[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 133 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39695-39696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15727]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8690-2; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0983]
2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global Change Research
Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air
Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on
O3
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 45-day public comment period for the draft
document titled, ``2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global Change
Research Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional
U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on
O3'' (EPA/600/R-07/094). The document was prepared by the
National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of
Research and Development.
EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It
does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency
policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments
submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.
DATES: The 45-day public comment period begins July 10, 2008, and ends
August 25, 2008. Technical comments should be in writing and must be
received by EPA by August 25, 2008.
ADDRESSES: The draft ``2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global
Change Research Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on
Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change
Impacts on O3'' is available primarily via the Internet on
the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home page under the
Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of paper copies are available from
NCEA's Information Management Team; telephone: 703-347-8561; facsimile:
703-347-8691. If you are requesting a paper copy, please provide your
name, mailing address, and the document title ``2007 Interim Report of
the U.S. EPA Global Change Research Program Assessment of the Impacts
of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis
of Climate Change Impacts on O3.''
Comments may be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/
courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket;
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail:
[email protected].
For technical information, contact Brooke L. Hemming, PhD, National
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA); telephone: 919-541-5668; e-
mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Summary of Information About the Project/Document
The ``2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global Change Research
Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air
Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on
O3'' is intended to provide air quality managers and
scientists a summary and synthesis of the scientific results that have
emerged from the EPA ORD Global Change Research Program (ORD GCRP)
assessment of the impact of global change on U.S. regional air quality.
The report discusses the studies that have focused on the sensitivity
of U.S. air quality to meteorological changes associated with a warming
climate in large regions within the continental U.S.
The EPA recognizes that climate-air quality interactions occur at
multiple scales (both spatial and temporal), and that an understanding
of these interactions demands contributions from several scientific
disciplines. The EPA ORD GCRP developed a research and assessment
program that combines the resources and expertise of the ORD labs and
centers toward the goal of developing the necessary scientific
underpinnings. The ultimate goal of the Program is to provide air
quality managers with the scientific information and tools needed to
evaluate the implications of global change and to enhance their ability
to consider global change in their decisions. The ``2007 Interim Report
of the U.S. EPA Global Change Research Program Assessment of the
Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary
Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on O3'' is a preliminary
step in that direction.
This report provides an update of the progress that has been made
in applying climate and atmospheric chemistry models to investigate
potential future meteorological effects on air quality. It does not
include changes in air pollutant emissions other than those that are
explicitly linked to meteorological variables and incorporated within
the models (e.g., biogenic VOC emissions). In addition, it provides a
preliminary interpretation of what this improved scientific
understanding means for air quality management. Future assessment
reports will cover the combined impacts of changing climate and air
pollutant emissions on air quality. The program also plans to develop
additional reports that focus on additional pollutants, including PM
and mercury.
NCEA worked collaboratively with the EPA Office of Air and
Radiation (OAR), and ORD's National Risk Management Research Laboratory
(NRMRL), National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and National
Center for Environmental Research (NCER) on this report.
II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0983, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: 202-566-1753
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-
566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334 EPA West Building, 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. Such deliveries are only accepted during
the docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
[[Page 39696]]
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-
2007-0983. 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
EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in the public docket
without change and to make the comments available online at http://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 that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-
mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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, 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 EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification, 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 EPA's public docket visit the
EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: June 24, 2008.
Rebecca Clark,
Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E8-15727 Filed 7-9-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P