[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 33 (Friday, February 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7891-7893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3502]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0104; FRL-8403-1]
FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel; Notice of Public Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: There will be a 4-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to
consider and review ``The Ecological Significance of Atrazine Effects
on Primary Producers in Surface Water Streams in the Corn and Sorghum
Growing Region of the United States (Part II).''
DATES: The meeting will be held on May 12-15, 2009, from 9 a.m. to
approximately 5:30 p.m.
Comments. The Agency encourages that written comments be submitted
by May 4, 2009, and requests for oral comments be submitted by May 8,
2009. However, written comments and requests to make oral comments may
be submitted until the date of the meeting, but anyone submitting
written comments after May 4, 2009, should contact the Designated
Federal Official (DFO) listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
For additional instructions, see Unit I.C. of the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION.
Nominations. Nominations of candidates to serve as ad hoc members
of FIFRA SAP for this meeting should be provided on or before March 6,
2009.
Special accommodations. For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation of a
disability, please contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT at least 10 days prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time
as possible to process your request.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Environmental Protection
Agency, Conference Center, Lobby Level, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.),
2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202.
Comments: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0104, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public
Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P),
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South
Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket Facility's normal hours of operation (8:30
a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays).
Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information. The Docket Facility telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Instructions. Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2009-0104. If your comments contain any information that you consider
to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special instructions before
submitting your comments. EPA's policy is that all comments received
will be included in the docket without change and may be made available
on-line at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided, unless the 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
regulations.gov or e-mail. The regulations.gov website 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 regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the 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.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index
available at http://www.regulations.gov. 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
material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet
and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly
available docket materials are available either in the electronic
docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard
copy, at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One Potomac
Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. The hours of
operation of this Docket Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket Facility telephone
number is (703) 305-5805.
Nominations, requests to present oral comments, and requests for
special accommodations. Submit nominations to serve as ad hoc members
of FIFRA SAP, requests for special seating accommodations, or requests
to present oral comments to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharlene Matten, DFO, Office of
Science Coordination and Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001;
telephone number: (202) 564-0130; fax number: (202) 564-8382; e-mail
address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
This action is directed to the public in general. This action may,
however, be of interest to persons who are or may be required to
conduct testing of chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), FIFRA, and the Food Quality Protection Act of
1996 (FQPA). Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency
has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be
affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the DFO
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
When submitting comments, remember to:
1. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying
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information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
2. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to specific
questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
3. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
4. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
5. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
6. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and
suggest alternatives.
7. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
8. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline
identified.
C. How May I Participate in this Meeting?
You may participate in this meeting by following the instructions
in this unit. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, it is imperative that
you identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0104 in the subject line
on the first page of your request.
1. Written comments. The Agency encourages that written comments be
submitted, using the instructions in ADDRESSES, no later than May 4,
2009, to provide FIFRA SAP the time necessary to consider and review
the written comments. Written comments are accepted until the date of
the meeting, but anyone submitting written comments after May 4, 2009,
should contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Anyone submitting written comments at the meeting should bring 30
copies for distribution to FIFRA SAP.
2. Oral comments. The Agency encourages that each individual or
group wishing to make brief oral comments to FIFRA SAP submit their
request to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no
later than May 8, 2009, in order to be included on the meeting agenda.
Requests to present oral comments will be accepted until the date of
the meeting and, to the extent that time permits, the Chair of FIFRA
SAP may permit the presentation of oral comments at the meeting by
interested persons who have not previously requested time. The request
should identify the name of the individual making the presentation, the
organization (if any) the individual will represent, and any
requirements for audiovisual equipment (e.g., overhead projector, 35 mm
projector, chalkboard). Oral comments before FIFRA SAP are limited to
approximately 5 minutes unless prior arrangements have been made. In
addition, each speaker should bring 30 copies of his or her comments
and presentation slides for distribution to the FIFRA SAP at the
meeting.
3. Seating at the meeting. Seating at the meeting will be open and
on a first-come basis.
4. Request for nominations to serve as ad hoc members of FIFRA SAP
for this meeting. As part of a broader process for developing a pool of
candidates for each meeting, FIFRA SAP staff routinely solicits the
stakeholder community for nominations of prospective candidates for
service as ad hoc members of FIFRA SAP. Any interested person or
organization may nominate qualified individuals to be considered as
prospective candidates for a specific meeting. Individuals nominated
for this meeting should have expertise in one or more of the following
areas: Aquatic ecology, aquatic community modeling, environmental
sampling statistics, environmental monitoring design and exposure
assessment, watershed vulnerability assessment, including experience in
evaluating chemical run-off potential, and soil science. Nominees
should be scientists who have sufficient professional qualifications,
including training and experience, to be capable of providing expert
comments on the scientific issues for this meeting. Nominees should be
identified by name, occupation, position, address, and telephone
number. Nominations should be provided to the DFO listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before March 6, 2009. The Agency will
consider all nominations of prospective candidates for this meeting
that are received on or before this date. However, final selection of
ad hoc members for this meeting is a discretionary function of the
Agency.
The selection of scientists to serve on FIFRA SAP is based on the
function of the panel and the expertise needed to address the Agency's
charge to the panel. No interested scientists shall be ineligible to
serve by reason of their membership on any other advisory committee to
a Federal department or agency or their employment by a Federal
department or agency except the EPA. Other factors considered during
the selection process include availability of the potential panel
member to fully participate in the panel's reviews, absence of any
conflicts of interest or appearance of lack of impartiality,
independence with respect to the matters under review, and lack of
bias. Although, financial conflicts of interest, the appearance of lack
of impartiality, lack of independence, and bias may result in
disqualification, the absence of such concerns does not assure that a
candidate will be selected to serve on FIFRA SAP. Numerous qualified
candidates are identified for each panel. Therefore, selection
decisions involve carefully weighing a number of factors including the
candidates' areas of expertise and professional qualifications and
achieving an overall balance of different scientific perspectives on
the panel. In order to have the collective breadth of experience needed
to address the Agency's charge for this meeting, the Agency anticipates
selecting approximately 10-12 ad hoc scientists.
