78986 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2024 / Notices 

be summarized and/or included in the 

request for OMB approval. All 

comments will become a matter of 

public record. Comments are invited on: 

(a) Whether the collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the collection of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology; and (e) estimates of capital 

or start-up costs and costs of operation, 

maintenance, and purchase of services 

to provide information. 

Approved: September 20, 2024. 

Molly J. Stasko, 

Senior Tax Analyst. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22044 Filed 9–25–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Notice of Plans To Assess the Current 

Scientific Literature and Historical 

Detailed Claims Data Regarding 

Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl 

Substances (PFAS) and Kidney Cancer 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice of public comment and 

listening session. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) announces that it plans to 

conduct an assessment of the scientific 

literature and historical claims data to 

determine whether an association 

between military environmental 

exposures and certain medical 

conditions exists. This scientific 

assessment will consider the possibility 

of a relationship between exposure to 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances 

(PFAS) and kidney cancer. The 

population of study will include U.S. 

service members who may have 

experienced environmental and/or 

occupational exposures to PFAS during 

military service, but additional 

inclusion criteria will be considered 

during the scientific assessment. VA is 

soliciting public comment on the 

importance of completing this 

assessment of scientific literature and 

historical claims data for kidney cancer 

and other conditions and will also hold 

a public listening session. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before December 20, 

2024. 

Additionally, VA will hold a public 

listening session virtually via Webex on 

Tuesday, November 19, 2024. This 

session will start at 10:00 a.m. Eastern 

Standard Time (EST) and end at 11:30 

a.m. EST and will focus on plans 

detailed within this Federal Register 

notice. Registration is required. 

Individuals/organizations can sign up 

using the information found in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below. 

ADDRESSES: Comments must be 

submitted through www.regulations.gov. 

Except as provided below, comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period will be available at 

www.regulations.gov for public viewing, 

inspection, or copying, including any 

personally identifiable or confidential 

business information that is included in 

a comment. We post the comments 

received before the close of the 

comment period on the following 

website as soon as possible after they 

have been received: http://

www.regulations.gov. VA will not post 

on Regulations.gov public comments 

that make threats to individuals or 

institutions or suggest that the 

commenter will take actions to harm the 

individual. VA encourages individuals 

not to submit duplicative comments. We 

will post acceptable comments from 

multiple unique commenters even if the 

content is identical or nearly identical 

to other comments. Any public 

comment received after the comment 

period’s closing date is considered late 

and will not be considered in any 

potential future rulemaking. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Erin Dursa, Ph.D., MPH, Director of 

Surveillance Military Environmental 

Exposures, Health Outcomes Military 

Exposures, Veterans Health 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, 

Washington, DC 20420, at 202–461– 

7297. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with 38 U.S.C. 1172, as 

created by section 202 of the Sergeant 

First Class Heath Robinson Honoring 

our Promise to Address Comprehensive 

Toxics Act of 2022 (also known as the 

PACT Act), VA is publishing this notice 

about its planned scientific assessment 

of the possibility of a relationship 

between exposure to PFAS and kidney 

cancer in Veterans. 

PFAS are synthetic chemicals found 

in many products, including but not 

limited to clothing, adhesives, paper 

packaging for food, and heat-resistant/ 

non-stick cookware. They are also a 

major constituent of fire-fighting foams 

or aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) 

used to extinguish jet fuel fires in 

military and commercial settings. 

A report by the National Academies of 

Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 

(NASEM) reviewed the potential health 

effects related to PFAS and suggested 

guidance for clinical follow-up. VA 

designated a technical working group 

(TWG) to conduct an assessment 

pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 1172(c), and the 

TWG developed recommendations to 

VA leadership for formal assessment 

under 38 U.S.C. 1173, pursuant to 38 

U.S.C. 1172(d). Members of the TWG 

were determined based on their subject 

matter expertise relevant to the NASEM 

report, Guidance on PFAS Exposure, 

Testing, and Clinical Follow-Up (2022). 

The PFAS TWG determined that 

sufficient evidence exists to justify the 

evaluation of kidney cancer through the 

new presumptive decision process for 

service connection for Veterans exposed 

to PFAS. This recommendation is based 

on evidence presented by NASEM and 

from other scientific authorities, such as 

International Agency Research on 

Cancer, Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry, and 

Environmental Protection Agency. 

VA solicits public comment on the 

importance of completing this 

assessment of scientific literature and 

historical claims data for these 

conditions or others, via written 

response to this notice or via a virtual 

listening session for the public to 

provide feedback. During this listening 

session, Veterans Health Administration 

and Veterans Benefits Administration 

subject matter experts will listen to 

public feedback and may ask questions 

but will not be able to share proposals 

for specific conditions nor address the 

merits of any comment provided. 

