[Federal Register: November 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 216)]
[Notices]
[Page 64926-64928]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09no04-57]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7835-4]
Air Quality Criteria Document for Lead
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice; call for information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of
Research and Development's National Center for Environmental Assessment
(NCEA) is updating and revising, where appropriate, the Air Quality
Criteria for Lead, EPA-600/8-83/028aF-dF, published in June 1986, and
the associated supplement (EPA-600/8-89/049F) published in 1990.
Interested parties are invited to assist the EPA in developing and
refining the scientific information base for updating the Air Quality
Criteria for Lead by submitting research studies that have been
published, accepted for publication, or presented at a public
scientific meeting.
DATES: The sixty-day period for submission of this information begins
November 15, 2004, and ends January 15, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted electronically, by mail, by
facsimile, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed
instructions as provided in the section of this notice entitled
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For details on the period for
submission of research information from the public, contact the Office
of Environmental Information Docket; telephone: 202-566-1752;
facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
For technical information, contact Robert Elias, Ph.D., NCEA,
facsimile: 919-541-1818 or e-mail: elias.robert@epa.gov.
[[Page 64927]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Clean Air Act, lead is one of six
principal (or ``criteria'') pollutants for which EPA has established
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Periodically, EPA
reviews the scientific basis for these standards by preparing an Air
Quality Criteria Document (AQCD). The AQCD is the scientific basis for
the additional technical and policy assessments that form the basis for
EPA decisions on the adequacy of a current NAAQS and the
appropriateness of new or revised standards. One of the first steps in
this process is to announce the beginning of this periodic NAAQS review
and the start of the development of the AQCD, by requesting that the
public submit scientific literature that they want to bring to the
attention of the Agency as it begins this process. The Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), a review committee mandated by
the Clean Air Act and part of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB),
is charged with independent expert scientific review of EPA's draft
AQCDs. As the process proceeds, the public will have opportunities to
review and comment on the draft lead AQCD. These opportunities will
also be announced in the Federal Register.
Since completion of the 1986 Air Quality Criteria for Lead and the
associated 1990 Lead Supplement, EPA has continued to follow the
scientific research on lead exposure and its effects on health and the
environment and has gathered some appropriate studies. The Agency is
interested in additional new information, particularly concerning the
effects of lead on humans and on laboratory animals, as well as on
vegetation, both in agricultural ecosystems (crops) and in natural
ecosystems. EPA also seeks recent information in other areas of lead
research such as chemistry and physics, sources and emissions,
analytical methodology, transport and transformation in the
environment, and ambient concentrations. This and other selected
literature relevant to a review of the NAAQS for lead will be assessed
in the forthcoming revised Lead AQCD. One or more drafts of the lead
AQCD are expected to be made available by EPA for public comment and
CASAC review during 2005 and/or possibly 2006. In addition, other
opportunities for submission of new peer-reviewed, published (or in-
press) papers will be possible as part of public comment on the draft
documents that will be reviewed by CASAC.
EPA has established an official public docket for information
pertaining to the revision of the lead criteria document, Docket ID No.
ORD-2004-0018. The official public docket is the collection of
materials, excluding Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute, that is
available for public viewing at the Office of Environmental Information
(OEI) Docket in the Headquarters EPA Docket Center, EPA West Building,
Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., 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, and the telephone number for the
OEI Docket is 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail:
ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
An electronic version of the official public docket is available
through EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, E-Docket.
You may use E-Docket at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view
public comments, to access the index listing of the contents of the
official public docket, and to view those documents in the public
docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select
``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket identification number.
Certain types of information will not be placed in E-Docket.
Information claimed as CBI and other information with disclosure
restricted by statute, also not included in the official public docket,
will not be available for public viewing in E-Docket. Copyrighted
material also will not be placed in E-Docket but will be referenced
there and available as printed material in the official public docket.
Persons submitting information should note that EPA's policy makes
the information available as received and at no charge for public
viewing at the EPA Docket Center or in E-Docket. This policy applies to
information submitted electronically or in paper, except where
restricted by copyright, CBI, or statute.
Unless restricted as above, information submitted on computer disks
that are mailed or delivered to the docket will be transferred to E-
Docket. Physical objects will be photographed, where practical, and the
photograph will be placed in E-Docket along with a brief description
written by the docket staff.
You may submit information electronically, by mail, by facsimile,
or by hand delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, include
the appropriate docket identification number with your submission.
Please adhere to the specified submitting period. Information received
or submitted past the close date will be marked ``late'' and may only
be considered if time permits.
If you submit information electronically, EPA recommends that you
include your name, mailing address, and an e-mail address or other
details for contacting you. Also include these contact details on the
outside of any disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter
accompanying the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be
identified as the person submitting the information and allows EPA to
contact you in case the Agency cannot read what you submit due to
technical difficulties or needs to clarify issues raised by what you
submit. If EPA cannot read what you submit due to technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, it may delay or
prohibit the Agency's consideration of the information.
To access EPA's electronic public docket from the EPA Internet Home
Page, select ``Information Sources,'' ``Dockets,'' and ``EPA Dockets.''
Once in the system, select ``search,'' and key in Docket ID No. ORD-
2004-0018. The system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means
EPA will not know your identity, e-mail address, or other contact
details if you are merely viewing the information.
Information may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to
ORD.Docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0018. In contrast
to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system is not an
``anonymous access'' system. If you send an e-mail directly to the
docket without going through EPA's E-Docket, EPA's e-mail system
automatically captures your e-mail address, and it becomes part of the
information in the official public docket and is made available in
EPA's E-Docket.
You may submit information on a disk or CD ROM mailed to the OEI
Docket mailing address. Files will be accepted in WordPerfect, Word, or
ASCII file format. Avoid the use of special characters and any form of
encryption.
If you provide information in writing, please submit one unbound
original, with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies. For
attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively with the main
text, and submit an unbound original and three copies.
[[Page 64928]]
Dated: November 3, 2004.
John Vandenberg,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 04-24924 Filed 11-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P