[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37705-37706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-18005]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0352; FRL-8936-9]
Final Risk and Exposure Assessment Report for Sulfur Dioxide
(SO[bdi2])
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of final report.
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SUMMARY: On or about July 31, 2009, the Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available a final report, Risk
and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review of the SO2
Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Final Report. This
document presents the approaches taken to assess exposures to ambient
SO2 and to characterize associated health risks, and
presents the results of those assessments. This document also contains
a staff policy assessment regarding the adequacy of the current
SO2 NAAQS and potential alternative primary SO2
standards.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael J. Stewart, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; e-mail:
[email protected]; telephone: 919-541-7524; fax: 919-541-0237.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Information
A. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0352. Publicly available docket materials
are available either electronically through http://www.regulations.gov
or in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, 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, and the telephone number for the Office
of Air and Radiation Docket is (202) 566-1742.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register''
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
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 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
national ambient air quality standards (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
[[Page 37706]]
periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS based on the
revised criteria.
Air quality criteria have been established for sulfur oxides
(SOX) and NAAQS have been established for sulfur dioxide
(SO2), an indicator for gaseous SOX. Presently,
EPA is in the process of reviewing the NAAQS for SO2. As
part of its review of the NAAQS, EPA prepared an assessment of
exposures and health risks associated with ambient SO2. A
plan describing the proposed approaches to assessing exposures and
risks was described in Sulfur Dioxide Health Assessment Plan: Scope and
Methods for Exposure and Risk Assessment. This document was released
for public review and comment in November 2007 and was the subject of a
consultation with the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC)
on December 5-6, 2007. Comments received from that consultation were
considered in developing a draft document, Risk and Exposure Assessment
to Support the Review of the SO2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality
Standard: First Draft, which was released for public review and comment
in July 2008 and was the subject of a CASAC review on July 30-31, 2008.
Comments received from that review were considered in developing a
second draft document, Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the
Review of the SO2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Second
Draft, which was released for public review and comment in March 2009
and was the subject of a CASAC review on April 16-17, 2009. In
preparing the final risk and exposure assessment report, EPA considered
comments received from CASAC and the public at and subsequent to that
meeting.
The Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review of the SO2
Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Final Report being
released at this time conveys the approaches taken to assess exposures
to ambient SO2 and to characterize associated health risks,
and presents the results of those assessments. This document also
contains a staff policy assessment that considers the health evidence
presented in an EPA document, Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides
of Sulfur (available at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/so2/s_so2_cr_isa.html), and the exposure and risk characterization
results, as they relate to the adequacy of the current SO2
NAAQS and consideration of potential alternative primary SO2
standards. The Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review of
the SO2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Final Report
will be available online at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/so2/s_so2_cr_rea.html.
Dated: July 22, 2009.
Jenny Noonan Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. E9-18005 Filed 7-28-09; 8:45 am]
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