[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 214 (Thursday, November 5, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59754-59755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29802]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 745

[OPPTS-62156D; FRL-6044-9]
RIN 2070-AC63


Lead, Identification of Dangerous Levels of Lead; Extension of 
Comment Period and Rescheduling of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is extending the time for the public to provide written 
comments on a proposed rule, issued under section 403 of the Toxic 
Substances Control Act (TSCA), that would provide guidelines for 
managing lead in paint, dust, and soil in residences and child-occupied 
facilities. The public now has until December 31, 1998, to submit 
written comments. EPA is also rescheduling a public meeting on the 
proposed rule from its original date of November 16, 1998, to December 
4, 1998. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for 
nationally recognized experts to offer their perspectives on the 
proposed rule and for the public to present oral comments. The public 
would still have the opportunity to submit written comments after the 
meeting.

DATES: Written comments on the proposed rule must be received on or 
before December 31, 1998.
    The public meeting will be held on December 4, 1998, from 9 a.m. to 
9 p.m. EPA requests that members of the public wishing to present oral 
comments at the meeting register by November 23, 1998, persons may also 
register to speak at the time of the meeting, if any comment time is 
remaining.

ADDRESSES: Public meeting: The meeting will be held at the Grand Hyatt 
San Francisco, 345 Stockton St., San Francisco, CA.
    Comments: Each written comment must bear the docket control number 
OPPTS-62156D. All comments should be sent in triplicate to: OPPT 
Document Control Officer (7407), Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Rm. G-099, 
East Tower, Washington, DC 20460.
    Written comments and data may also be submitted electronically to: 
[email protected]. Follow the instructions in Unit III. of this 
document. No Confidential Business Information (CBI) should be 
submitted through e-mail.
    All written comments which contain information claimed as CBI must 
be clearly marked as such. Three copies, sanitized of any comments 
containing information claimed as CBI, must also be submitted and will 
be placed in the public record for this rulemaking. Persons submitting 
information, any portion of which they believe is entitled to treatment 
as CBI by EPA, must assert a business confidentiality claim in 
accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for each such portion. This claim must 
be made at the time that the information is submitted to EPA. If a 
submitter does not assert a confidentiality claim at the time of 
submission, EPA will consider this as a waiver of any confidentiality 
claim and the information may be made available to the public by EPA 
without further notice to the submitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information and to 
register to present oral comments at the meeting: National Lead 
Information Center's Clearinghouse, 1-800-424-LEAD (5323).
    For technical and policy questions: Jonathan Jacobson, telephone: 
(202) 260-3779 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In the Federal Register of June 3, 1998 (63 FR 30302) (FRL-5791-9), 
EPA published a proposed rule under Title IV of TSCA. Section 403 of 
TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2683) directs EPA to promulgate regulations identifying 
lead-based paint hazards, lead-contaminated dust, and lead-contaminated 
soil. Section 402 of TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2682) directs EPA to promulgate 
regulations governing lead-based paint activities. Section 404 of TSCA 
(15 U.S.C. 2684) requires that any State that seeks to administer and 
enforce the requirements established by the Agency under section 402 of 
TSCA must submit to the Administrator a request for authorization of 
such a program.

[[Page 59755]]

    On October 1, 1998, EPA announced in the Federal Register (63 FR 
52662) ( FRL-6037-7) that it would extend the public comment period 
until November 30, 1998. On October 28, 1998, EPA announced in the 
Federal Register (63 FR 57636) ( FRL-6041-1) that it would be holding a 
public meeting on November 16, 1998, to provide an opportunity to 
present oral comments. Upon further reflection, the Agency has decided 
that it would be more valuable to expand the scope of this meeting and 
include nationally recognized experts to offer their perspectives on 
the proposed rule in a public workshop. Following the workshop, members 
of the public will have the opportunity to present oral comments on the 
proposed rule to the Agency. In order to accommodate this type of 
forum, EPA is rescheduling the public meeting to December 4, 1998, and 
will further extend the time for submitting written comments to 
December 31, 1998.

II. Meeting Process

    The workshop component of the meeting, consisting of nationally 
recognized experts, will convene at approximately 9 a.m. and will end 
at 2:30 p.m. Oral comments from the public will be heard between 3 p.m. 
and 9 p.m.
     The workshop will begin with presentations by EPA officials on the 
Agency's approach described in the proposed rule and an explanation of 
the decisions in the proposal. These presentations will be followed by 
several discussion segments that will address the major issues of 
concern. In each segment, several experts have been invited to present 
formal remarks on EPA's proposed standards. After the conclusion of the 
formal presentations during each segment, there will be an open 
discussion among the invited participants. EPA officials will 
facilitate the discussion and will be available to answer questions 
that will help clarify materials contained in the public record. In 
addition, the public is encouraged to attend the workshop to hear the 
discussions and will have the opportunity to offer comments later in 
the day.
    The public comment component of the meeting will run from 
approximately 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. with an hour break from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. 
EPA will hear as many comments as time permits. Commenters will speak 
in the order in which they register. Individuals are requested to limit 
their presentations to 10 minutes in order to allow as many persons as 
possible a fair chance to participate. Individuals interested in 
presenting comments at the meeting should register in advance by 
contacting the National Lead Information Clearinghouse at 1-800-424-
LEAD (5323). Individuals should indicate whether they wish to speak at 
the afternoon or evening session.

III. Public Record and Electronic Submissions

    The official record for this rulemaking, as well as the public 
version, has been established for this rulemaking under docket control 
number OPPTS-62156D (including comments and data submitted 
electronically as described in this unit). A public version of this 
record, including printed, paper versions of electronic comments, which 
does not include any information claimed as CBI, is available for 
inspection from 12 noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. The official rulemaking record is located in the TSCA 
Nonconfidential Information Center, Rm. NE-B607, 401 M St., SW., 
Washington, DC. Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at: 
[email protected].
    Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the 
use of special characters and any form of encryption. Comments and data 
will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1/6.1 or ASCII file 
format. All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by 
the docket control number OPPTS-62156D. Electronic comments on this 
proposed rule may be filed online at many Federal Depository Libraries.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 745

    Environmental protection, Hazardous substances, Lead-based paint, 
Lead poisoning, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 3, 1998.

Joseph S. Carra,

Acting Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

[FR Doc. 98-29802 Filed 11-3-98; 3:37 pm]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F