[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 12, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46908-46909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18610]
[[Page 46908]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8702-8; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145]
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and
Sulfur--Environmental Criteria; Second External Review Draft
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period on Draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur--Environmental Criteria.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing
the availability of the second external review draft of a document
titled, ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and
Sulfur--Environmental Criteria; Second External Review Draft'' (EPA/
600/R-08/082).
EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of
seeking public comment and for review by the Clean Air Scientific
Advisory Committee (CASAC) (meeting date and location to be specified
in a separate Federal Register notice). It does not represent and
should not be construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or
determination. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in
accordance with this notice when revising the document.
DATES: The public comment period begins on or about August 11, 2008.
Comments must be received on or before October 1, 2008.
ADDRESSES: The ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen
and Sulfur--Environmental Criteria; Second External Review Draft'' will
be available primarily via the Internet on the National Center for
Environmental Assessment's home page under the Recent Additions and
Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of CD-
ROM or paper copies will be available. Contact Ms. Ellen Lorang by
phone (919-541-2771), fax (919-541-5078), or e-mail
([email protected]) to request either of these, and please provide
your name, your mailing address, and the document title, ``Integrated
Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur--Environmental
Criteria; Second External Review Draft'' (EPA/600/R-08/082) to
facilitate processing of your request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact Dr.
Tara Greaver, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-2435; facsimile: 919-541-5078;
or e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Information About the Document
Section 108 (a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to
identify certain pollutants which ``cause or contribute to air
pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health
and welfare'' and to issue air quality criteria for them. These 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* * *.'' Under section 109
of the Act, EPA is then to establish national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria.
Section 109(d) of the Act subsequently requires periodic review and, if
appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria to reflect
advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the pollutant on
public health and welfare. EPA is also to revise the NAAQS, if
appropriate, based on the revised air quality criteria.
Oxides of nitrogen and sulfur are two of six principal (or
``criteria'') pollutants for which EPA has established air quality
criteria and NAAQS. EPA periodically reviews the scientific basis for
these standards by preparing an Integrated Science Assessment (ISA)
(formerly called an Air Quality Criteria Document). The ISA and
supplementary annexes, in conjunction with additional technical and
policy assessments, provide the scientific basis for EPA decisions on
the adequacy of a current NAAQS and the appropriateness of new or
revised standards. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC),
an independent science advisory committee established pursuant to
section 109 of the Clean Air Act and part of the EPA's Science Advisory
Board (SAB), provides independent scientific advice on NAAQS matters,
including advice on EPA's draft ISAs.
EPA formally initiated its current review of the criteria for
oxides of nitrogen and sulfur in December 2005 (70 FR 73236) and May
2006 (71 FR 28023) respectively, requesting the submission of recent
scientific information on specified topics. In the initial stages of
the criteria reviews, EPA recognized the merit of integrating the
science assessment for these two pollutants due to their combined
effects on atmospheric chemistry, deposition processes, and
environment-related public welfare effects. In July 2007 (72 FR 34004),
a workshop was held to discuss, with invited scientific experts,
initial draft materials prepared in the development of the ISA and
supplementary annexes for oxides of nitrogen and sulfur. EPA's ``Draft
Plan for Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards
for Nitrogen Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide'' was made available in
September 2007 for public comment and was discussed by the Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) via a publicly accessible
teleconference consultation on October 30, 2007 (72 FR 57568). The Plan
was made available on EPA's Web site http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/cr_pd.html. The draft ``Integrated Science
Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur--Environmental Criteria;
First External Review Draft'' was released for review on December 21,
2007 (72 FR 72719). The CASAC reviewed the draft document at a public
peer review meeting on April 2-3, 2008; comments from the CASAC and the
public have been addressed in this second external review draft
document. The draft ``Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of
Nitrogen and Sulfur--Environmental Criteria; Second External Review
Draft'' will be discussed by CASAC at a future public meeting; public
comments that have been received prior to the public meeting will be
provided to the CASAC review panel. A future Federal Register notice
will inform the public of the exact date and time of that CASAC
meeting.
II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-
1145, 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, Room 3334 EPA West Building, 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
[[Page 46909]]
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit
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-OAR-007-
1145. 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 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 1, 2008.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E8-18610 Filed 8-11-08; 8:45 am]
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