[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 93 (Monday, May 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28023-28024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7340]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8170-1; Docket No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-0260]
Science Assessment for Sulfur Oxides
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; Call for Information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is undertaking
to update and revise, where appropriate, the air quality criteria for
sulfur oxides (SO\x\), last addressed in EPA/600/FP-93/002,
``Supplement to the Second Addendum (1986) to Air Quality Criteria for
Particulate Matter and Sulfur Oxides (1982): Assessment of New Findings
on Sulfur Dioxide Acute Exposure Health Effects in Asthmatic
Individuals,'' published in August 1994 by the Office of Research and
Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment. Interested
parties are invited to assist the EPA in developing and refining the
scientific information base for updating this assessment of scientific
information for sulfur oxides by submitting research studies that have
been published, accepted for publication, or presented at a public
scientific meeting. Areas where additional new information will be
particularly useful to EPA for this project are described in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.
DATES: All materials submitted under this call for information should
be received on or before June 15, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit materials, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2006-0260, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
Fax: 202-566-1753; Office of Environmental Information
(OEI) Docket in the Headquarters EPA Docket Center.
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket
(Mail Code 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: The Office of Environmental Information
(OEI) Docket is located in the EPA Headquarters Docket Center, Room
B102 EPA West Building, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC.
The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The
telephone number for the public Reading Room is 202-566-1744, and the
telephone number for the OEI Docket is 202-566-1752. Such deliveries
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
If you provide information in writing, please submit one unbound
original, with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies. For
attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively with the main
text, and submit an unbound original and three copies.
Instructions: Direct your materials to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2006-0260. It is EPA's policy to include all submitted materials in the
public docket without change and to make the materials available online
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the included information is claimed as Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through http://
[[Page 28024]]
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it within the
submitted material. If you submit information directly to EPA by e-mail
without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address
will be automatically captured and included as part of the information
that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet.
If you submit materials electronically, EPA recommends that you include
your name and other contact information with any disk or CD-ROM you
submit. If EPA cannot read your submitted material due to technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be
able to consider your submission. Electronic files should avoid the use
of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any
defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, is publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the
EPA HQ Docket Center.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact
Mary Ross, facsimile: 919-541-1818 or e-mail: ross.mary@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Does This Action Apply to Me?
Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to
identify certain pollutants that ``may reasonably be anticipated to
endanger public health and welfare'' and to issue air quality criteria
for them. These air quality criteria are to ``accurately reflect the
latest scientific knowledge useful in indicating the kind and extent of
all identifiable effects on public health or welfare which may be
expected from the presence of [a] pollutant in the ambient air * * *.''
Under section 109 of the Act, EPA is then to establish National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA has
issued criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act subsequently requires
periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality
criteria to reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of
the pollutant on public health and welfare. EPA is also to revise the
NAAQS, if appropriate, based on the revised criteria.
SOX are one of six principal (or ``criteria'')
pollutants for which EPA has established national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS). Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific basis for
these standards and prepares a science assessment document
(historically referred to as a ``criteria document''). The science
assessment provides the scientific basis for additional technical and
policy assessments that form the basis for EPA decisions on the
adequacy of a current NAAQS and the appropriateness of new or revised
standards. One of the first steps in this process is to announce the
beginning of this periodic NAAQS review and the start of the
development of the science assessment by requesting the public to
submit scientific literature that they want to bring to the attention
of the Agency. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), a
review committee of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB), is mandated
by the Clean Air Act with performing an independent expert scientific
review of the air quality criteria. This involves review of draft(s) of
EPA's science assessment document. As this process proceeds, the public
will have opportunities to review and comment on draft(s) of the
science assessment document for SOX. These opportunities
will also be announced in the Federal Register.
B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare Materials for Submission to EPA?
Since completion of the 1994 ``Supplement to the Second Addendum
(1986) to Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter and Sulfur Oxides
(1982): Assessment of New Findings on Sulfur Dioxide Acute Exposure
Health Effects in Asthmatic Individuals,'' EPA has continued to follow
the scientific research on SOX exposure and its effects on
public health and the environment and has gathered appropriate studies.
The Agency is particularly interested in additional new information
concerning: (1) Atmospheric science aspects (e.g., sources , emissions,
atmospheric transformation and transport, air quality concentrations,
patterns and trends); (2) exposure and dosimetry aspects; (3) health
effects aspects, including information derived from human and animal
toxicological studies of SO2 and transformation products
(e.g. sulfates, sulfuric acid); and (4) ecological effects of
SO2 and transformation products, such as those arising from
wet and dry deposition of sulfates and/or sulfuric acid. These and
other selected literature relevant to a review of the NAAQS for sulfur
oxides will be assessed in the forthcoming revised science assessment
for SOX. One or more drafts of the science assessment
document for SOX are expected to be made available by EPA
for public comment and CASAC review. After this call for information,
other opportunities for submission of new peer-reviewed papers
(published or in-press) will be possible as part of public comment on
the draft documents that will be reviewed by CASAC.
Dated: May 3, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-7340 Filed 5-12-06; 8:45 am]
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