FIFRA SAP members are subject to the provisions of 5 CFR part 2634,
Executive Branch Financial Disclosure, as supplemented by the EPA in 5
CFR part 6401. In anticipation of this requirement, prospective
candidates for service on the FIFRA SAP will be asked to submit
confidential financial information which shall fully disclose, among
other financial interests, the candidate's employment, stocks and
bonds, and where applicable, sources of research support. EPA will
evaluate the candidates financial disclosure form to assess whether
there are financial conflicts of interest, appearance of a lack of
impartiality or any prior involvement with the development of the
documents under consideration (including previous scientific peer
review) before the candidate is considered further for service on FIFRA
SAP. Those who are selected from the pool of prospective candidates
will be asked to attend the public meetings and to participate in the
discussion of key issues and assumptions at these meetings. In
addition, they will be asked to review and to help finalize the meeting
minutes. The list of FIFRA SAP members participating at this meeting
will be posted on the FIFRA SAP website at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap or may be obtained from the OPP Regulatory Public Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.
II. Background
A. Purpose of FIFRA SAP
FIFRA SAP serves as the primary scientific peer review mechanism of
EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) and
is structured to provide scientific advice, information and
recommendations to the EPA Administrator on pesticides and pesticide-
related issues as to the
[[Page 7893]]
impact of regulatory actions on health and the environment. FIFRA SAP
is a Federal advisory committee established in 1975 under FIFRA that
operates in accordance with requirements of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act. FIFRA SAP is composed of a permanent panel consisting of
seven members who are appointed by the EPA Administrator from nominees
provided by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science
Foundation. FIFRA, as amended by FQPA, established a Science Review
Board consisting of at least 60 scientists who are available to the SAP
on an ad hoc basis to assist in reviews conducted by the SAP. As a peer
review mechanism, FIFRA SAP provides comments, evaluations and
recommendations to improve the effectiveness and quality of analyses
made by Agency scientists. Members of FIFRA SAP are scientists who have
sufficient professional qualifications, including training and
experience, to provide expert advice and recommendation to the Agency.
B. Public Meeting
The Interim Risk Assessment Eligibility Document (IRED) for
atrazine in 2003 presented the results of an ecological risk assessment
that identified the potential for community and population risk to
sensitive aquatic species. As a condition of reregistration, the
atrazine registrants were required to develop a monitoring program to
determine the extent to which atrazine concentrations associated with
corn and sorghum production may be exceeding levels that could cause
effects to aquatic communities. Forty watersheds out of a potential
1,172 representing high atrazine use locations most vulnerable to
atrazine runoff were selected for monitoring using a stratified, random
statistical survey design. Sampling within these watersheds began in
2004 and is ongoing in selected watersheds. The Agency intends to
evaluate the results of the atrazine monitoring study in order to
identify the characteristics of those watersheds that resulted in
atrazine exposures that exceeded the Agency's level of concern (LOC)
and to extrapolate those results to other non-monitored locations to
determine where other exceedences of the LOC may occur.
In December 2007, the Agency presented to the SAP the use of the
Comprehensive Aquatic Systems Model (CASM) as a tool to determine a LOC
that relates time variable monitoring data to effects identified in a
series of microcosm and mesocosm studies which were used in the
original atrazine (IRED) assessment. In addition, the Agency presented
an approach on how to identify other potential sites outside of the 40
that were monitored based on similar use, watershed vulnerability and
other factors. The SAP recommended that the Agency make the population
time series more realistic in the CASM--Atrazine model, provide a
better validation of this model, and perform a more comprehensive
sensitivity analysis. In May 2009, the Agency will present evaluations
of the applicability of a revised CASM--Atrazine model to freshwater
atrazine risk assessments and reasons for deciding not to proceed with
further development and application of this model. A simpler
alternative to the CASM-based approach will be presented for relating
surface water monitoring data to the microcosm and mesocosm data. Other
issues presented will include a revised assessment of the microcosm and
mesocosm exposure profiles, an update on the monitoring program
results, interpretation of the surface water monitoring results with
both the revised CASM and the alternative approach, identification of
the watershed factors driving atrazine runoff, and extrapolation of
those results to the entire atrazine use area to identify other areas
where atrazine exposures may exceed the levels of concern. Finally,
EPA's Office of Water is examining statistical alternatives for
expressing the model results as a numeric criterion applicable to
potentially sparse data sets typical of what is often available for
water bodies.
C. FIFRA SAP Documents and Meeting Minutes
EPA's background paper, related supporting materials, charge/
questions to FIFRA SAP, FIFRA SAP composition (i.e., members and ad hoc
members for this meeting), and the meeting agenda will be available by
April 27, 2009. In addition, the Agency may provide additional
background documents as the materials become available. You may obtain
electronic copies of these documents, and certain other related
documents that might be available electronically, at http://www.regulations.gov and the FIFRA SAP homepage at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap.
FIFRA SAP will prepare meeting minutes summarizing its
recommendations to the Agency approximately 90 days after the meeting.
The meeting minutes will be posted on the FIFRA SAP website or may be
obtained from the OPP Regulatory Public Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: February 12, 2009.
Frank Sanders,
Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. E9-3502 Filed 2-19-09; 8:45 a.m.]
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