Once the conclusions of the 

assessment have been appropriately 

reviewed by experts, it may lead to a 

formal evaluation to inform decisions 

regarding Veterans’ qualifying period of 

service, such as those who served on 

active military, naval, or air service in 

the Southwest Asia theater of operations 

during the Persian Gulf War, as well as 

Somalia, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, 

Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, or 

Uzbekistan from September 11, 2001, 

until the present time. 

VA is also soliciting public comment, 

via writing within this notice or via the 

public listening session, about other 

conditions that would benefit from 

review of the possible association, the 

conditions, and health outcomes related 

to them. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 187 / Thursday, September 26, 2024 / Notices 78987 

VA continues to review and assess 

information about military 

environmental exposure incidents, 

emerging scientific evidence regarding 

toxic substances, and health outcomes 

in deployed and non-deployed veteran 

cohorts. Additionally, active 

epidemiological surveillance and 

ongoing monitoring of military 

exposures in collaboration with the 

Department of Defense are underway. If 

the assessment of these conditions 

concludes a possible association 

between military environmental 

exposure and an adverse health 

outcome is present, this may lead to 

additional research or be subject to a 

Federal Register notice and comment 

process, as required by section 1172. VA 

will publish other notices of this type as 

it reviews other potential adverse health 

conditions and their possible 

association with military environmental 

exposures to provide health care, 

services, and benefits to Veterans. 

As noted, while VA will accept 

written comments on this notice, the 

accompanying listening session aims to 

allow individuals to share their 

research, input, and comments on 

certain adverse health conditions 

associated with military environmental 

exposure. Participants can also share 

their recommendations on other 

conditions that would benefit from 

review. 

• November 19, 2024—Notice of 

Plans for the Department of Veterans 

Affairs to Assess the Current Scientific 

Literature and Historical Claims Data 

Regarding Exposure to Per- and 

Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Cancer. 

Registration link: https://

www.research.net/r/PFGH8YL. 

Note: This listening session will have 

closed captioning available via the WebEx 

platform. The webinar will be recorded and 

transcribed. 

Registration: Individuals interested in 

attending must register with Webex for 

the listening session. We will ask 

attendees if they want to provide verbal 

or written feedback during registration 

so we can coordinate enough time for 

verbal comments. However, verbal 

participation is not required to complete 

registration. If you wish to provide 

verbal or written feedback during the 

listening session, please register by 

November 15, 2024. Individuals who 

indicate interest in commenting will 

receive a confirmation message 2 

business days before the session. 

Individuals who wish to submit 

materials to VA must do so by 

November 15, 2024. 

VA will work to accommodate all 

individuals who wish to comment 

verbally. However, VA will prioritize 

those who registered in advance. The 

time allotted for individuals to comment 

verbally will depend on the number of 

registrations. We will turn off cameras 

and mute microphones until the 

presenter’s scheduled time to 

accommodate as many comments as 

possible. VA will request written 

submissions if there is not enough time 

to hear all comments. 

Note: During the listening session, VA will 

not share proposals or address feedback. VA 

will use suggestions made during this 

listening session and public comments on 

VA’s plan to improve future evaluations. VA 

will continue to comply with the 

requirements of section 1172(a) and ensure 

appropriate public notice and opportunity for 

participation. 

Special Accommodations: Attendees 

requiring special accommodations 

should make their requests to VA no 

later than November 5, 2024 (2 weeks 

before the listening session on 

November 19, 2024) by contacting the 

point of contact identified in this notice. 

After reviewing comments received in 

response to this notice and the public 

listening session, VA will conduct the 

assessment of the specified conditions. 

VA will then follow the procedures in 

38 U.S.C. 1172–1174 for initiating and 

conducting assessments and formal 

evaluations. If appropriate, VA will 

designate a TWG to conduct a scientific 

assessment pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 

1172(c), and the TWG may develop a 

recommendation for formal evaluations 

under 38 U.S.C. 1173, pursuant to 38 

U.S.C. 1172(d). Once a formal 

evaluation is commenced, a 

recommendation with respect to 

establishing a presumption of service 

connection must be submitted to the 

Secretary within 120 days, in 

accordance with 38 U.S.C. 1173(d). And 

within 160 days of receiving the 

recommendation with respect to 

establishing a presumption of service 

connection, the Secretary must 

determine whether a presumption is 

warranted in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 

1174(a). This may include initiating 

rulemaking to establish new 

presumptions for some or all the 

conditions formally evaluated and/or 

publishing notice in the Federal 

Register of any determination that a 

presumption or presumptions are 

unwarranted for some or all of the 

conditions that were the subject of the 

scientific assessment. 

Signing Authority 

Denis McDonough, Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, approved and signed 

this document on September 16, 2024, 

and authorized the undersigned to sign 

and submit the document to the Office 

of the Federal Register for publication 

electronically as an official document of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Luvenia Potts, 

Regulation Development Coordinator, Office 

of Regulation Policy & Management, Office 

of General Counsel, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2024–22031 Filed 9–25–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 


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