[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 92 (Thursday, May 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30406-30407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11817]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6605-5]


Peer Review Meeting on the Draft Guidance Document Entitled: 
Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol for Hazardous Waste Combustion 
Facilities (Peer Review Draft, July 1998)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of peer review panel meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency's (``EPA'' or ``the 
Agency'') contractor, Tech Law, is announcing a meeting for the 
external, scientific peer review of the EPA draft guidance document 
entitled: Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol for Hazardous Waste 
Combustion Facilities (Peer Review Draft, July 1998--EPA530-D-98-001A, 
B, & C) and the update to the document entitled: Errata dated August 2, 
1999. The meeting will be organized, convened and conducted by Tech Law 
and will be held on May 24 and 25, 2000 in Dallas, Texas at the EPA 
Region VI building. Given the interest expressed by members of the 
public concerning this guidance document, the meeting will be open to 
the public for observation. The purpose of the meeting is to afford an 
opportunity for the members of Tech Law's review panel to present their 
individual peer review comments and discuss scientific and technical 
issues related to this guidance with other technical experts. All peer 
review comments will be incorporated into a summary by Tech Law and 
presented to EPA as recommendations. Tech Law's recommendations will be 
considered by the Agency during finalization of the document.

Background

    This EPA document, Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol for 
Hazardous Waste Combustion Facilities (HHRAP), is a three volume set of 
guidance for performing risk assessments on hazardous waste combustion 
facilities. Risk assessments can provide a basis for risk management 
decisions in hazardous waste combustor permitting to ensure that the 
permits are protective of human health and the environment. This 
guidance was released via Federal Register on Friday, October 30, 1998 
(63 FR 58381-58382). It updated and replaced an earlier draft guidance 
entitled: ``Guidance for Performing Screening Level Risk Analyses at 
Combustion Facilities Burning Hazardous Wastes'' (April 15, 1994 
draft). This new guidance was prepared by EPA's Region VI Center for 
Combustion Science and Engineering in coordination with the Office of 
Solid Waste (OSW). The guidance contains the OSW's recommended approach 
for conducting site-specific risk assessments on RCRA hazardous waste 
combustors. This guidance includes recommended parameters, pathways and 
algorithms to evaluate both direct and indirect risks.
    The goal of the Agency's peer review process is to enhance the 
quality and credibility of Agency decision-making by ensuring that the 
scientific and technical work products relied on as part of the 
decision-making process receive the appropriate level of review by 
independent, scientific and technical experts. EPA has selected a 
contractor, Tech Law Inc., to conduct a comprehensive peer review of 
this guidance document. To that end, Tech Law, has selected nine 
independent experts reviewers that have not participated in the 
development of the document. The peer review panel is comprised of 
specialists which represent scientific disciplines generally covered in 
the HHRAP. The scientific disciplines chosen consist of combustion 
engineering, air dispersion modeling, fate and transport, human health 
exposure assessment, and human health toxicology.
    The peer reviewers have been asked to respond to charge questions 
about the guidance document. Two types of charge statements were issued 
to the reviewers. All of the reviewers were asked to reply to charge 
questions which were general in nature. In addition, each expert was 
charged with specific technical questions which relate to their 
specialty. A number of the technical questions charged to the reviewers 
were chosen directly from public comments received on the guidance. To 
obtain or view copies of the human health risk assessment guidance 
document, the charges to the peer reviewers, the pre-meeting comments 
from the peer reviewers, or the public comments received on the 
document, see the supplementary information section below.

DATES: The meeting will begin on Wednesday, May 24 and end on Thursday, 
May 25, 2000. It will start at 8:30 am and end at 5:00 pm, daily.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at EPA's Region VI building, at 
Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas, Texas. Since seating capacity 
is limited, please contact Antoinette Todd of Tech Law, by telephone at 
(214) 953-0045, or by E-mail at [email protected] by May 19, 2000 at 
4:30 pm (central time) to reserve a seat at the workshop as an 
observer. Seating space will be filled on a first-come, first-served 
basis. A limited amount of time at the end of each afternoon will be 
reserved for comments from the observers. Observers who wish to make a 
short presentation to the peer review panel (limited to 5 minutes in 
length) should register with Tech Law by May 19 at 4:30 pm (central 
time), as well. The amount of time allocated for each observer making 
comment may changed at the discretion of Tech Law, depending on the 
meeting circumstances. It is expected that all public statements 
presented at this meeting will not repeat any previously submitted oral 
or written statements. Comments should focus on the scientific and 
technical aspects of the document and the proceedings of the meeting. 
Since commenting time is limited, it will be filled on a first-come, 
first-served basis.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical and logistical inquires, 
contact Steve Cowan, of Tech Law by telephone, at (214) 953-0045; 
facsimile at (214) 754-0819; or by E-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the (1) draft guidance document, 
Human Health Risk Assessment Protocol for Hazardous Waste Combustion 
Facilities (HHRAP); (2) Errata; (3) public comments received on the 
document; (4) peer review charges; and (5) peer review pre-meeting 
comments can be viewed or requested as follows.
    The HHRAP, Errata, peer review charges can be viewed on the world 
wide web at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/combust/risk.htm. The 
peer review pre-meeting comments will be available after May 11, 2000.

[[Page 30407]]

    For paper copies of the above listed documents, in addition to the 
public comments on the guidance, contact the RCRA Information Center 
(RIC), by telephone at (703) 603-9230, or by mail at Office of Solid 
Waste (5305G), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters (EPA, 
HQ) Ariel Rios Building 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 
20460. For the a copy of the HHRAP, please reference the document 
numbers, EPA530-D-98-001A for volume 1, EPA530-D-98-001B for volume 2, 
and EPA530-D-98-001C for volume 3. The HHRAP is also available in a CD-
ROM version.
    In addition, the documents will be made available for public 
viewing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (except Federal 
holidays) in the RIC, located at Crystal Gateway One, 1235 Jefferson 
Davis Highway, First Floor, Arlington Virginia. To review docket 
materials, the public must make an appointment by calling (703) 603-
9230 and reference the docket identification number, F-98-HHRA-FFFFF. 
The public may copy a maximum of 100 pages from any regulatory docket 
at no charge. Additional copies cost $0.15 per page. The docket index 
and notice are available electronically.

    Dated: May 3, 2000.
Matthew Hale,
Acting Director, Office of Solid Waste.
[FR Doc. 00-11817 Filed 5-10-00; 8:45 am]
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