[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 168 (Thursday, August 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50107-50108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17198]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8462-4; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2005-0029]
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--
Health Criteria
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of public comment period on draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--Health Criteria.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing
the public comment period for the draft document titled, ``Integrated
Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen--Health Criteria; First
External Review Draft'' (EPA/600/R-07/099). The draft document was
prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment within
EPA's Office of Research and Development as part of the Agency's review
of the air quality criteria for oxides of nitrogen and the primary
(health-based) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for
nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of
seeking comment from the public and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC). It does not represent and should not be construed to
represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will
consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice
when revising the document.
DATES: The public comment period begins on or about August 31, 2007.
Comments must be received on or before October 31, 2007.
ADDRESSES: The draft ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of
Nitrogen; First External Review Draft'' will be available primarily via
the Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home
page under the Recent Additions and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of CD-ROM or paper copies will be
available. Contact Ms. Emily Lee by phone 919-541-4169, fax 919-541-
1818, or e-mail ([email protected]) to request either of these, and
please provide your name, your mailing address, and the draft document
title, ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen; First
External Review Draft'' (EPA/600/R-07/099) to facilitate processing of
your request. Comments may be submitted electronically via
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 further information, contact Ms.
Emily Lee, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-4169, facsimile: 919-541-1818, or
e-mail: [email protected]. For technical information, contact Dennis
Kotchmar, Ph.D., NCEA; telephone: 919-541-4158; facsimile: 919-541-
1818; or e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information About the Document
Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to
identify certain pollutants which ``may reasonably be anticipated to
endanger public health and welfare'' and to issue air quality criteria
for them. These air quality criteria are to ``accurately 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, * *
*.'' Under section 109 of the Act, EPA is then to establish national
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA
has issued criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act subsequently requires
periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality
criteria to reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of
the pollutant on public health and welfare. EPA is also to revise the
NAAQS, if appropriate, based on the revised air quality criteria.
Oxides of nitrogen are one of six principal (or ``criteria'')
pollutants for which EPA has established air quality criteria and
NAAQS. EPA periodically reviews the scientific basis for these
standards by preparing an Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) (formerly
called an Air Quality Criteria Document). The ISA and supplementary
annexes, in conjunction with additional technical and policy
assessments, provide the scientific basis for EPA decisions on the
adequacy of a current NAAQS and the appropriateness of new or revised
standards. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), an
independent science advisory committee established pursuant to section
109 of the Clean Air Act and part of the EPA's Science Advisory Board
(SAB), provides independent scientific advice on NAAQS matters,
including advice on EPA's draft ISAs.
On December 9, 2005 (70 FR 236), EPA formally initiated its current
review of the criteria for oxides of nitrogen, requesting the
submission of recent scientific information on specified topics. A
draft of EPA's ``Integrated Plan for Review of the Primary National
Ambient Air Quality Standard'' was made available in February 2007 for
public comment and was discussed by the Clean Air Science Advisory
Committee (CASAC) via a publicly accessible teleconference consultation
on May 11, 2007 (72 FR 20336). The Plan is being finalized and will be
made available on EPA's Web site (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naags/standards/nox/s_nox_cr_pd.html). In February 2007 (72 FR 6238), a
workshop was held to discuss, with invited scientific experts, initial
draft materials prepared in the development of the ISA and
supplementary annexes for oxides of nitrogen.
The draft ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen;
First External Review Draft'' will be discussed by CASAC at a future
public meeting; public comments that have been received prior to the
public meeting will be provided to the CASAC review panel. A future
Federal Register notice will inform the public of the exact date and
time of that CASAC meeting.
II. How To Submit Information to the Docket
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0029 by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the online 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
[[Page 50108]]
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, Room 3334, 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 by mail or hand delivery, 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-
2007-0029. 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
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 www.regulations.gov or e-mail.
The 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 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
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 material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: August 23, 2007.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E7-17198 Filed 8-29-07; 8:45 am]
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