[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 47 (Thursday, March 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10734-10735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5201]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL8779-4; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0925]
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing
the availability of a document titled, ``First External Review Draft
Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide'' (EPA/600/R-09/019).
This draft 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 carbon monoxide.
EPA is releasing this draft document to seek review by the Clean
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the public. The draft
document does not represent and should not be construed to represent
any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will consider
any timely public comments submitted in response to this notice when
revising the document.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 8, 2009.
ADDRESSES: The ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Carbon Monoxide'' 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. Debbie Wales by phone (919-541-4731), fax (919-
541-5078), or e-mail ([email protected]) to request either of
these, and please provide your name, your mailing address, and the
document title, ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Carbon Monoxide'' (EPA/600/R-09/019) to facilitate
processing of your request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact Dr.
Thomas C. Long, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-1880; facsimile: 919-541-2985;
or e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information About the Document
Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the EPA Administrator
to identify certain pollutants that ``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 such pollutant in the ambient air * * *.'' Under section
109 of the Act, EPA is to establish national ambient air quality
standards (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 to revise the NAAQS, if appropriate, based on
the revised air quality criteria.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of six ``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 supplementary annexes, in conjunction with additional
technical and policy assessments, provide the scientific basis for EPA
decisions on the adequacy of the current NAAQS and the appropriateness
of possible alternative standards. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC), an independent science 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 September 13, 2007 (72 FR 52369), EPA formally initiated its
current review of the air quality criteria for CO, requesting the
submission of recent scientific information on specified topics. A
workshop was held on January 28-29, 2008 (73 FR 2490) to discuss
policy-relevant science to inform EPA's planning for the CO NAAQS
review. Following the workshop, a draft of EPA's ``Plan for Review of
the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Carbon Monoxide'' (EPA-
452/D-08-001) was made available in March 2008 for public comment and
was discussed by the CASAC via a publicly accessible teleconference
consultation on April 8, 2008 (73 FR 12998). EPA finalized the plan and
made it available in August 2008 (EPA/452/R-08/005; http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_cr_pd.html). In November 2008, EPA held
an authors' teleconference to discuss, with invited scientific experts,
preliminary draft materials prepared during the ongoing development of
the CO ISA and its supplementary annexes.
After the end of the comment period on the First External Review
Draft ISA for CO, the CASAC review panel will review the draft at a
public meeting. Timely public comments received will be provided to the
CASAC review panel. A future Federal Register notice will inform the
public of the exact date and time of that meeting.
II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0925, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-1753.
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
[[Page 10735]]
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 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. 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 an
original and 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-
2007-0925. 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 http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail that you consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected. 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 in the body of your comment. If you
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://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 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 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. Publicly available docket
materials are generally available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center; however, certain materials, such as
copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy.
Dated: March 3, 2009.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E9-5201 Filed 3-11-09; 8:45 am]
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