[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2394-2395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00430]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0108; FRL-9769-6]
Release of Draft Document Related to the Review of the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Lead
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Availability of draft documents for public comment.
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SUMMARY: On or about January 8, 2013, the Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) will make available for public review
the draft document titled, Policy Assessment for the Review of the Lead
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, External Review Draft (PA).
This document was prepared as part of the current review of the
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb).
DATES: Comments should be received on or before February 4.
ADDRESSES: This document is available primarily via the Internet at the
following Web site: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_index.html.
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-
0108, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-1741.
Mail: EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0108, Environmental Protection
Agency, Mail code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC
20460. Please include a total of two copies.
Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West,
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2010-0108. The 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 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 www.regulations.gov
(or email). The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access''
system, which means the 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 the 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, the 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 the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the 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 the 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 Air and Radiation Docket
and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West,
[[Page 2395]]
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 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 Air
and Radiation Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Deirdre Murphy, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-0729; fax number: 919-541-0237; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to the EPA
through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk
or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-
ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM
the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. Information Specific to This Document
Two sections of the Clean Air Act govern the establishment and
revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 (42 U.S.C. 7408) directs the
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then to
issue air quality criteria for those pollutants. The Administrator is
to list those air pollutants that in her ``judgment, cause or
contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to
endanger public health or welfare;'' ``the presence of which in the
ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary
sources;'' and ``for which * * * [the Administrator] plans to issue air
quality criteria * * *''. Air quality criteria are intended 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 * * *'' 42 U.S.C. 7408(b). Under section
109 (42 U.S.C. 7409), the EPA establishes primary (health-based) and
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants for which air quality
criteria are issued. Section 109(d) requires periodic review and, if
appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria. The revised air
quality criteria reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the
effects of the pollutant on public health or welfare. The EPA is also
required to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS,
based on the revised air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(2) requires
that an independent scientific review committee ``shall complete a
review of the criteria * * * and the national primary and secondary
ambient air quality standards * * * and shall recommend to the
Administrator any new * * * standards and revisions of existing
criteria and standards as may be appropriate * * *.'' Since the early
1980's, this independent review function has been performed by the
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
Presently, EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for
Pb. The EPA's overall plan and schedule for this review is presented in
the Integrated Review Plan for the Lead National Ambient Air Quality
Standards.\1\ The draft PA document announced today, when final, will
serve to ``bridge the gap'' between the scientific information and the
judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether to
retain or revise the existing NAAQS for Pb, and, if revision is
considered, what revisions may be appropriate. The draft PA builds upon
information presented in the third draft Integrated Science Assessment
for Lead \2\ and health and ecological risk assessments developed in
the last review.\3\ The draft PA will be available on or about January
8, 2013, through the agency's Technology Transfer Network (TTN) Web
site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_index.html.
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\1\ EPA EPA-452/R-11-008; November 2011; Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/data/20111117PbIRPfinal.pdf.
\2\ EPA/600/R-10/075C; November 2012; http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=242655.
\3\ Upon consideration of the evidence newly available in this
review with regard to risk and exposure assessment in the REA
Planning Document for the review (available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/data/20110628pbplanningdoc.pdf), staff
concluded, and CASAC Pb Panel generally concurred, that new health
and ecological REAs were not warranted by the newly available
evidence.
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The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by
means of a review of this draft document at an upcoming public meeting
of the CASAC. Information about this public meeting, including the
dates and location, will be published as a separate notice in the
Federal Register. Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider
comments received from the CASAC and the public in preparing revisions
to this document. The EPA will consider public comments submitted in
response to this notice when revising the documents. Comments should be
submitted to the docket, as described above. The document that is the
subject of today's notice does not represent and should not be
construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or
determination.
Dated: January 7, 2013.
Mary E. Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2013-00430 Filed 1-10-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P