[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 28, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22862-22863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10629]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6332-4]


Regional Workshops on Performance-Based Measurement System

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: With the assistance of EPA, the Global Institute of 
Environmental Scientists (GIES) will be holding a series of one-day 
workshops on implementing the Performance-Based Measurement System 
(PBMS) approach to environmental compliance monitoring. The workshops 
are designed to assist the public in learning about this new regulatory 
initiative.

DATES: Workshops will be held in the following cities:
     Philadelphia, PA, May 6, 1999.
     Atlanta, GA, June 8, 1999.
     Kansas City, MO, June 9, 1999.
     Seattle, WA, June 15, 1999.
     Las Vegas, NV, June 17, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Workshop arrangements are being made 
by GIES. For information on registration and hotel rates call the GIES 
coordinator, Sheila Way, at (202) 887-0457 (email: [email protected]). If 
you have questions regarding the conference program, contact the GIES 
Program Coordinators, Jerry Parr at (303) 670-7823 (email: 
[email protected]) or Anthony Pagliaro at (202) 887-5872 
([email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the United States, historical approaches 
to environmental compliance monitoring have: not fully capitalized on 
opportunities to reduce the cost for laboratory analysis and compliance 
monitoring; may have served as barriers to the development and use of 
innovative, faster, less costly measurement technologies and methods; 
and sometimes may have resulted in data of less than desired quality or 
defensibility. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
plans to address some of these problems by incorporating the 
Performance Based Measurement System (PBMS) into its regulatory 
programs. On October 6, 1997 (62 FR 52098), EPA announced its plans to 
implement the PBMS approach to the

[[Page 22863]]

extent feasible in all of its media programs.
    PBMS is an approach where the regulated facility may use any 
scientifically appropriate analytical technique to demonstrate 
compliance with regulatory levels. The facility, however, must 
demonstrate that their technique meets the performance requirements 
that have been established for the application. Under PBMS, the 
regulations focus on the quality of data needed for the particular 
program or project (the system performance) rather than on what 
measurement method should be used (the technology). Where performance 
requirements can be met or exceeded by more than one method, PBMS 
allows selection of the least costly, simplest or most practical 
method, limited only by the programmatic data needs.
    The workshops will explain how PBMS will work and how it differs 
from EPA's current regulatory approach. They will review what EPA is 
doing to implement the change and the status of these efforts under the 
various regulatory programs. With PBMS, EPA expects: improved data 
quality, reduced cost of compliance and enforcement monitoring, and 
stimulation of the development and use of new technology.
    The PBMS Regional Workshops have been designed to bring together 
representatives of regulated industry, commercial environmental 
laboratories, state and federal regulators, and environmental 
consultants and contractors that they may better understand EPA's 
plans.
    Participants will obtain information on:
     The status of EPA's PBMS implementation efforts;
     How PBMS can result in high quality, legally defensible 
data;
     Concepts of method validation, on-going quality control 
and documentation processes under PBMS;
     How to audit laboratories who have implemented PBMS;
     How PBMS will affect State regulatory agencies, the 
regulated community, and laboratories; and
     The cost of doing business under PBMS.

    Dated: April 22, 1999.
Henry L. Longest II,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Management, Office of Research and 
Development.
[FR Doc. 99-10629 Filed 4-27-99; 8:45 am]
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