[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 15, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69134-69136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-29051]



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Part II





Environmental Protection Agency





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Forty-Fourth Report of the TSCA Interagency Testing Committee to the 
Administrator; Receipt of Report and Request for Comments; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 15, 2000 / 
Notices  

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPTS-41052; FRL-6087-8]


Forty-Fourth Report of the TSCA Interagency Testing Committee to 
the Administrator; Receipt of Report and Request for Comments

AGENCY:  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:  Notice.

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SUMMARY:  The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Interagency Testing 
Committee (ITC) transmitted its Forty-Fourth Report to the 
Administrator of the EPA on May 27, 1999. In the 44\th\ Report, which 
is included with this notice, the ITC initiated a process to identify 
chemicals with production volumes greater than 10,000 pounds per year 
that are predicted to bioconcentrate, persist, and cause ecological or 
human health effects. To date the process has identified more than 400 
chemicals.
    At this time, the ITC is implementing the process and has no 
revisions to its TSCA section 4(e) Priority Testing List. EPA invites 
interested persons to submit written comments on the Report.

DATES:  Comments, identified by docket control number OPPTS-41052, must 
be received on or before December 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES:  Comments may be submitted by mail, electronically, or in 
person. Please follow the detailed instructions for each method as 
provided in Unit I. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. To ensure proper 
receipt by EPA, it is imperative that you identify docket control 
number OPPTS-41052 in the subject line on the first page of your 
response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  For general information contact: 
Barbara Cunningham, Acting Director, Environmental Assistance Division 
(7408), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone numbers: (202) 554-1404; e-mail address: [email protected].
    For technical information contact: John D. Walker, ITC Executive 
Director (7401), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 260-1825; fax: 
(202) 260-7895; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    This notice is directed to the public in general. It may, however, 
be of particular interest to you if you manufacture (defined by statute 
to include import) and/or process TSCA-covered chemicals and you may be 
identified by the North American Industrial Classification System 
(NAICS) codes 325 and 32411. Because this notice is directed to the 
general public and other entities may also be interested , the Agency 
has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be 
interested in this action. If you have any questions regarding the 
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Additional Information, Including Copies of this 
Document or Other Related Documents?

    1. Electronically. You may obtain electronic copies of this 
document, and certain other related documents that might be available 
electronically, from the EPA Internet Home Page at http://www.epa.gov/. 
To access this document, on the Home Page select ``Laws and 
Regulations,'' ``Regulations and Proposed Rules,'' and then look up the 
entry for this document under the ``Federal Register--Environmental 
Documents.'' You can also go directly to the Federal Register listings 
at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
    You may also access additional information about the ITC and the 
TSCA testing program through the web site for the Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/, or go 
directly to the ITC home page at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/itc/.
    2. In person. The Agency has established an official record for 
this action under docket control number OPPTS-41052. The official 
record consists of the documents specifically referenced in this 
action, any public comments received during an applicable comment 
period, and other information related to this action, including any 
information claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI). This 
official record includes the documents that are physically located in 
the docket, as well as the documents that are referenced in those 
documents. The public version of the official record does not include 
any information claimed as CBI. The public version of the official 
record, which includes printed, paper versions of any electronic 
comments submitted during an applicable comment period, is available 
for inspection in the TSCA Nonconfidential Information Center, North 
East Mall Rm. B-607, Waterside Mall, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC. 
The Center is open from noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Center is (202) 
260-7099.

C. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments through the mail, in person, or 
electronically. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, it is imperative that 
you identify docket control number OPPTS-41052 in the subject line on 
the first page of your response.
    1. By mail. Submit your comments to: Document Control Office 
(7407), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
    2. In person or by courier. Deliver your comments to: OPPT Document 
Control Office (DCO) in East Tower Rm. G-099, Waterside Mall, 401 M 
St., SW., Washington, DC. The DCO is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
DCO is (202) 260-7093.
    3. Electronically. You may submit your comments electronically by 
e-mail to: [email protected], or mail your computer disk to the address 
identified above. Do not submit any information electronically that you 
consider to be CBI. 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 standard disks in 
WordPerfect 6.1/8.0 or ASCII file format. All comments in electronic 
form must be identified by docket control number OPPTS-41052. 
Electronic comments may also be filed online at many Federal Depository 
Libraries.

D. How Should I Handle CBI Information That I Want to Submit to the 
Agency?

    Do not submit any information electronically that you consider to 
be CBI. You may claim information that you submit to EPA in response to 
this document as CBI by marking any part or all of that information as 
CBI. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance 
with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. In addition to one complete 
version of the comment that includes any information claimed as CBI, a 
copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as 
CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public

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version of the official record. Information not marked confidential 
will be included in the public version of the official record without 
prior notice. If you have any questions about CBI or the procedures for 
claiming CBI, please consult the technical person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

E. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    We invite you to provide your views and comments on the ITC 44\th\ 
Report. You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing 
your comments:
    1. Explain your views as clearly as possible.
    2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
    3. Provide copies of any technical information and/or data you used 
that support your views.
    4. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
    5. Make sure to submit your comments by the deadline in this 
notice.
    6. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, be sure to identify the docket 
control number assigned to this action in the subject line on the first 
page of your response. You may also provide the name, date, and Federal 
Register citation.

II. Background

    The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 260l  et seq.) 
authorizes the Administrator of the EPA to promulgate regulations under 
section 4(a) requiring testing of chemicals and chemical groups in 
order to develop data relevant to determining the risks that such 
chemicals and chemical groups may present to health or the environment. 
Section 4(e) of TSCA established the ITC to recommend chemicals and 
chemical groups to the Administrator of the EPA for priority testing 
consideration. Section 4(e) of TSCA directs the ITC to revise the TSCA 
section 4(e)  Priority Testing List at least every 6 months.

