[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 226 (Friday, November 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70040-70041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27979]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9903-22-ORD; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0232]
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Nitrogen Oxides--Health
Criteria
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period for the draft
document titled, ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Nitrogen Oxides--Health Criteria'' (EPA/600/R-13/202).
The draft document was prepared by the National Center for
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and
Development as part of the review of the primary (health-based)
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide
(NO2). The Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), in
conjunction with additional technical and policy assessments, provide
the scientific basis for EPA decisions on the adequacy of the current
NAAQS and the appropriateness of possible alternative standards. EPA
intends to develop a separate ISA, and NAAQS review, for the secondary
(welfare-based) NAAQS for NO2, in conjunction with a review
of the secondary NAAQS for sulfur dioxide.
EPA is releasing this draft document to seek review by the Clean
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the public (meeting date
and location to be specified in a separate Federal Register notice).
This draft document is not final as described in EPA's information
quality guidelines, and it does not represent and should not be
construed to represent Agency policy or views. EPA will consider any
public comments submitted in response to this notice when revising the
document.
DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins November 22, 2013, and
ends January 21, 2014. Comments must be received on or before January
21, 2014.
ADDRESSES: The ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science
Assessment for Nitrogen Oxides--Health Criteria'' will be available
primarily via the Internet on NCEA's home page under the Recent
Additions and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea or the
public docket at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-
2013-0232. A limited number of CD-ROM copies will be available. Contact
Ms. Marieka Boyd by phone: 919-541-0031; fax: 919-541-5078; or email:
[email protected] to request a CD-ROM, and please provide your name,
your mailing address, and the document title, ``First External Review
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Nitrogen Oxides--Health
Criteria'' to facilitate processing of your request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment
period, contact the ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket Center;
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-9744; or email: [email protected].
For technical information, contact Dr. Molini Patel, NCEA;
telephone: 919-541-1492; facsimile: 919-541-1818; or email:
[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, among other things, ``cause or
contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to
endanger public health or 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 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 or welfare.
EPA is also required to review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS,
based on the revised air quality criteria (for more information on the
NAAQS review process, see http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/review.html).
Nitrogen oxides are one of six criteria pollutants for which EPA
has established NAAQS. Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific basis
for these standards by preparing an ISA (formerly called an Air Quality
Criteria Document). The ISA, in conjunction with additional technical
and policy assessments, provides the scientific basis for EPA decisions
on the adequacy of the current NAAQS and the appropriateness of
possible alternative standards. The CASAC, an independent science
advisory committee whose review and advisory functions are mandated by
Section 109 (d) (2) of the Clean Air Act, is charged (among other
things) with independent scientific review of EPA's air quality
criteria.
On February 10, 2012 (77 FR 7149), EPA formally initiated its
current review of the air quality criteria for the health effects of
nitrogen oxides and the primary (health-based) NO2 NAAQS,
requesting the submission of recent scientific information on specified
topics. EPA held a workshop February 29 to March 1, 2012, to discuss
with invited scientific experts from internal and external to EPA, key
science and policy issues relevant to the review of the health effects
of nitrogen oxides (77 FR 7149). EPA's ``Draft Plan for Development of
the Integrated Science Assessment for Nitrogen Oxides--Health
Criteria'' was made available for public comment on May 3, 2013 (78 FR
26026), and was discussed by the CASAC via a publicly accessible
teleconference consultation on June 5, 2013 (78 FR 27234). On June 11,
2013, EPA held a workshop to discuss, with invited scientific experts,
initial draft materials prepared in the development of the ISA (78 FR
27374).
A draft Integrated Review Plan (IRP) is being developed that will
characterize all of the phases of the review of the primary NAAQS for
NO2, including the schedule for the entire review, the
process for conducting the various phases of the review, and the key
policy-relevant science issues that will guide the review. The draft
IRP will incorporate a revised plan for ISA development after
consideration of CASAC and public comments on the draft plan for
development of the ISA. The draft IRP will be reviewed by CASAC and the
public together with the first draft ISA at a public meeting. The
availability of the draft IRP for review by CASAC and the public, and
the date and location of the public meeting, will
[[Page 70041]]
be announced in separate Federal Register notices.
The ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for
Nitrogen Oxides--Health Criteria'' will be discussed at a public
meeting for review by CASAC and the public. In addition to the public
comment period announced in this notice, the public will have an
opportunity to address CASAC. A separate Federal Register notice will
inform the public of the exact date and time of the CASAC meeting and
of the procedures for public participation in that CASAC meeting.
II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at
www.regulations.gov
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-
0232, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-9744.
Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket
Center (ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The ORD Docket is located in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Avenue, 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 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-
2013-0232. 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
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 through
www.regulations.gov or email that you consider to be CBI or otherwise
protected. The 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 email comment directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your email 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 www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the
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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Dated: October 30, 2013.
Debra B. Walsh,
Acting Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2013-27979 Filed 11-21-13; 8:45 am]
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