[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 205 (Thursday, October 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63401-63402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25155]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Renewal of Charters for Certain Federal Advisory Committees

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the 
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 
amended (5 U.S.C. App), the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) is hereby announcing that the charters have been renewed 
for the following federal advisory committees for which the Office of 
the Assistant Secretary for Health provides management support: Chronic 
Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC); President's Council on 
Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition (PCFSN); Secretary's Advisory Committee 
on Human Research Protections (SACHRP); and Advisory Committee on Blood 
and Tissue Safety and Availability (ACBTSA). Functioning as federal 
advisory committees, these committees are governed by the provisions of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Under FACA, it is stipulated 
that the charter for a federal advisory committee must be renewed every 
two years in order for the committee to continue to operate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Olga B. Nelson, Committee Management 
Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health; U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services; 200 Independence Avenue SW., Room 714B; 
Washington, DC 20201; (202) 690-5205.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CFSAC was established on September 5, 2002 
as a discretionary federal advisory committee. The Committee provides 
science-based advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, through the Assistant Secretary for Health, on abroad 
range of issues and topics pertaining to myalgic encephalomyelitis/
chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), including (1) the current state of 
knowledge and research and the relevant gaps in knowledge and research 
about the epidemiology, etiologies, biomarkers, and risk factors 
relating to ME/CFS, and identifying potential opportunities in these 
areas; (2) impact and implications of current and proposed diagnosis 
and treatment methods for ME/CFS; (3) development and implementation of 
programs to inform the public, health care professionals, and the 
biomedical, academic, and research communities about ME/CFS advances; 
and (4) partnering to improve the quality of life of ME/CFS patients.
    There was one amendment proposed and approved for the new charter. 
The charter has been amended to change all references to chronic 
fatigue syndrome (CFS) to include the myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). 
This amendment to the charter was proposed to satisfy a recommendation 
previously made by CFSAC. During the October 2010 meeting, the 
Committee had recommended that the Department should ``adopt [use of] 
the term ME/CFS across all HHS programs. After the recommendation was 
made, the Committee elected to use ME/CFS when discussing this health 
condition. Amending the charter to reflect the use of ME/CFS 
demonstrates that the Department supports the Committee's 
recommendation.
    On September 5, 2014, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
approved for the CFSAC charter with the proposed amendment to be 
renewed. The new charter has been made effective; the charter was filed 
with the appropriate Congressional committees and the Library of 
Congress on September 5, 2014. Renewal of the CFSAC charter provides 
authorization for the Committee to continue to operate until September 
5, 2016. A copy of the Committee charter is available on the CFSAC Web 
site at http://www.hhs.gov/advcomcfs.
    The PCFSN is a non-discretionary federal advisory committee. The 
PCFSN was established under Executive Order 13545, dated June 22, 2010. 
This authorizing directive was issued to amend the purpose, function, 
and name of the Council, which formerly operated as the President's 
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). The scope

[[Page 63402]]

of the Council was changed to include nutrition to bring attention to 
the importance of good nutritional habits with regular physical 
activity for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The PCFSN is the only 
federal advisory committee that is focused solely on the promotion of 
physical activity, fitness, sports, and nutrition. Since the PCFSN was 
established by Presidential directive, appropriate action had to be 
taken by the President or agency head to authorize continuation of the 
PCFSN. The President issued Executive Order 13652, dated September 30, 
2013, to give authorization for the PCFSN to continue to operate until 
September 30, 2015.
    No amendments were recommended for the PCFSN charter. The charter 
was approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and filed 
with the appropriate Congressional committees and the Library of 
Congress on September 10, 2014. A copy of the Council charter is 
available on the PCFSN Web site at http://fitness.gov.
    SACHRP is a discretionary federal advisory committee. SACHRP 
provides advice to the Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary for 
Health, on matters pertaining to the continuance and improvement of 
functions within the authority of the Department of Health and Human 
Services concerning protections for human subjects in research.
    No amendments were recommended for the SACHRP charter. On October 
1, 2014, the Secretary of Health and Human Services approved for the 
SACHRP charter to be renewed. The new charter also was filed with the 
appropriate Congressional committees and the Library of Congress on 
October 1, 2014. SACHRP is authorized to continue to operate until 
October 1, 2016. A copy of the charter is available on the Committee 
Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sachrp/.
    The ACBTSA is a discretionary federal advisory committee. The 
Committee provides advice to the Secretary, through the Assistant 
Secretary for Health, on a range of policy issues related to the safety 
of blood, blood products, organs, and tissues. For organs and blood 
stem cells, the Committee's work is limited to policy issues related to 
donor derived infectious disease complications of transplantation.
    The following amendments were proposed and approved for the ACBTSA 
charter: (1) Under Objectives and Scope of Activities, the term 
``human'' has been removed. Xenotransplantation is the transplantation 
of living cells, tissues, and organs from one species to another. Such 
cells, tissues or organs are called xenografts. Due to the 
unavailability of certain human organs, animal (pig) tissues are used 
in transplantation. All aspects of transplantation need to be covered 
as the shorter life span and diseases of animals are different from 
that of humans; (2) Under Designated Federal Officer (DFO), the text 
has been amended to include information about the Alternate DFO 
assuming the responsibilities associated with the position in the 
absence of the DFO; (3) Under Membership and Designation, the reference 
to an organ procurement organization as one of the official industry 
representatives was changed to reflect the Association of Organ 
Procurement Organizations (AOPO) because this is the only organ 
procurement organization from which a qualified representative can be 
selected. Also under this section, the information about the number of 
non-voting ex-officio members was changed from nine to eight. As the 
charter was previously worded, it appeared that the National Institutes 
of Health (NIH) was authorized to have two representative positions--
one each for intra- and extramural research. Authorization had been 
given for NIH to have only one representative member on the ACBTSA. The 
charter has been changed to reflect that there are eight non-voting ex-
officio members, and the description of the representation to be 
provided for the NIH has been removed.
    On October 8, 2014, the new charter was approved by the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services and filed with the appropriate 
Congressional committees and the Library of Congress. ACBTSA is 
authorized to operate until October 9, 2016. A copy of the charter can 
be obtained on the ACBTSA Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/ash/bloodsafety.
    Copies of the charters for the designated committees also can be 
obtained by accessing the FACA database that is maintained by the 
Committee Management Secretariat under the General Services 
Administration. The Web site address for the FACA database is http://facadatabase.gov/.

    Dated: October 15, 2014.
Wanda K. Jones,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Health.
[FR Doc. 2014-25155 Filed 10-22-14; 8:45 am]
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