[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 77626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31619]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL--6915-7]


Strategy for Research on Environmental Risks to Children

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final document.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of 
Research and Development (ORD), is today announcing the availability of 
a final document, Strategy for Research on Environmental Risks to 
Children, EPA 600/R-00/068, dated October 2000. ORD has prepared the 
Strategy for Research on Environmental Risks to Children to strengthen 
the scientific foundation of the EPA risk assessments and risk 
management decisions that affect children. ORD strategies provide a 
framework of research needs and priorities to guide its programs over 
the next five to ten years. They form the basis for more detailed 
research plans, which in turn link to individual ORD laboratory 
implementation plans. The strategy includes a program of research in 
hazard identification, dose-response and exposure assessment, and risk 
reduction, as well as problem-oriented research that addresses current 
critical needs identified by EPA Program Offices and Regions.

ADDRESSES: A limited number of copies of the Strategy for Research on 
Environmental Risks to Children are available from the National Service 
Center for Environmental Publications.
    Request a copy by telephoning 1-800-490-9198 or 513-489-8190 and 
providing the title and the EPA number for the document, EPA 600/R-00/
068. Internet users may obtain a copy from the EPA's Office of Research 
and Development home page. The URL is http://www.epa.gov/ORD.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Hammerstrom, National Center 
for Environmental Assessment (8601D), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: 
202-564-3258; facsimile: 202-565-0065; E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Strategy for Research on Environmental 
Risks to Children focuses on six objectives: (1) To establish direction 
for a long-term, stable core research program in children's 
environmental health that leads to sustained risk reduction through 
more accurate, scientifically based risk assessments for children, (2) 
to identify research to answer the key questions about children's 
environmental health risks and increase our understanding of when and 
why children respond differently from adults to environmental agents, 
(3) to identify research that will help to reduce children's risks, (4) 
to provide a research agenda that identifies priorities for the ORD 
intramural and extramural programs, (5) to inform EPA scientists, risk 
assessors, and risk managers of the research related to children at EPA 
and other Federal agencies, and (6) to provide guiding principles for 
implementation.
    To meet these objectives, the strategy describes a research program 
with short-term and long-term goals in the following areas:
     Data to reduce uncertainties in risk assessment through 
mode of action research, epidemiology and clinical studies, exposure 
field studies, and activity pattern and exposure factor studies
     Risk assessment methods and models for children, including 
dose-response and exposure models
     Experimental methods for studying mechanisms of action in 
children
     Risk reduction in children's indoor environments
     Methods of communicating risks to children and reduction 
of risk through parental and community actions
    The strategy provides the framework for a program that continues 
well into the future. The success of the program will depend on a 
number of factors, not the least of which is engagement and partnership 
with key stakeholders. In addition to EPA's Program Offices and 
Regions, these key stakeholders include industry; States, Tribes, and 
local communities; Federal organizations including the National 
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
Registry; and the international community.

    Dated: December 6, 2000.
Norine E. Noonan,
Assistant Administrator for Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 00-31619 Filed 12-11-00; 8:45 am]
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