[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51592-51593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24189]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8966-5; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-0613]
Exposure Factors Handbook: 2009 Update
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public comment period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period for the
external review draft document titled, ``Exposure Factors Handbook:
2009 Update'' (EPA/600/R-09/052A), which was prepared by the National
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of
Research and Development (ORD). The Exposure Factors Handbook provides
a summary of the available statistical data on various factors used in
assessing human exposure. This Handbook is aimed at exposure assessors
inside the Agency as well as those outside who use data on standard
factors to calculate human exposure to toxic chemicals. These factors
include: drinking water consumption; mouthing behavior; soil ingestion
rates; inhalation rates; dermal factors, including skin area and soil
adherence factors; consumption of fruits and vegetables, fish, meats,
dairy products, and homegrown foods; breast milk intake; human activity
factors;
[[Page 51593]]
consumer product use; and residential characteristics. Recommended
values are for the general population and also for various segments of
the population who may have characteristics different from the general
population. An external peer-review workshop is expected to be
scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register. The
public comment period and the external peer-review workshop are
separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested
parties to comment on the document. EPA intends to forward the public
comments that are submitted in accordance with this notice to the
external peer-review panel prior to the meeting for their
consideration. When finalizing the draft document, EPA intends to
consider any public comments that EPA receives in accordance with this
notice.
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.
The draft document and EPA's peer-review charge are available via
the Internet on the NCEA home page under the Recent Additions and the
Data and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea.
DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins October 7, 2009, and
ends December 7, 2009. Technical comments should be in writing and must
be received by EPA by December 7, 2009.
ADDRESSES: The external review draft ``Exposure Factors Handbook: 2009
Update'' 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 CDs are available from NCEA's Information Management Team,
NCEA; telephone: 703-347-8561; facsimile: 703-347-8691. If you are
requesting a CD, please provide your name, your mailing address, and
the document title, ``Exposure Factors Handbook: 2009 Update.''
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 Jacqueline Moya, NCEA;
telephone: 703-347-8539; facsimile: 703-347-8694; or e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2009-
0613 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's 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
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-
2009-0613. 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: September 30, 2009.
Peter Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E9-24189 Filed 10-6-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P