[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 140 (Friday, July 21, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41409-41410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11621]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 50
[FRL-8199-7; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2001-0017]
Availability of Additional Information Related to the Review of
the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of data availability.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is providing notice that it has placed in the docket
for the review of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)
for particulate matter (PM) (Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2001-0017)
additional information relevant to the rulemaking. See 71 FR 2620 (Jan.
17, 2006) (proposing revisions to those standards). Specifically, this
notice announces the availability of an EPA report, ``Provisional
Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects of Particulate Matter
Exposure'' (provisional assessment) (EPA/600/R-06/063), which presents
EPA's survey and provisional assessment of studies relevant to
assessing the health effects of PM that were published too recently to
be included in the 2004 PM Air Quality Criteria Document.
DATES: The provisional assessment document will be placed in the PM
NAAQS docket on or about July 21, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Mary Ross, National Center for
Environmental Assessment (B243-01), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone: 919-541-5170; e-
mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
On January 17, 2006, EPA published a proposed rule to make
revisions to the primary and secondary NAAQS for PM to provide
requisite protection of public health and welfare (71 FR 2620). The
proposed decisions separately addressed fine and coarse particles.
These proposed decisions were based on: a thorough review of the
scientific information on known and potential human health and welfare
effects associated with exposure to these subclasses of PM at levels
typically found in the ambient air as presented in the Air Quality
Criteria Document (henceforth, the ``Criteria Document'') (two volumes,
EPA/600/P-99/002aF and
[[Page 41410]]
EPA/600/P-99/002bF, October 2004); staff assessments presented in the
Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate
Matter: Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information (henceforth,
the ``Staff Paper'') (EPA-452/R-05-005a, December 2005); Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) advice and recommendations, as
reflected in the CASAC's letters to the Administrator, discussions of
the drafts of the Criteria Document and Staff Paper at public meetings,
and separate written comments prepared by individual members of the
CASAC PM Review Panel; and public comments received during the
development of these documents, either in connection with CASAC
meetings or separately.
In the preamble to the proposed rule, EPA acknowledged that a
number of new scientific studies on the health effects on PM had been
published recently that were not included in the Criteria Document. See
71 FR at 2625. In order to ensure that the Administrator is fully aware
of the new science that has developed since the cutoff date before
making a final decision on whether to revise the current PM NAAQS, EPA
conducted a provisional assessment of relevant new studies. EPA
screened and surveyed the recent literature, including studies
submitted during the public comment period on the proposed rule, and
conducted a provisional assessment that places the results of those
studies of potentially greatest policy relevance in the context of the
findings of the 2004 Criteria Document. The focus of the provisional
assessment was on: (a) epidemiological studies conducted in the U.S. or
Canada that assessed exposures to PM2.5 and/or
PM10-2.5 and (b) toxicology or epidemiology studies that
compared the effects of PM from different sources, PM components, or
size fractions.
The provisional assessment of the new PM science is presented in a
document prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment
(NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development, entitled
``Provisional Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects of
Particulate Matter Exposure'' (EPA/600/R-06/063, June 2006). The
following section of this notice describes how to obtain copies of this
document.
B. How Can I Get a Copy of This Document?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for the current review of
the PM NAAQS under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2001-0017. The document
entitled ``Provisional Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects
of Particulate Matter Exposure'' (EPA/600/R-06/063) will be placed in
this docket. Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically through http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, EPA/DC, Room B102
EPA West, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The 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 Air and Radiation
docket and Information Center is 202-566-1742.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this document at http://www.epa.gov/air/particlepollution/actions.html or on the NCEA home page
under the ``Recent Additions'' and ``Data and Publications'' menus at
http://www.epa.gov/ncea.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 50
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: July 7, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-11621 Filed 7-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P