Department of Defense August 17, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will hold the fourth public meeting of the Veterans' Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction (VBDR). The VBDR was established at the recommendation of the National Research Council report, entitled ``Review of the Dose Reconstruction Program of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.'' The report recommended the need to establish an advisory board that will provide suggestions for improvements in dose reconstruction and claim adjudication procedures. The goal of VBDR is to provide guidance and oversight of the dose reconstruction and claims compensation programs for veterans of U.S.- sponsored atmospheric nuclear weapons tests from 1945-1962; veterans of the 1945-1946 occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan; and veterans who were prisoners of war in those regions at the conclusion of World War II. In addition, the advisory board will assist VA and DTRA in communicating with the veterans. Radiation dose reconstruction has been carried out by the Department of Defense under the Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) program since the 1970s. DTRA is the executive agent for the NTPR program which provides participation data and actual or estimated radiation dose information to veterans and the VA. Board members were selected to the fulfill the statutory requirements mandated by Congress in Section 601 of Public Law 108-183. The Board was appointed on June 3, 2005, and is comprised of 16 members. Board members were selected to provide expertise in historical dose reconstruction, radiation health matters, risk communications, radiation epidemiology, medicine, quality management, decision analysis and ethics in order to appropriately enable the VBDR to represent and address veterans' concerns. The Board is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463, which sets forth standards for the formation and conduct of government advisory committees.

The Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Industrial Structure for Transformation will meet in closed session on August 30, 2006, at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA. This meeting will characterize the degree of changes needed in industry due to the changing nature of DoD and the industrial Base. It will also examine the effectiveness of existing mitigation measures and make recommendations to ensure future competition and innovation throughout all tiers of the defense industrial base. The briefings will contain proprietary material and ensuing discussions will be at the collateral secret level. The mission of the Defense Science Board is to advise the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics on scientific and technical matters as they affect the perceived needs of the Department of Defense. At these meetings, the Defense Science Board Task Force will: Describe the defense industry required to cope with the international security environment in the 21st century. Additionally the task force will address the implications for the industrial base of increased DoD acquisition of services, as well as the implications for the financial viability of the defense industrial base as the sector adapts to changing DoD needs for defense- related products and services. In accordance with Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub. L. 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. II), it has been determined that these Defense Science Board Task Force meetings concern matters listed in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) and that, accordingly, the meetings will be closed to the public.

This notice extends the comments period and changes the address to send the comment on the Manual for Courts-Martial; Proposed Amendments notice which was published on August 10, 2006 (71 FR 45780).