[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 154 (Friday, August 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45048-45049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15676]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8453-3; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0665]
Preliminary Assessment of Climate Change Effects on Stream and
River Biological Indicators
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft
document titled, ``Preliminary Assessment of Climate Change Effects on
Stream and River Biological Indicators'' (EPA/600/R-07/085). The
document was prepared by the National Center for Environmental
Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and Development.
EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It
does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency
policy or determination. EPA intends to consider any public comments
submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.
DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins August 10, 2007, and
ends September 10, 2007. Technical comments should be in writing and
must be received by EPA by September 10, 2007.
ADDRESSES: The draft ``Preliminary Assessment of Climate Change Effects
on Stream and River Biological Indicators'' is available primarily via
the Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home
page under the Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at
http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of paper copies are available
from the Technical Information Staff of the National Center for
Environmental Assessment (NCEA-TIS). Please contact the Technical
Information Staff by telephone at 202-564-3261 or by facsimile at 202-
565-0050. If you are requesting a paper copy, please provide your name,
your mailing address, and the draft document title, ``Preliminary
Assessment of Climate Change Effects on Stream and River Biological
Indicators.''
Comments may be submitted electronically via http://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 information on the public comment
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket;
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail:
[email protected].
For technical information, contact Britta Bierwagen, NCEA,
telephone: 202-564-3388; facsimile: 202-565-0061; or e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information About the Project/Document
This report describes projected effects of climate change on
aquatic ecosystems and provides a preliminary analysis of possible
effects on river and stream bioassessment programs. The report is
intended for managers and scientists working on biological indicators,
bioassessment, and biocriteria to provide them with information on the
potential effects of climate change on indicator organisms used,
initial strategies for adapting their programs to accommodate these
environmental changes, and highlight possible next steps. The first
step described in the report is an approach for identifying biological
indicators sensitive to climate change; a case study next analyzes
bioassessment data to detect possible climate change effects; and,
finally, another analysis discusses methods for continuing to detect
impairment under climate change. The results show that (1) Some
biological indicators may be particularly sensitive to climate change;
(2) depending on species loss rates, magnitude of temperature changes,
and number samples, effects may be detected in 15 to 100 years; and (3)
climate change effects may decrease the ability of states to
discriminate between reference and impaired sites. The report concludes
with recommendations for more in-depth assessments in different U.S.
regions and further dissemination and coordination of information
across EPA and states.
II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at
www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2007-
0665, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
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 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-
2007-0665. 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 http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-
mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you
[[Page 45049]]
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment
directly to EPA without going through http://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: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://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 materials,
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: August 2, 2007.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E7-15676 Filed 8-9-07; 8:45 am]
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