[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5247-5249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2327]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9626-1; EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-0051]
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Lead
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of a document titled,
``Second External Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Lead''
(EPA/600/R-10/075B). The document was prepared by the National Center
for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and
Development as part of the review of the national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb).
EPA is releasing this draft document to seek review by the Clean
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the public (meeting date
and location to be specified in a separate Federal Register Notice).
The draft document does not represent and should not be construed to
represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will
consider any public comments submitted in response to this notice when
revising the document.
DATES: The public comment period begins February 2, 2012, and ends
April 2, 2012. Comments must be received on or before April 2, 2012.
ADDRESSES: The ``Second External Review Draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Lead'' 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.
Marieka Boyd by phone (919-541-0031), fax (919-541-5078), or email
(boyd.marieka@epa.gov) to request either of these, and please provide
your name, your mailing address, and the document title, ``Second
External
[[Page 5248]]
Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Lead'' (EPA/600/R-10/
075B) to facilitate processing of your request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact Dr.
Ellen Kirrane, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-1340; facsimile: 919-541-2985;
or email: Kirrane.Ellen@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information About the Document
Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to
identify certain pollutants, which among other things, ``cause or
contribute to air pollution, which may reasonably be anticipated to
endanger public health or 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 to establish NAAQS for each
pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act
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 or welfare. EPA is also
required to periodically review and revises the NAAQS, if appropriate,
based on the revised air quality criteria.
Pb is one of six principal (or ``criteria'') pollutants for which
EPA has established NAAQS. Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific
basis for these standards by preparing an Integrated Science Assessment
(ISA) (formerly called an Air Quality Criteria Document). The ISA and
its supplementary materials provide a comprehensive assessment of the
current scientific literature pertaining to known and anticipated
effects on public health and welfare associated with the presence of
the pollutant in the ambient air, emphasizing information that has
become available since the last air quality criteria review in order to
reflect the current state of knowledge. As such, the ISA forms the
scientific foundation for each NAAQS review and is intended to provide
information useful in forming EPA judgments about the different
elements of the NAAQS. The CASAC, an independent scientific advisory
committee whose review and advisory functions are mandated by Section
109(d)(2) of the Clean Air Act, is charged (among other things) with
independent scientific review of EPA's air quality criteria.
On February 26, 2010 (75 FR 8934), EPA formally initiated its
current review of the air quality criteria for Pb, requesting the
submission of recent scientific information on specified topics. Soon
after, a science policy workshop was held to identify key policy issues
and questions to frame the review of the Pb NAAQS (75 FR 20843).
Drawing from the workshop discussions, a draft ``Integrated Review Plan
for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Lead'' (EPA-452/D-
11-001) (IRP) was developed and made available in late March 2011 for
public comment and consultation with CASAC and was discussed by the
CASAC via a publicly accessible teleconference consultation on May 5,
2011 (76 FR 20347, 76 FR 21346). The final IRP was released in December
2011 (76 FR 76972) and is available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_2010_pd.html.
As part of the science assessment phase of the review, EPA held a
workshop in December 2010 (75 FR 69078) to discuss, with invited
scientific experts, preliminary draft materials prepared during the
ongoing development of the Pb ISA. The first external review draft ISA
for Pb was released on May 6, 2011, and is available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=226323. The CASAC Pb
Review Panel met at a public meeting on July 20, 2011, to review the
draft ISA (76 FR 36120). Subsequently, on December 9, 2011, the CASAC
panel provided a consensus letter for their review to the Administrator
of the EPA http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebCASAC/
D3E2E8488025344D852579610068A8A1/$File/EPA-CASAC-12-002-unsigned.pdf).
The second external review draft ISA for Pb will be discussed at a
public meeting of the CASAC Pb Review Panel, and public comments
received will be provided to the CASAC panel. A future Federal Register
notice will 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-2011-
0051, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
Fax: 202-566-1753.
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-
566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334, EPA West Building, 1301
Constitution Avenue 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. 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 comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit
three copies of the comments. For attachments, provide an index, number
pages consecutively with the comments, and submit an unbound original
and three copies.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2011-0051. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. It is
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket
without change and to make the comments available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information through
www.regulations.gov or email that you consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected. 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 email comment directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your email 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 in the body of your comment and 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
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about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: 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 materials,
such as copyrighted material, are 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 in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: January 26, 2012.
Darrell A. Winner,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2012-2327 Filed 2-1-12; 8:45 am]
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