U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Workshop
on
Hearing
Protector
Devices
March
27
­
28,
2003
The
U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
will
hold
a
workshop
to
collect
information
relevant
to
its
anticipated
action
to
revise
the
federal
regulation
at
40
CFR
Part
211
regarding
the
effectiveness
rating
and
labeling
of
hearing
protector
devices.

The
workshop
will
take
place
at
EPA
headquarters,
East
building,
room
1153,
1201
Constitution
Avenue,
NW,
Washington,
DC,
beginning
at
8:
00
a.
m.
on
March
27,
2003,
and
ending
at
5:
30
p.
m.
on
March
28,
2003.

EPA
desires
information
from
all
interested
parties
regarding
all
aspects
of
the
current
labeling
requirements.
We
are
particularly
interested
in
receiving
comments
and
recommendations
in
the
following
areas:

 
Product
label
including:
Primary
label
Information
Supporting
information
Label
placement
 
Noise
reduction
effectiveness
rating
strategies
including:
Test
methodologies
Passive
and
active
devices
Effectiveness
metric
Recertification
 
New
hearing
protector
technologies
including:
Sound
restoration
systems
Active
and
passive
non­
linear
devices
Active
noise
reduction
Communication
systems/
radios
The
workshop
will
begin
with
a
day­
long
plenary
session
split
into
two
parts.
The
first
part
of
the
plenary
session
will
be
the
presentation
of
invited
papers
that
provide
the
historic
basis
for
the
current
hearing
protector
labeling
regulation;
a
review
of
advances
in
effectiveness
test
methods
since
the
1979
promulgation
of
the
regulation;
an
analysis
of
the
relationship
of
the
current
Noise
Reduction
Rating
(
NRR)
to
new
ANSI
test
protocols;
and
an
overview
of
new
hearing
protector
technologies.

The
second
part
of
the
plenary
session
will
be
devoted
to
presentations
of
relevant
information,
comments
and
recommendations
from
those
interested
parties
who
submit
a
request
to
EPA
(
see
below)
no
later
than
March
19,
2003,
to
make
a
formal
presentation
and
who
provide
EPA
the
full
text
of
their
presentation
in
"
PowerPoint"
format,
no
later
than
March
25,
2003.
All
formal
presentations
will
be
placed
in
a
EPA
docket
(
OAR­
2003­
0024)
for
public
review.
The
second
day
of
the
workshop
will
consist
of
three
"
breakout"
sessions
that
will
run
concurrently.
Each
session
will
address
one
of
the
three
major
topic
areas
noted
above.
The
sessions
will
have
a
facilitator,
but
will
be
informal
to
stimulate
the
free
flow
of
ideas
and
exchange
of
information.

Since
the
seating
capacities
of
the
workshop
facilities
are
limited,
the
EPA
requests
pre­
registration
from
all
parties
interested
in
attending
the
plenary
sessions
and
each
breakout
session
by
Monday,
March
25,
2003.

Written,
email,
or
fax
pre­
registration
for
the
workshop
plenary
and
break­
out
sessions
(
see
attached
agenda),
and
requests
to
make
formal
presentations
at
the
plenary
session,
should
be
submitted
no
later
than
March
25,
2003
to:

Ms.
Catrice
Jefferson
U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Office
of
Air
and
Radiation
1200
Pennsylvania
Avenue,
NW,
Mailcode
6103A
Washington,
DC
20460
email
address:
jefferson.
catrice@
epa.
gov
fax
number:
(
202)
564­
1557
Questions
regarding
this
workshop
should
be
directed
to
Kenneth
Feith
at
feith.
ken@
epa.
gov,
(
202)
564­
1679
or
Catrice
Jefferson
at
jefferson.
catrice@
epa.
gov,
(
202)
564­
1668.
