[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 219 (Monday, November 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61875-61877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-29769]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6474-9]


Science Advisory Board; Notification of Public Advisory Committee 
Meeting

    Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, 
notice is hereby given that the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee 
of the USEPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) will meet on the dates and 
times noted below. All times noted are Eastern Time. All meetings are 
open to the public, however, seating is limited and available on a 
first come basis. Important Notice: Documents that are the subject of 
SAB reviews are normally available from the originating EPA office and 
are not available from the SAB Office--information concerning 
availability of documents from the relevant Program Office is included 
below.

1--CASAC Diesel Review Panel

    The Diesel Review Panel of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory 
Committee (CASAC) of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) will meet on 
Wednesday, December 1, 1999 at the Hawthorne Suites, 300 Meredith Drive 
Durham, NC 27713, tel. (919) 361-1234. The meeting will begin at 8:30 
am and end no later than 5:00 pm.

Purpose of the Meeting

    The CASAC Diesel Review Panel will review the Agency's draft Health 
Assessment Document for Diesel Engine Emissions. This continues the 
CASAC review of this document that last took place on May 5-6, 1998. 
Please see the CASAC report of that meeting (EPA-SAB-CASAC-99-001, 
October 7, 1999, Review of the Diesel Health Assessment Document, 
available on the SAB Website [www.epa.gov/sab] or from the SAB staff at 
(202) 564-4533). The principal purpose of this meeting is for the 
Committee to determine if the Agency has responded to previous concerns 
of the Committee and if the document is an adequate portrayal of the 
current state of knowledge on diesel emissions.

Availability of Review Materials

    The draft Health Assessment Document for Diesel Engine Emissions 
(EPA/600/8-90/057D, November 1999), will be available as follows: an 
electronic version of the draft assessment will be made available via 
the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of paper copies will be 
available from NCEA's Technical Information Staff (phone: 202-564-3261; 
fax: 202-565-0050).
    The Agency will be accepting comments on the draft assessment as 
part of a limited public review and comment period. Comments must be in 
writing and must be postmarked by December 17, 1999. There will be no 
separate Federal Register notice announcing this public review and 
comment period. Comments should be mailed to: Diesel Comments, NCEA-W/
TIS (8623D), USEPA, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC 20460. Please submit 
one unbound original, to include an index of any attachments, and two 
copies. If sent via overnight delivery, please use the following 
address: 808 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006. Note that the 
Agency is accepting comments that specifically relate to the technical 
aspects of the draft document. All technical comments will become part 
of the official record. For that reason, commenters should not provide 
any information that is not suitable for public inspection, such as 
personal medical information, home address, confidential business 
information, or any information protected by copyright. Comments that 
address policy or other issues or do not specifically provide technical 
comments on the draft will not be included in the record. Due to 
limited resources, acknowledgments will not be sent.

2--CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel

    The Particulate Matter Review Panel of the Clean Air Scientific 
Advisory Committee (CASAC) of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) will 
meet on Thursday, December 2, 1999 at the Hawthorne Suites, 300 
Meredith Drive Durham, NC 27713, tel. (919) 361-1234. The meeting will 
begin at 8:30 am and end no later than 5:00 pm.

Purpose of the Meeting

    (a) The CASAC PM Review Panel will review an external review draft 
of the EPA air quality criteria document for particulate matter (PM) 
now being revised by EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment 
(NCEA) for

[[Page 61876]]

use in supporting the next periodic review of the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM required under Clean Air Act Sections 
108 and 109. The CASAC review will focus on aspects of the 
organization, structure and presentation of the draft document. A full 
technical peer review will take place at a meeting planned for summer 
2000. (b) The CASAC PM Review Panel will also review a draft 
development plan for the PM NAAQS Review prepared by EPA's Office of 
Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). The purpose of the 
development plan is to provide an overview of the issues that EPA 
expects to address during the development plan of the Staff Paper and 
Risk Assessment, and a general framework for the analyses needed to 
help inform EPA's efforts. Comments received from the CASAC and the 
public will be considered in the preparation of the Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) Staff Paper and Risk Assessment. 
The first draft of the OAQPS Staff Paper is to be released to the 
public in Summer 2000, for review by CASAC in a meeting that is planned 
in that time frame.

