[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 40 (Thursday, February 28, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 9271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-4789]
[[Page 9271]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7151-4]
EPA Draft Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment of
Perchlorate
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of second extension of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending
the public comment period on the revised draft report, ``Perchlorate
Environmental Contamination: Toxicological Review and Risk
Characterization'' (NCEA-1-0503), by 45 days to April 5, 2002. On
January 2, 2002, EPA published a Federal Register notice (67 FR 75)
announcing: (1) The public availability, expected on January 9, 2002,
of the revised draft document; (2) the beginning of a 30-day public
comment period; and (3) an external peer review workshop in Sacramento,
California, on March 5 and 6, 2002. In addition, a notice correcting
the address for electronic registration and electronic submission of
public comments was published on January 14, 2002 (67 FR 1759). Because
of an approximately one-week delay in public release and availability
of the perchlorate external review draft, EPA extended the public
comment period to February 19, 2002 (67 FR 3493, January 24, 2002). EPA
has decided to extend the comment period to April 5, 2002, in response
to the high level of interest in this draft document and because of
several requests for extension of the comment period.
Therefore, comments postmarked by February 19, 2002, will be made
available to the peer review panel prior to the peer review. Comments
received between February 19 and March 5, 2002, will be made available
to the peer reviewers at the peer review meeting. Comments received
after the peer review meeting and up until April 5, 2002, will also be
made available to the peer reviewers. It should be noted that, as with
all peer review meetings, the panelists are not charged directly with
reading or considering all observer comments. Rather, it is up to the
professional judgment of the reviewers to consider observer comments as
they deem appropriate. In addition, the review of and response to
public comments is the responsibility of the EPA, as the Agency moves
forward with the development of the assessment.
In order to be most effective, external comments need to be
provided to the Agency contractor, Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG),
by April 5, 2002. As is the EPA's normal procedure, the Agency will
summarize and indicate the disposition of all major comments provided
by April 5, 2002, in preparation for its release of the assessment in
final form.
DATES: Comments should be in writing and must be received (not
postmarked) by April 5, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the draft document should be submitted
to Eastern Research Group (ERG), Attn: Meetings, 110 Hartwell Avenue,
Lexington, MA 02421. Comments under 50 pages may be sent via e-mail
attachment (in Word, WordPerfect, or pdf) to [email protected]. The
external review draft of the perchlorate document is available on EPA's
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ncea.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding observer
registration for the workshop and submission of written comments should
be directed to EPA's contractor, ERG, at 781-674-7374. For technical
inquiries, please contact: Annie M. Jarabek, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (MD 52), U.S. EPA Mailroom, Research Triangle Park,
NC 27711; telephone 919-541-4847; facsimile 919-541-1818; e-mail
[email protected].
Dated: February 22, 2002.
George W. Alapas,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 02-4789 Filed 2-27-02; 8:45 am]
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