[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17490-17491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8671]
[[Page 17490]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0015; FRL-8792-1]
Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Carbon
Monoxide
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of draft document for public review and comment.
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SUMMARY: On or about April 15, 2009, the Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available for public review and
comment a planning document titled Carbon Monoxide National Ambient Air
Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan for Health Risk and Exposure
Assessment. This document describes EPA's planned approach for
developing analyses as part of the review of the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for carbon monoxide (CO). The EPA is
releasing this planning document to seek consultation with the Clean
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and to solicit public
comments.
DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before June 15, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2008-0015, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-9744.
Mail: EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0015, Environmental Protection
Agency, Mail code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460. Please include a total of two copies.
Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West,
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2008-0015. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online 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 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: All 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, will be 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 Air
and Radiation Docket and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The 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 Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any questions concerning EPA's Carbon
Monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan
for Health Risk and Exposure Assessment should be directed to Ms. Ines
Pagan at [email protected], telephone 919-541-5469.
General Information
A. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI
Do not submit this information to EPA through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or
CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM, the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments
When submitting comments, remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
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.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Under section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Administrator
identifies and lists certain pollutants which ``cause or contribute to
air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public
health or welfare.'' The EPA then issues air quality criteria for
listed pollutants, which are commonly referred to as ``criteria
pollutants.'' The air quality criteria are to ``accurately
[[Page 17491]]
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 [a] pollutant in the ambient
air, in varying quantities.'' Under section 109 of the CAA, EPA
establishes NAAQS for each listed pollutant, with the NAAQS based on
the air quality criteria. Section 109(d) of the CAA requires periodic
review and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria.
The revised air quality criteria reflect advances in scientific
knowledge on the effects of the pollutant on public health or welfare.
The EPA is also required to periodically review and revise the NAAQS,
if appropriate, based on the revised criteria.
Air quality criteria have been established for CO to provide
protection from exposure to ambient concentrations of CO. Presently,
EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for CO. The EPA's
overall plan and schedule for this review is presented in the
Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
for Carbon Monoxide.\1\ A draft of the integrated review plan was
released for public review and comment in March 2008 and was the
subject of a publicly accessible teleconference consultation with the
CASAC on April 8, 2008 (73 FR 12998). Comments received from that
consultation and from the public were considered in finalizing the plan
and in beginning the review of the air quality criteria.
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\1\ EPA 452R-08-005; August 2008. Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_cr_pd.html.
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As part of the review of the air quality criteria for CO, EPA's
Office of Research and Development (ORD) has completed a draft
document, Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Carbon Monoxide
(First External Review Draft, March, 2009) and requested review by the
CASAC and the public (74 FR 10734; March 12, 2009). In the future,
EPA's OAQPS will prepare a Risk and Exposure Assessment (REA) focusing
on human exposure, and possibly, risk assessment. The planning document
announced today describes the planned approaches for conducting the
quantitative assessments that will be presented in the REA as part of
the review of the primary (health-based) standards. This planning
document is available on the Agency's Technology Transfer Network (TTN)
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_cr_pd.html. This document may be accessed in the ``Documents from Current
Review'' section under ``Planning Documents.'' This planning document
is intended to provide enough specificity to facilitate consultation
with CASAC, as well as for public review, in order to obtain advice on
the overall scope, approaches and key issues in advance of conducting
quantitative analyses and presentation of results in the first draft
REA. The CASAC consultation on this planning document coincides with
its review of the first draft ISA. This CASAC meeting is scheduled for
May 12 and 13, 2009. A separate Federal Register notice (74 FR 15265;
April 3, 2009) provides additional details about this meeting and the
process for participation.
Dated: April 7, 2009.
Jennifer N. Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. E9-8671 Filed 4-14-09; 8:45 am]
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