Availability of Review Materials

    (a) The U.S. EPA recently announced (64 Federal Register 57884, 
October 27, 1999) the availability for public comment of the First 
External Review Draft of the document Air Quality Criteria for 
Particulate Matter, which assesses the latest available scientific 
information on the effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) on human 
health and welfare. To obtain a copy of that First External Review 
Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (EPA 600/P-99/
002a-c), contact Ms. Diane Ray at the National Center for Environmental 
Assessment--RTP Office (MD-52), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone 919-541-3637; facsimile: 
919-541-1818; e-mail: [email protected]. Please provide the title and 
the EPA number for the document, as well as your name and address. The 
document will be dispensed in CD ROM format unless the requestor 
requires a paper copy. Internet users may download a copy from the 
homepage for EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA). 
The URL is http://www.epa.gov/ncea/. Anyone who wishes to comment on 
the draft document, Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, must 
submit the comments in writing by no later than January 14, 2000. Send 
the written comments to the Project Manager for Particulate Matter, 
National Center for Environmental Assessment--RTP Office (MD-52), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.
    As stated in the October 27, 1999 FR Notice, the EPA is aware that 
a substantial number of new scientific studies on PM are underway that 
will likely be completed and accepted for publication in time to be 
included in the final criteria document. To this end, the Agency 
encourages timely completion and submission of these studies for 
publication. Because the potential importance of many of these 
additional studies cannot be assessed in the present draft, the Agency 
is requesting that the CASAC's and the public's comments on this 
external review draft focus particularly on the aspects of 
organization, structure, and presentation in the document, although 
comments on provisional conclusions and specific details are, of 
course, welcome. Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA plans to 
incorporate revisions to the document in response to public comments 
and CASAC review of the first external review draft, and then to 
release a second external review draft for public comment and CASAC 
review in midyear 2000. For reasons discussed above, the second draft 
may address a number of studies not completed in time for assessment in 
the first draft. Accordingly, the EPA urges that interested parties be 
prepared to review the second draft on that basis. Findings and 
conclusions from the Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter will 
be used as key inputs to the preparation during 2000 of a draft EPA 
staff paper on airborne particles, as discussed in the draft PM NAAQS 
Review Development Plan.
    (b) Copies of the draft PM NAAQS Review Development Plan will be 
made available at the December 2, 1999 CASAC meeting. The public can 
also contact Ms. Mary Ross of OAQPS at 919-541-5170 or 
[email protected] for information or a copy of the draft document, in 
advance of the December 2 meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING THE MEETINGS: Members of the public 
desiring additional information about either meeting should contact Mr. 
Robert Flaak, Designated Federal Officer, Clean Air Scientific Advisory 
Committee, Science Advisory Board (1400A), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20460 (FedEx address: USEPA, SAB, Suite 6450, Ariel Rios 
Building, North Lobby, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 
20004); telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-4546; fax at (202) 501-0582; 
or via e-mail at [email protected]. The draft agendas will be 
available approximately two weeks prior to the meetings on the SAB 
website (http://www.epa.gov/sab) or from Ms. Diana Pozun at (202) 564-
4544; FAX: (202) 501-0582; or e-mail at: [email protected].
    Members of the public who wish to make a brief oral presentation at 
either meeting must contact Mr. Flaak in writing (by letter, fax, or e-
mail--see previously stated information) no later than 12 noon Eastern 
Time, Wednesday, November 24, 1999 in order to be included on the 
Agenda. For the PM review meeting on December 2nd, we request that 
public comments on the First External Review Draft of the document Air 
Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter focus particularly on the 
aspects of organization, structure, and presentation in the document. 
The technical issues will be peer reviewed in detail at a later meeting 
planned for summer 2000.

Providing Oral or Written Comments at SAB Meetings

    The Science Advisory Board expects that public statements presented 
at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted oral or 
written statements. In general, each individual or group making an oral 
presentation will be limited to a total time of ten minutes. Written 
comments (at least 35 copies) received in the SAB Staff Office 
sufficiently prior to a meeting date (usually one week before the 
meeting), may be mailed to the relevant SAB committee or subcommittee; 
comments received too close to the meeting date will normally be 
provided to the committee at its meeting, or mailed soon after receipt 
by the Agency. Written comments may be provided to the relevant 
committee or subcommittee up until the time of the meeting.
    Additional information concerning the Science Advisory Board, its 
structure, function, and composition, may be found on the SAB Website 
(http://www.epa.gov/sab) and in the Annual Report of the Staff Director 
which is available from the SAB Publications Staff at (202) 564-4533 or 
via fax at (202) 501-0256.

Meeting Access

    Individuals requiring special accommodation at this meeting, 
including wheelchair access, should contact Mr. Flaak at least five 
business days prior to the meeting so that appropriate arrangements can 
be made.


[[Page 61877]]


    Dated: November 9, 1999.
Donald G. Barnes,
Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.
[FR Doc. 99-29769 Filed 11-12-99; 8:45 am]
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