[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 226 (Tuesday, November 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73183-73184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29800]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9939-18-ORD; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0357]
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Sulfur Oxides--Health
Criteria
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 60-
day public comment period for the draft document titled, ``External
Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Sulfur Oxides--Health
Criteria'' (EPA/600/R-15/066). The draft document was prepared by the
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA's
Office of Research and Development as part of the review of the primary
(health-based) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for
sulfur dioxide (SO2). The Integrated Science Assessment
(ISA), in conjunction with additional technical and policy assessments,
provides the scientific basis for the EPA's decisions on the adequacy
of the current NAAQS and the appropriateness of possible alternative
standards. EPA intends to develop a separate ISA as part of an
independent review for the secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for oxides
of nitrogen and sulfur.
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).
This draft document is not final as described in EPA's information
quality guidelines, and it does not represent, and should not be
construed to represent, Agency policy or views. When revising the
document, EPA will consider any public comments submitted during the
60-day comment period in response to this notice.
DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins on November 24, 2015,
and ends on January 25, 2016. Comments must be received on or before
January 25, 2016.
ADDRESSES: The ``External Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment
for Sulfur Oxides--Health Criteria'' will be available primarily via
the Internet on EPA's Integrated Science Assessment for Sulfur Dioxide
(Health Criteria) home page at http://www2.epa.gov/isa/integrated-science-assessment-isa-sulfur-dioxide-health-criteria or the public
docket at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0357.
A limited number of CD-ROM copies will be available. Contact Ms.
Marieka Boyd by phone: 919-541-0031; fax: 919-541-5078; or email:
[email protected] to request a CD-ROM, and please provide your name,
your mailing address, and the document title, ``External Review Draft
Integrated Science Assessment for Sulfur Oxides--Health Criteria'' to
facilitate processing of your request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment
period, contact the ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket Center;
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-9744; or email:
[email protected].
For technical information, contact Dr. Tom Long, NCEA; telephone:
919-541-1880; facsimile: 919-541-1818; or email: [email protected].
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 then to establish NAAQS for each
pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act
subsequently 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 review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS,
based on the revised air quality criteria (for more information on the
NAAQS review process, see http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/review.html).
Sulfur oxides are one of six criteria pollutants for which EPA has
established NAAQS. Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific basis for
these standards by preparing an ISA (formerly called an Air Quality
Criteria Document). The ISA, in conjunction with additional technical
and policy assessments, provides the scientific basis for the EPA's
decisions on the adequacy of the current NAAQS and the appropriateness
of possible alternative standards. The 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 the EPA's air quality criteria.
On May 10, 2013 (78 FR 27387), EPA formally initiated its current
review of the air quality criteria for the health effects of sulfur
oxides and the primary (health-based) SO2 NAAQS, requesting
the submission of recent scientific information on specified topics.
EPA held a workshop on June 12 and 13, 2013, to discuss with invited
scientific experts, both internal and external to the EPA, key science
and policy issues relevant to the review of the health effects of
sulfur oxides (78 FR 27387). These science and policy issues were
incorporated in EPA's ``Integrated Review Plan for the Primary National
[[Page 73184]]
Ambient Air Quality Standard for Sulfur Dioxide'' (EPA-452/R-14-007),
which was finalized in October 2014 with a prior draft available for
public comment (79 FR 14035) and discussion by the CASAC via publicly
accessible teleconference consultations (79 FR 16325, 79 FR 30137, 79
FR 34739). On June 23-24, 2014, EPA held a workshop to discuss, with
invited internal and external scientific experts, initial draft
materials prepared in the development of the ISA (79 FR 33750).
The ``External Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for
Sulfur Oxides--Health Criteria'' will be discussed at a public meeting
for review by CASAC and the public. In addition to the public comment
period announced in this notice, the public will have an opportunity to
address CASAC. A separate Federal Register notice will inform the
public of the exact date and time of the CASAC meeting and of the
procedures for public participation.
II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at
www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-
0357, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-9744.
Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket
Center (ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The ORD Docket is located in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 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-
2013-0357. 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
the 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 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://www2.epa.gov/dockets.
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 ORD Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: November 6, 2015.
Mary A. Ross,
Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2015-29800 Filed 11-23-15; 8:45 am]
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