[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 223 (Monday, November 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67119-67121]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19558]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8244-1; EPA-HQ-Docket ID No. EPA-ORD-2006-0939]
Draft Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins: Anatoxin-a,
Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins LR, RR, YR and LA
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of public comment period and external peer-review panel
meeting.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a
forty-five day public comment period and an external peer-review panel
meeting to review the external review draft documents entitled,
``Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins: Anatoxin-a,
Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins LR, RR, YR and LA'' (NCEA-C-1743,
NCEA-C-1763 and NCEA-C-1765). Cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as
blue-green algae, are found in freshwater, estuarine and marine
environments. Cyanobacteria, other freshwater algae, and their toxins
are included as microbial contaminants on EPA's Office of Water (OW)
Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). These draft assessments discuss
potential human health effects of exposure to these cyanobacterial
toxins for four durations--acute, short-term, subchronic and chronic--
focusing on noncancer effects due to oral exposure.
The public comment period and the external peer review are separate
processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to
comment on these documents. These documents were prepared by EPA's
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office
of Research and Development. EPA will use comments and recommendations
from the public and the expert panel meeting to finalize the draft
documents. EPA is releasing these draft documents solely for the
purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information
quality guidelines. These documents have not been formally disseminated
by EPA. They do not represent and should not be construed to represent
any Agency policy or determination.
DATES: The public comment period will begin on November 20, 2006 and
continue until January 4, 2007. The public may submit comments via
Regulations.gov (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below). The peer-review
panel meeting will begin on January 10, 2007, at 9 a.m. and will end at
5 p.m.
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The public may attend the peer-review panel meeting and are invited to
provide oral statements at the commencement of the meeting (for more
information refer to the instructions for registration below).
ADDRESSES: Eastern Research Group, Inc., an EPA contractor for external
scientific peer review, will convene an independent panel of experts
and organize and conduct an external peer-review panel meeting to
review these draft documents. The external peer-review panel meeting
will be held at EPA's Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research
Center (AWBERC) located at 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati,
OH. Observers may attend the peer review meeting by filling out the
form found on the Web site, https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/ncea/toxin.htm, by calling Eastern Research Group, Inc.'s
conference line between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EST at (781)
674-7374 or toll free at (800) 803-2833, or by faxing a registration
request to (781) 674-2906 (include full address and contact
information). Pre-registration will begin December 15, 2006. Pre-
registration is strongly recommended as space is limited, and
registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The
deadline for online pre-registration is January 3, 2007. Telephone and
fax registrations will continue to be accepted after this date, as will
on-site registration, if space allows. Public comments submitted to
Regulations.gov by December 29, 2006, will be provided to the external
peer review panel prior to the meeting.
The draft ``Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins:
Anatoxin-a, Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins LR, RR, YR and LA'' are
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 the Technical Information
Staff (TIS) at NCEA's Cincinnati office; telephone: (513) 569-7257;
facsimile: (513) 569-7916. If you are requesting a paper copy, please
provide your name, mailing address, and title of these documents.
Copies are not available from Eastern Research Group, Inc.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding information about,
registration, and logistics for the external peer review workshop
should be directed to Eastern Research Group, Inc., 110 Hartwell
Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421-3136 beginning December 15, 2006;
telephone: (781) 674-7374 or toll free at (800) 803-2833; facsimile:
(781) 674-2906; or e-mail: [email protected].
If you have questions about the draft documents, contact Belinda
Hawkins, National Center for Environmental Assessment, 26 W. Martin
Luther King Drive (A-110), Cincinnati, OH; telephone: (513) 569-7523;
facsimile: (513) 487-2542; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established an official public
docket for this action under docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-0939. The
official public docket consists of the documents referenced in this
notice and a list of charge questions that have been submitted to the
external peer reviewers. All documents are available on the Internet at
http://www.regulations.gov by using the search function and
corresponding docket identification number.
How to Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov
Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of
operation for people who wish to make hand deliveries or visit the
Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on
docket operations, locations and telephone numbers. The Docket
Center's mailing address for U.S. mail and the procedure for
submitting comments to http://www.regulations.gov are not affected
by the flooding and will remain the same.
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-
0939 by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: ORD [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, 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.
If you provide comments in hard copy, please submit one unbound
original with pages numbered consecutively, and 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-
2006-0939. 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: 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
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restricted by statute. Certain other material, 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 OEI Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: November 13, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-19558 Filed 11-17-06; 8:45 am]
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