[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 249 (Tuesday, December 30, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75240-75241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-32054]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7604-5]
Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (External Review
Draft)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of drafts of chapters for public review and comment.
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SUMMARY: On or about December 29, 2003, the National Center for
Environmental Assessment (NCEA), within EPA's Office of Research and
Development, will make available for public review and comment revised
drafts of Chapters 7 and 8 of EPA's document Air Quality Criteria for
Particulate Matter, which incorporate revisions made in response to
earlier external review of those chapters. Under sections 108 and 109
of the Clean Air Act, the purpose of this document is to provide an
assessment of the latest
[[Page 75241]]
scientific information on the effects of airborne particulate matter
(PM) on the public health and welfare for use in EPA's current review
of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM.
DATES: Comments on the draft chapters must be submitted in writing no
later than January 31, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Send the written comments to the Project Manager for
Particulate Matter, National Center for Environmental Assessment--RTP
(B243-01), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle
Park, NC 27711.
A copy of the revised Chapters 7 and 8 of the Air Quality Criteria
for Particulate Mater will be available on CD-ROM from NCEA-RTP.
Contact Ms. Diane Ray by phone (919-541-3637), fax (919-541-1818), or
e-mail ([email protected]) to request these chapters. Please provide
the document's title, Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, and
the EPA numbers for each of the two revised chapters (EPA/600/P-99/
002aE, EPA/600/P-99/002bE), as well as your name and address, to
properly process your request. Internet users will be able to download
a copy from the NCEA home page. The URL is http://www.epa.gov/ncea/.
Hard copies of the revised chapters can also be made available upon
request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Robert Elias, National Center for
Environmental Assessment-RTP (B243-01), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone: 919-541-4167; fax:
919-541-1818; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is in the process of updating and
revising, where appropriate, its Air Quality Criteria for Particulate
Matter as issued in 1996 (usually referred to as the ``Criteria
Document''). Sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act require that EPA
carry out a periodic review and revision, where appropriate, of the air
quality criteria (embodied in the Criteria Document) and national
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ``criteria'' air pollutants
such as PM. Details of EPA's plans for the review of the NAAQS for PM
were initially announced in a previous Federal Register noitce (62 FR
55201, October 23, 1997). EPA made a First External Review Draft of the
updated Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter available for
review by the Clean Air Act Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and
members of the public in October 1999 (64 FR 57884, October 27, 1999).
Following that public review period and a meeting of the CASAC in
December 1999 (64 FR 61875, November 15, 1999), EPA revised the
document as appropriate to incorporate CASAC and public comments, as
well as to reflect many new studies on the effects of PM that were not
available in time for discussion in the First External Review Draft.
EPA then made a Second External Review Draft of the Air Quality
Criteria for Particulate Matter available for CASAC and public review
in April 2001 (66 FR 18929, April 12, 2001). Following that public
review period and a second CASAC meeting in July 2001 (66 FR 34924,
July 2, 2001), EPA again revised the document as appropriate to
incorporate changes in response to CASAC and public comments and also
made further revisions reflecting new studies on effects of particulate
matter that had become available between issuance of the First and
Second External Review Drafts.
EPA then made a Third External Review Draft of the Air Quality
Criteria for Particulate Matter available for CASAC and public review
in May 2002 (67 FR 31303, May 9, 2002). Following that public review
period and a third CASAC meeting in July 2002 (67 FR 41723, June 19,
2002), EPA again revised the document as appropriate to incorporate
revisions in response to CASAC and public comments and also made
further revisions reflecting new studies on effects of particulate
matter that had become available between issuance of the Second and
Third External Review Drafts, as well as reanalyses of certain existing
studies occasioned after discovery of problems with applications of
statistical software.
EPA made a Fourth External review Draft available for CASAC and
public review in June 2003 (68 FR 36985).A public meeting with CASAC
was held August 25-26, 2003, during which CASAC reached closure on
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, with only relatively minor final
revisions to be made. No further public review is requested on these
chapters. However, CASAC did not reach closure on Chapters 7
(toxicology), 8 (human health), and 9 (integrative synthesis), each of
which are to be more extensively revised or, in the case of chapter 9,
to be significantly restructured.
EPA is now making revised drafts of Chapters 7 and 8 available for
CASAC and public review. These two revised draft chapters will be
reviewed by CASAC via a publicly accessible teleconference call in late
January, 2004 (date and time to be announced in a subsequent Federal
Register notice). Following that CASAC teleconference, Chapter 9 will
be released for CASAC and public review at a public meeting in early
March (date and site to be announced in a later Federal Register
notice).
Dated: December 22, 2003.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 03-32054 Filed 12-29-03; 8:45 am]
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