[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 222 (Friday, November 18, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-28551] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: November 18, 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-5109-3] Public Meetings on Draft Reassessment of Dioxin and Related Compounds AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency ACTION: Notice of Public Meetings on the EPA's Draft Reassessment of Dioxin and Related Compounds. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The EPA has scheduled five public meetings to take oral and written comments on two recently released Draft Dioxin Reassessment Documents. The titles and EPA publication numbers of the documents are as follows: 1. Health Assessment Document for 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p- dioxin (TCDD) and Related Compounds (EPA/600/BP-92/001a-c), and 2. Estimation of Exposure to Dioxin-Like Compounds (EPA/600/6-88/ 005Ca-c). These meetings are being conducted as part of the Agency's commitment to conduct the reassessment of dioxin in an open and participatory manner, and to encourage public participation in the document development process. The public is invited to attend these meetings to present and to listen to comments on the technical merit of the draft reassessment documents. The comments presented at these meetings will be heard by a panel of senior scientists from within EPA and elsewhere who were involved in drafting both the health and exposure documents. DATES AND ADDRESSES: The dates and locations of these meetings are as follows:December 8 and 9, 1994 in Herndon, Virginia, near Washington, DC. Times: 9 am to 5 pm, both days. The site for both days is the Ramada Renaissance Hotel near Dulles Airport, 13869 Park Center Road, Herndon, Virginia. December 12 and 13, 1994 at two sites in the New York City--Newark, New Jersey area. Times for both days: 9 am to 5 pm, and 7 pm to 9 pm. On December 12, the site is the Taft Theater at the Fashion Institute of Technology, located at 227 West 27th Street, New York City. On December 13, the site is the Ball Room at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Heights, Newark, NJ. December 13, 1994 in Arlington, Texas. Day and evening sessions will be held in separate locations in Arlington. The day session will be from 9 am to 5 pm in the University Center Rosebud Theater, University of Texas at Arlington, 301 West 2nd Street, Arlington, Texas. The evening session will be from 7 pm to 9 pm in the South West Environmental Education Training (SWEET) Center, University of Texas at Arlington, 406 Summit Drive, Arlington, Texas. If additional time is needed, this public meeting may be extended for an additional day. December 14, 1994 in Chicago, Illinois. Times: 9 am to 5 pm, and 7 pm to 9 pm, at the EPA Regional Office, 77 West Jackson Street, 12th floor, Lake Michigan Room. If additional time is needed, this public meeting may be extended for an additional day. December 16 and 17, 1994 at two sites in San Francisco, California. On December 16, the times will be 9 am to 5 pm at the EPA Regional Office Large Conference Center, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco. On December 17, the times will be from 9 am to 1 pm and the site will be the ANA Hotel, 50 Third Street, San Francisco. REGISTRATION PROCEDURE: Any individual interested in doing so may present comments in the meeting of his or her choice. To allow for an orderly process and to facilitate scheduling, all individuals interested in speaking are requested to pre-register. To pre-register for any of the public meetings, telephone 202-260-5959 and follow the recorded voice mail instructions. Pre-registration will close on December 2, 1994. To the extent that time will allow, persons wishing to speak who are not preregistered may sign up at any meeting on a first-come first-served basis, and will be scheduled to speak after all of the pre-registered presenters. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Klauder, ORD/OSPRE (8105), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. Telephone 202-260-0536. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Meeting Format Each presenter will be allocated five (5) minutes to present oral comments. Presenters may be asked to respond to clarifying questions from the panelists. Presenters are encouraged to submit their full comments in writing and summarize their central points in their oral statement. Presenters may revise or expand their remarks and resubmit them at any time up to the close of the public comment period on January 13, 1995. A summary report of each meeting will be prepared and submitted to the record along with all written comments. Alternative Means of Providing Comments Members of the public who cannot attend these meetings may still submit written comments to the public record. Submissions should include three copies of each comment, and if commenting on both documents--the health assessment document and the exposure assessment-- submit separate comments rather than combined submissions. For the health assessment document, send comments to: Dioxin Health Assessment Comments, Technical Information Staff (8601), Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460. For the dioxin exposure assessment document, send comments to: Dioxin Exposure Assessment Comments, Technical Information Staff (8601), Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460. Background EPA has recently released an external review draft of its dioxin reassessment. This release marks a mid-point in EPA's effort to reevaluate the scientific understanding of dioxin. EPA and outside scientists have worked for over three years to develop the current draft of the reassessment. EPA will be taking public comments on the draft document until January 13, 1995. This public comment period will then be followed by a formal peer review by EPA's Science Advisory Board. In April 1991, EPA announced that it would conduct a scientific reassessment of the health risks of exposure to dioxin and dioxin-like compounds. EPA has undertaken this task in light of significant advances in our scientific understanding of mechanisms of dioxin toxicity, significant new studies of dioxin's carcinogenic potential in humans and increased evidence of other adverse health effects. The reassessment is part of the Agency's goals to improve its research and science base and to incorporate this knowledge into EPA decisions. EPA has worked to make each phase of the dioxin reassessment an open and participatory process. These efforts have included the involvement of outside scientists as principal authors of several chapters, frequent public meetings to report our progress and take public comment, and publication of early drafts for public comment and peer review. On September 13, 1994, the EPA released the public review draft of the full reassessment. The reassessment is a scientific document and does not address policy or regulatory issues. The reassessment consists of two documents, each over one thousand pages, and each published in three volumes. One of these documents addresses the human health effects of dioxin; the second focuses on sources and levels of exposure. Volume three of the health effects document is the Risk Characterization chapter. This chapter integrates the findings of both the effects and exposure documents, and describes the potential risks posed by dioxin. Copies of the documents are available from the ORD Publications Center, CERI-FRN, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268; telephone 513-569- 7562, fax 513-569-7566. Please cite the full names of the documents and the EPA document numbers given above. Future Actions Beginning with the September 13, 1994, release date, EPA began accepting public comments on the draft document. The comment period will close on January 13, 1995. The public meetings announced in this notice are a part of this comment period. The draft documents also will be reviewed by EPA's Science Advisory Board. This meeting will be held early in calendar year 1995, after the public comment period has ended. Information about the Science Advisory Board meeting will be published in a future Federal Register notice. Following Science Advisory Board review, the documents will be revised to incorporate comments and revisions obtained during the review process, and final documents will be issued. The time frame for completion and release of the final reassessment will depend to a great extent on the volume and complexity of comments provided to EPA, with the earliest likely time frame being the fall of 1995. Dated: November 10, 1994. Joseph K. Alexander, Acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development. [FR Doc. 94-28551 Filed 11-17-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P