[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 210 (Monday, November 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56611-56612]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26335]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8974-1; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0664]
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of
Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS
assessments; request for information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing
the availability of literature searches for three IRIS assessments that
were or may be started in 2009 and requesting scientific information on
health effects that may result from exposure to these chemical
substances. The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an EPA
database that contains information on human health effects that may
result from exposure to chemical substances in the environment.
DATES: EPA will accept information related to the specific substances
included herein as well as any other compounds being assessed by the
IRIS Program. Please submit any information in accordance with the
instructions provided below.
ADDRESSES: Please submit relevant scientific information identified by
docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0664, online at http://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method); by e-mail to
ord.docket@epa.gov; mailed to Office of Environmental Information (OEI)
Docket (Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; or by hand delivery
or courier to EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Information on a disk or CD-
ROM should be formatted in Word or as an ASCII file, avoiding the use
of special characters and any form of encryption, and may be mailed to
the mailing address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the IRIS program,
contact Dr. Abdel-Razak Kadry, IRIS Program Director, National Center
for Environmental Assessment, (mail code: 8601D), Office of Research
and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
20460; telephone: (703) 347-8545, facsimile: (703) 347-8689; or e-mail:
kadry.abdel@epa.gov.
For general questions about access to IRIS, or the content of IRIS,
please call the IRIS Hotline at (202) 566-1676 or send electronic mail
inquiries to hotline.iris@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
IRIS is a database of human health effects that may result from
exposure to various chemical substances found in the environment. (EPA
notes that information in the IRIS database has no preclusive effect
and does not predetermine the outcome of any rulemaking. When EPA uses
such information to support a rulemaking, the scientific basis for, and
the application of, that information are subject to comment.) IRIS
currently provides information on health effects associated with more
than 500 chemical substances.
The database includes chemical-specific summaries of qualitative
and quantitative health information in support of the first two steps
of the risk assessment process, i.e., hazard identification and dose-
response evaluation. Combined with specific situational exposure
assessment information, the information in IRIS is an important source
in evaluating potential public health risks from environmental
contaminants.
The IRIS Annual Agenda
The 2008 IRIS agenda was announced in a Federal Register Notice
(FRN) of December 21, 2007 (72 FR 72715), which can be found on the
IRIS Web site at http://www.epa.gov/iris. With the December 21, 2007,
IRIS agenda announcement, EPA started a new process to actively solicit
information from the public at the beginning of assessment development.
As literature searches are completed, the results will be posted on the
IRIS Web site (http://www.epa.gov/iris). The public is invited to
review the literature search results and submit additional information
to EPA. EPA posted literature searches for 11 chemicals and stated that
the availability of additional literature searches would be announced
in subsequent FRNs.
Request for Public Involvement in IRIS Assessments
EPA is soliciting public involvement in assessments on the IRIS
agenda, including new assessments starting in 2009. While EPA conducts
a thorough literature search for each chemical substance, there may be
unpublished studies or other primary technical sources that are not
available through the open literature. EPA would appreciate receiving
scientific information from the public during the information gathering
stage for the assessments listed in this notice or any other
assessments on the IRIS agenda. Interested persons should provide
scientific analyses, studies, and other pertinent scientific
information. While EPA is primarily soliciting information on new
assessments starting in 2009 and beyond, the public may submit
information on any chemical substance at any time.
This notice provides (1) a list of new IRIS assessments for which
literature searches have recently become available; and (2)
instructions to the public for submitting scientific information to EPA
pertinent to the development of assessments.
[[Page 56612]]
EPA is announcing the availability of additional literature
searches on the IRIS Web site (http://www.epa.gov/iris). The public is
invited to review the literature search results and submit additional
information to EPA. Literature searches are now available for chromium
VI (hexavalent chromium) (CAS 18540-29-9), ammonia (7664-41-7), and 10
alkylates--2-methylpentane (107-83-5), 2-methylbutane (78-78-4), 3-
methylpentane (96-14-0), 2,2,5-trimethylhexane (3522-94-9), 2,3,3-
trimethylpentane (560-21-4), 2,3,5-trimethylpentane (565-75-3),
cyclohexane (110-82-7), methylcyclohexane (108-87-2), n-heptane (142-
82-5), and n-octane (111-65-9) at http://www.epa.gov/iris under
``Annual IRIS Agenda.'' Literature search results were provided on
December 21, 2007, and April 25, 2008, at http://www.epa.gov/iris for
tert-amyl methyl ether, biphenyl, n-butanol, tert-butanol, carbonyl
sulfide, diethyl phthalate, diisopropyl ether, hexabromocyclodecane,
manganese, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, tungsten,
urea, and weathered toxaphene. Additional literature searches will be
posted as they are completed. Availability will be announced in the
Federal Register. Instructions on how to submit information are
provided below under General Information.
General Information
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0664 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.
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket,
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-
566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center's 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 information
by mail or hand delivery, please submit one unbound original with pages
numbered consecutively, and three copies of the comments. 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-
2007-0664. 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 that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://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 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: All 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, will be 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 Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: October 20, 2009.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E9-26335 Filed 10-30-09; 8:45 am]
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