[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 146 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43154-43155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12216]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8204-6; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2004-0018]
Draft Air Quality Criteria for Lead
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period on Revised Integrative
Synthesis Chapter and Executive Summary.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing a public comment period for revised
Integrative Synthesis and Executive Summary chapters from the draft
document titled, ``Air Quality Criteria for Lead; Second External
Review Draft'' (EPA/600/R-05/144aB-bB). The document was prepared by
the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of
Research and Development.
EPA is releasing these draft chapters solely for the purpose of
seeking public comment and for review by the Clean Air Scientific
Advisory Committee (CASAC) via a teleconference meeting to be held on
August 15, 2006 (time and phone number to be specified in a separate
Federal Register notice). It does not represent and should not be
construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or determination.
EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this
notice when revising the document.
DATES: The public comment period begins on or about August 1, 2006, and
ends August 15, 2006. Comments must be received on or before August 15,
2006.
ADDRESSES: The revised Integrative Synthesis and Executive Summary
chapters from the draft ``Air Quality Criteria for Lead; Second
External Review Draft'' will be available primarily via the Internet on
the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home page under the
Recent Additions and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A
limited number of CD-ROM or paper copies will be available. Contact Ms.
Diane Ray by phone (919-541-3637), fax (919-541-1818), or e-mail
([email protected]) to request either of these, and please provide your
name, your mailing address, and the document title, ``Air Quality
Criteria for Lead; Second External Review Draft,'' (EPA/600/R-05/144aB-
bB) to facilitate processing of your request.
Comments may be submitted electronically via www.regulations.gov,
by mail, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed
instructions provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this
notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket;
telephone: 202-566-1752; or e-mail: [email protected].
For technical information, contact Lori White, PhD., NCEA;
telephone: 919-541-3146; facsimile: 919-541-1818; or e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information about the Project/Document
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 requires subsequent 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.
Lead is one of six ``criteria'' pollutants for which EPA has
established air quality criteria and NAAQS. On November 9, 2004 (69 FR
64926), EPA formally initiated its current review of the criteria and
NAAQS for lead, requesting the submission of recent scientific
information on specified topics. A draft of EPA's ``Project Work Plan
for Revised Air Quality Criteria for Lead'' (NCEA-R-1465) was released
on January 7, 2005, for public comment (70 FR 1439) and was discussed
by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) via a publicly
accessible March 28, 2005, teleconference consultation (70 FR
[[Page 43155]]
11629). On July 15, 2005 (70 FR 41007), several workshops were
announced to discuss, with invited recognized scientific experts,
initial draft materials that dealt with various lead-related issues
being addressed in the draft AQCD for lead. These workshops were held
August 4-5, 16-18, and 17-19, 2005. The first external review draft of
the Air Quality Criteria for Lead, EPA/600/R-05/144aA-bA, was announced
in the Federal Register on December 2, 2005 (70 FR 72300). The CASAC
Lead Review Panel reviewed the first external review draft at a public
meeting on February 28 and March 1, 2006.
Release of the second external review draft of the Air Quality
Criteria for Lead, EPA/600/R-05/144aB-bB, was announced in the Federal
Register on May 19, 2006 (71 FR 29152). The CASAC Lead Review Panel
reviewed the second external review draft at a public meeting on June
28-29, 2006. EPA is now releasing revised Integrative Synthesis and
Executive Summary chapters for public and CASAC review. EPA has
considered the comments of the CASAC review panel and of the public in
preparing both the Second External Review Draft of the Air Quality
Criteria for Lead and these revised Integrative Synthesis and Executive
Summary chapters.
After the end of the comment period on the revised Integrative
Synthesis and Executive Summary chapters for the Air Quality Criteria
for Lead, Second External Review Draft, EPA will present the draft at a
public meeting for review by CASAC. Public comments received will be
provided to the CASAC review panel. There will be a Federal Register
notice to inform the public of the exact date and time of that CASAC
meeting.
II. How to Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at
www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2004-
0018, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in
the Headquarters EPA Docket Center (Mail Code 2822T), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: Office of Environmental Information (OEI)
Docket in the Headquarters EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room
B102, 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. Deliveries are only accepted during the
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be
made for deliveries of boxed information.
Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of
operation for people who wish to make hand deliveries or visit the
Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on docket
operations, locations and telephone numbers. The Docket Center's
mailing address for U.S. mail and the procedure for submitting
comments to www.regulations.gov are not affected by the flooding and
will remain the same.
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 comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2004-0018. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
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 www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The
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 in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your e-mail
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact information with any disk or CD-ROM
you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be
able to consider your comment. 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: All documents in the docket are listed in the
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, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket at the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: July 25, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-12216 Filed 7-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P