[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 18 (Thursday, January 28, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4910-4911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01548]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0232; FRL-9941-74-ORD]
Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--Health
Criteria
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
availability of a final document titled, ``Integrated Science
Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--Health Criteria'' (EPA/600/R-15/
068). The document was prepared by the National Center for
Environmental Assessment National Center for Environmental Assessment
(NCEA) within the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) as
part of the review of the primary (health-based) National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The
Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), in conjunction with additional
technical and policy assessments, provides the scientific basis for
decisions by the EPA on the adequacy of the current NAAQS and the
appropriateness of possible alternative standards. The EPA is
developing a separate ISA and conducting a separate review for the
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for NO2, in conjunction with
a review of the secondary NAAQS for sulfur dioxide.
DATES: The document will be available on or around January 28, 2016.
ADDRESSES: The ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--
Health Criteria'' will be available primarily via the Internet on the
EPA's Integrated Science Assessment for Nitrogen Dioxide (Health
Criteria) home page at http://www.epa.gov/isa/integrated-science-assessment-isa-nitrogen-dioxide-health-criteria or the public docket at
http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0232. 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, ``Integrated Science Assessment for
Oxides of Nitrogen--Health Criteria'' to facilitate processing of your
request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact Dr.
Molini Patel, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-1492; fax: 919-541-1818; or
email: [email protected].
[[Page 4911]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information About the Document
Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to
identify certain pollutants that, 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. Further, section 108(a)(2) of the Act provides that 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 [the] pollutant in the ambient air . . . .'' Under section
109 of the Act, the EPA is then to establish National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which the 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. The 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).
Oxides of nitrogen 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 decisions by
EPA 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 with
review and advisory functions mandated by section 109(d)(2) of the
Clean Air Act, is charged with, among other things, independent
scientific review of the EPA's air quality criteria.
On February 10, 2012 (77 FR 7149), EPA formally initiated its
current review of the air quality criteria for the health effects of
oxides of nitrogen and the primary (health-based) nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) NAAQS, requesting the submission of recent scientific
information on specified topics. EPA held a workshop on February 29 to
March 1, 2012, to gather input from scientific experts, both internal
and external to EPA, as well as from the public regarding key science
and policy issues that will frame the review of the health effects of
the oxides of nitrogen and the primary NO2 NAAQS (77 FR
7149).
The discussions at this workshop guided the development of the
EPA's ``Draft Plan for Development of the Integrated Science Assessment
for Nitrogen of Oxides--Health Criteria,'' a draft ``Integrated Review
Plan for the Primary NAAQS for Nitrogen Dioxide'' (EPA-452/R-14-003),
and initial draft materials for the development of the ISA. The draft
plan for the development of the ISA was made available for public
comment on May 3, 2013 (78 FR 26026), and was discussed by the CASAC
via a publicly accessible teleconference consultation on June 5, 2013
(78 FR 27234). On June 11, 2013, EPA held a workshop to discuss, with
invited scientific experts, initial draft materials prepared for the
development of the ISA (78 FR 27374). The draft Integrated Review Plan
(IRP) was made available in February 2014 for comment by the public and
review by the CASAC (79 FR 7184) and was reviewed by the CASAC at a
public meeting on March 12, 2014 (79 FR 8701). The CASAC panel provided
a consensus letter for their review of the draft IRP to the
Administrator of the EPA on June 10, 2014 (http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/264cb1227d55e02c85257402007446a4/
89989229944F36B085257CF300692E2A/$File/EPA-CASAC-14-001+unsigned.pdf).
The final IRP was released in June 2014 (79 FR 36801), and is available
at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_2012_pd.html.
Comments on the draft plan for the ISA and discussion at the June
11, 2013, workshop guided development of the ``First External Review
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--Health
Criteria,'' which was released on November 22, 2013 (78 FR 70040), and
is available at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=259167. The CASAC review panel for the oxides of
nitrogen met at a public meeting on March 12-13, 2014, to review the
draft ISA along with the draft IRP (79 FR 8701). Subsequently, on June
10, 2014, the CASAC panel provided a consensus letter for their review
to the Administrator of the EPA (http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/264cb1227d55e02c85257402007446a4/
15E4619D3CD3409A85257CF30069387D/$File/EPA-CASAC-14-002+unsigned.pdf).
The second external review draft ISA was developed with consideration
of comments received from the CASAC and the public on the first
external review draft ISA and evaluated scientific studies published
through August 2014. The CASAC panel met at a public meeting on June 2-
3, 2015, to review the second draft ISA (79 FR 22993). Subsequently, on
September 9, 2015, the CASAC provided a consensus letter for their
review to the Administrator of the EPA (http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/6612DAF24438687B85257EBB0070369C/$File/EPA-CASAC-15-
001+unsigned.pdf). The letters from the CASAC, as well as public
comments received on the ISA drafts, can be found in Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-ORD-2013-0232.
EPA has considered comments by the CASAC panel and by the public in
preparing this final ISA.
Dated: January 15, 2016.
Vincent Cogliano,
Acting Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2016-01548 Filed 1-27-16; 8:45 am]
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