (This is not a toll free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Inspection of Public Comments: All 

comments received before the close of 

the comment period are available for 

viewing by the public, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. 

Background: The IHS provides 

services under regulation in effect as of 

September 15, 1987, and republished at 

42 CFR part 136, subparts A–C. Subpart 

C defines a Contract Health Service 

Delivery Area (CHSDA), now referred to 

as PRCDA, as the geographic area within 

which PRC will be made available by 

the IHS to members of an identified 

Indian community who reside in the 

PRCDA. Residence within a PRCDA by 

a person who is within the scope of the 

Indian health program, as set forth in 42 

CFR 136.12, creates no legal entitlement 

to PRC but only potential eligibility for 

services. Services needed, but not 

available at an IHS/Tribal facility, are 

provided under the PRC program 

depending on the availability of funds, 

the relative medical priority of the 

services to be provided, and the actual 

availability and accessibility of alternate 

resources in accordance with the 

regulations. 

The regulations at 42 CFR part 136, 

subpart C provide that, unless otherwise 

designated, a PRCDA shall consist of a 

county which includes all or part of a 

reservation and any county or counties 

which have a common boundary with 

the reservation. 42 CFR 136.22(a)(6). 

The regulations also provide that after 

consultation with the Tribal governing 

body or bodies on those reservations 

included within the PRCDA, the 

Secretary may, from time to time, 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
3670 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2024 / Notices 

redesignate areas within the United 

States for inclusion in or exclusion from 

a PRCDA. 42 CFR 136.22(b). The 

regulations require that certain criteria 

must be considered before any 

redesignation is made. The criteria are 

as follows: 

(1) The number of Indians residing in 

the area proposed to be so included or 

excluded; 

(2) Whether the Tribal governing body 

has determined that Indians residing in 

the area near the reservation are socially 

and economically affiliated with the 

Tribe; 

(3) The geographic proximity to the 

reservation of the area whose inclusion 

or exclusion is being considered; and 

(4) The level of funding which would 

be available for the provision of PRC. 

Additionally, the regulations require 

that any redesignation of a PRCDA must 

be made in accordance with the 

procedures of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553). 42 CFR 

136.22(c). In compliance with this 

requirement, the IHS is publishing this 

Notice and requesting public comments. 

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal 

Nation’s (MPTN, or Tribe) reservation is 

located in New London County, 

Connecticut. The PRC Program is 

operated as a Tribal Health Program by 

the MPTN in Mashantucket, CT. The 

MPTN estimates that approximately 32 

Tribal members and MPTN employees 

who are members of other federally 

recognized Tribes reside in the 

proposed expansion counties, and 

would become PRC eligible through this 

proposal. The MPTN states that the 

Tribal members and American Indian 

and Alaska Native (AI/AN) employees 

who reside in the expanded counties are 

socially and economically affiliated 

with the Tribe, including through 

employment and the utilization of direct 

health care services. The MPTN would 

like to recognize these persons as 

eligible for PRC. Through 

communication with MPTN’s 

representatives, the IHS also 

understands that MPTN’s members live 

in all of the counties requested. 

Accordingly, the IHS proposes to 

expand the PRCDA of the Mashantucket 

Pequot Tribal Nation to include the 

Connecticut counties of Fairfield, 

Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New 

Haven, Tolland, and Windham. 

If the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal 

Nation’s PRCDA expansion is finalized 

as proposed, the Tribe’s PRCDA would 

overlap completely with the PRCDA of 

the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut. The 

Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut has 

previously expressed support of any 

future request made by a federally 

recognized Tribe to establish the entire 

state of Connecticut as a PRCDA, and 

has not expressed any objection to the 

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s 

proposed PRCDA expansion. 

Under 42 CFR 136.23, those otherwise 

eligible Indians who do not reside on a 

reservation, but reside within a PRCDA, 

must be either members of the Tribe or 

other IHS beneficiaries who maintain 

close economic and social ties with the 

Tribe. In this case, applying the 

aforementioned PRCDA redesignation 

criteria required by operative 

regulations codified at 42 CFR part 136, 

subpart C, the following findings are 

made: 

1. By expanding the PRCDA to 

include Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, 

Middlesex, New Haven, Tolland, and 

Windham Counties, the Mashantucket 

Pequot Tribal Nation’s eligible 

population will be increase by an 

estimated 32 Tribal members and AI/AN 

employees. 

2. The IHS finds that the Tribal 

members and AI/AN employees within 

the expanded PRCDA are socially and 

economically affiliated with the 

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation 

based on a tribal resolution in which the 

MPTN Tribal Council identified its 

intent to expand the PRCDA to include 

all of Connecticut, and stated that the 

Native Americans residing in such areas 

are socially and economically affiliated 

with MPTN. 

3. The expanded PRCDA counties 

form a contiguous area with the existing 

PRCDA, and within one of the smallest 

states. In addition to their AI/AN 

employees, MPTN’s members reside in 

each of the counties proposed for 

inclusion. For these reasons, the IHS has 

determined the additional counties 

proposed for inclusion herein to be 

geographically proximate, meaning ‘‘on 

or near,’’ to the existing PRCDA. 

4. The MPTN has indicated that its 

PRC program can continue providing 

the same level of care to the PRC eligible 

population if the PRCDA is expanded as 

proposed, without requiring additional 

funding or reduction of the current 

medical priority level. 

This Notice does not contain 

reporting or recordkeeping requirements 

subject to prior approval by the Office 

of Management and Budget under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. 

Roselyn Tso, 

Director, Indian Health Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01017 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4166–14–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

National Institute on Aging; Notice of 

Closed Meeting 

Pursuant to section 1009 of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of the 

following meeting. 

The meeting will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5 U.S.C., 

as amended. The grant applications and 

the discussions could disclose 

confidential trade secrets or commercial 

property such as patentable material, 

and personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the grant 

applications, the disclosure of which 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy. 

Name of Committee: National Institute on 

Aging Special Emphasis Panel; Impact of 

Toxicants on Aging and AD-related 

Dementias. 

Date: February 14, 2024. 

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: National Institute on Aging, 

Gateway Building, 7201 Wisconsin Avenue, 

Bethesda, MD 20892 (Virtual Meeting). 

Contact Person: Nijaguna Prasad, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Scientific Review 

Branch, National Institute on Aging, 7201 

Wisconsin Avenue, Gateway Bldg., Suite 

2W200, Bethesda, MD 20892, (301) 496– 

9667, prasadnb@nia.nih.gov. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 93.866, Aging Research, 

National Institutes of Health, HHS) 

Dated: January 12, 2024. 

Miguelina Perez, 

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2024–00952 Filed 1–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

Center for Scientific Review; Notice of 

Closed Meetings 

Pursuant to section 1009 of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended, notice is hereby given of the 

following meetings. 

The meetings will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), title 5 U.S.C., 

as amended. The grant applications and 

the discussions could disclose 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1