World Trade Center Health Program; Petition 013-Autoimmune Disease; Finding of Insufficient Evidence

On April 4, 2016, the Administrator of the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program received a petition (Petition 013) to add ``relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (autoimmune)'' to the List of WTC-Related Health Conditions (List). Upon reviewing the information provided by the petitioner, the Administrator has determined that Petition 013 is not substantially different from Petitions 007, 008, 009, and 011, which also requested the addition of autoimmune diseases, including various subtypes. The Administrator recently published responses to the four previous petitions in the Federal Register and has determined that Petition 013 does not provide additional evidence of a causal relationship between 9/11 exposures and autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis. Accordingly, the Administrator finds that insufficient evidence exists to request a recommendation of the WTC Health Program Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), to publish a proposed rule, or to publish a determination not to publish a proposed rule.