(a) Federal Government. Except as provided in section 983 of the Act, the credentialing standards set out in the Appendixes to this part apply to those individuals who administer or propose to administer radiologic procedures, in each department, agency and instrumentality of the Federal Government as follows:

(1) Radiographer Standards apply to all individuals who are radiographers as defined in §75.2 and who are not practitioners excepted by the Act.

(2) Nuclear Medicine Technologist Standards apply to all individuals who are nuclear medicine technologists as defined in §75.2, who perform in vivo nuclear medicine procedures, and who are not practitioners excepted by the Act. For purposes of this Act, any administration of radiopharmaceuticals to human beings is considered an in vivo procedure.

(3) Radiation Therapy Technologist Standards apply to all individuals who perform radiation therapy and who are not practitioners excepted by the Act.

(4) Dental Hygienist Standards apply to all dental hygienists who perform dental radiography.

(5) Dental Assistant Standards apply to all dental assistants who perform dental radiography.

(6) The following persons are deemed to have met the requirements of these standards:

(i) Persons employed by the Federal government as radiologic personnel prior to the effective date of this regulation and who show evidence of current or fully satisfactory performance or certification of such from a licensed practitioner:

(ii) Uniformed military personnel who receive radiologic training from or through the Armed Forces of the United States and who meet standards established by the Department of Defense or components thereof, provided that those standards are determined by such Department or component to offer equivalent protection of patient health and safety:

(iii) Foreign national employed by the Federal government in positions outside of the United States who show evidence of training, experience, and competence determined by the employing agency to be equally protective of patients health and safety; and

(iv) Persons first employed by the Federal government as radiologic personnel after the effective date of this regulation who (a) received training from institutions in a State or foreign jurisdiction which did not accredit training in that particular field at the time of graduation, or (b) practiced in a State or foreign jurisdiction which did not license that particular field or which did not allow special eligibility to take a licensure examination for those who did not graduate from an accredited educational program; provided that such persons show evidence of training, experience, and competence determined by the Office of Personnel Management or the employing agency to be equally protective of patient health and safety.

(7) The following persons are exempted from these standards:

(i) Persons who are trained to perform, or perform, covered radiologic procedures in emergency situations which preclude use of fully qualified personnel; and

(ii) Students in approved training programs.

(8) A department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal government may, after consultation with the Secretary, use alternative criteria which it determines would offer equivalent protection of patient health and safety.

(b) States. The States may, but are not required to, adopt standards for accreditation and credentialing that are consistent with the standards set out in the appendixes to this part.