Submitted Electronically to: RE: Response to Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Possession, Use, and Transfer of Select Agents and Toxins; Biennial Review of the List of Select Agents and Toxins

CDC-2020-0024) To Whom It May Concern: We write to offer comments in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notice of proposed rulemaking on Possession, Use, and Transfer of Select Agents and Toxins; Biennial Review of the List of Select Agents and Toxins1 (NPRM) that was published in the Federal Register on January 30, 2024. [...] (4) Each individual not approved for access to HHS and overlap select agents and toxins by the HHS Secretary or APHIS Administrator who performs administrative or oversight functions of the facility related to the transfer, possession or use of such agents or toxins on behalf of the entity ( e.g., administrative professionals, facility managers, etc.). [...] The training must instruct each individual on the regulatory requirements relevant to their COGR Response to NPRM on Biennial Review of the List of Select Agents and Toxins 4 administrative or oversight functions. [...] Similarly, subsection (4) calls for training any individual “who performs administrative or oversight functions of the facility related to the transfer, possession or use of such agents or toxins on behalf of the entity (e.g., administrative professionals, facility managers, etc.).” HHS should definitively specify the classes and duties of personnel to whom such training should be provided. [...] We suggest the following language: Each individual not approved for access to HHS and overlap select agents and toxins by the HHS Secretary or APHIS Administrator who performs administrative tasks related to ordering, storing, or securing the transfer, possession or use of such agents or toxins on behalf of the entity.