A. The ITC's 44\th\ Report

    The 44\th\ Report was received by the EPA Administrator on May 27, 
1999, and is included in this notice. In the 44\th\ Report, the ITC 
stated that it had initiated a process to identify chemicals with 
production/importation volumes greater than 10,000 pounds per year that 
are predicted to bioconcentrate, persist, and cause ecological or human 
health effects. According to the ITC report, more than 400 chemicals 
have been identified.

B. Status of the Priority Testing List

     At this time, the ITC is implementing the process and has no 
revisions to its TSCA section 4(e) Priority Testing List. The current 
TSCA section 4(e) Priority Testing List as of May 1999 can be found in 
Table 1 of the 44\th\ ITC Report which is included in this notice.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Chemicals, Hazardous substances.

    Dated: November 6, 2000.
Wardner G. Penberthy,
Acting Director, Chemical Control Division, Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics.

 

Forty-Fourth Report of the TSCA Interagency Testing Committee to the 
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

    This is the 44th Report of the TSCA Interagency 
Testing Committee (ITC) to the Administrator of the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The ITC was established by 
section 4(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ``to make 
recommendations to the Administrator respecting the chemical 
substances and mixtures to which the Administrator should give 
priority consideration for the promulgation of a rule for testing 
under section 4(a).... At least every six months..., the Committee 
shall make such revisions to the Priority Testing List as it 
determines to be necessary and transmit them to the Administrator 
together with the Committee's reasons for the revisions'' (Public 
Law 94-469, 90 Stat. 2003 et seq. (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.)). Since 
its creation in 1976, the ITC has submitted 43 semi-annual (May and 
November) Reports to the EPA Administrator transmitting the Priority 
Testing List and its revisions. In 1989, the ITC began recommending 
chemical substances for information reporting, screening, and 
testing to meet the data needs of its member U.S. Government 
organizations. ITC Reports are available from http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/itc within a few days of submission to the Administrator 
and from http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr after publication in the 
Federal Register. The ITC meets monthly and produces its revisions 
to the Priority Testing List with administrative and technical 
support from the ITC staff and contract support provided by EPA. ITC 
members and staff are listed at the end of this Report.
    During this reporting period (November 1998 to May 1999), the 
ITC began developing a process to identify chemicals with production 
or importation volumes >10,000 lb/year that are predicted to 
bioconcentrate, persist, and cause ecological or human health 
effects. To date, the process has been used to identify more than 
400 chemicals with production or importation volumes >10,000 lb/year 
with log octanol-water partition coefficients and aerobic 
biodegradation removal rates that suggest bioconcentration and 
persistence potential. In addition, the process is being used to:
    1. Organize chemicals into structurally related chemical classes 
for the purpose of developing structure activity relationships 
(SARs).
    2. Characterize the type, quantity, and quality of ecological or 
human health effects data associated with each chemical.
    3. Determine uses.
    4. Estimate potential environmental releases and human 
exposures.
    5. Evaluate existing regulations.
    6. Identify U.S. Government data needs.
    This process supports EPA's current High Production Volume (HPV) 
Chemical Challenge program (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemrtk/volchall.htm) and Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBT) project 
(http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemrtk/persbioa.htm). At this time, 
the ITC is implementing this process and has no revisions to its 
TSCA section 4(e) Priority Testing List which follows as Table 1.

                       Table 1.--The TSCA Section 4(e) Priority Testing List (May 1999)\1\
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               Report                         Date                  Chemical/group                Action
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26                                   May 1990                8 Isocyanates                Recommended with
                                                                                           intent-to-designate
27                                   November 1990           62 Aldehydes                 Recommended with
                                                                                           intent-to-designate
28                                   May 1991                Chemicals with low           Designated
                                                              confidence reference dose
                                                              (RfD)
                                                               Acetone
                                                               Thiophenol
30                                   May 1992                5 Siloxanes                  Recommended
31                                   January 1993            24 Chemicals with            Designated
                                                              insufficient dermal
                                                              absorption rate data
32                                   May 1993                32 Chemicals with            Designated
                                                              insufficient dermal
                                                              absorption rate data
35                                   November 1994           24 Chemicals with            Designated
                                                              insufficient dermal
                                                              absorption rate data
37                                   November 1995           16 Alkylphenols and 3        Recommended
                                                              alkylphenol
                                                              polyethoxylates\2\
39                                   November 1996           15 Nonylphenol ethoxylates   Recommended
                                                              and 8 alkylphenol
                                                              polyethoxylates\2\

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41                                   November 1997           18 Alkylphenols, 5           Recommended
                                                              polyalkyphenols, and 6
                                                              alkylphenol
                                                              polyethoxylates\2\
42                                   May 1998                3-Amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-    Recommended
                                                              triazole\2\
42                                   May 1998                Glycoluril\2\                Recommended
42                                   May 1998                Methylal\2\                  Recommended
42                                   May 1998                Ethyl silicate\2\            Recommended
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1 The Priority Testing List is available from the ITC's web site (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/itc).
2 Data requested through the ITC's Voluntary Information Submissions Innovative Online Network (VISION) (see
  http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/itc/vision.htm).


TSCA Interagency Testing Committee

    Statutory Organizations and Their Representatives

    Council on Environmental Quality
        Brad Campbell, Member
    Department of Commerce
          National Institute of Standards and Technology
            Malcolm W. Chase, Member
            Barbara C. Levin, Alternate
          National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
            Nancy Foster, Member
            Teri Rowles, Alternate
            Richard S. Artz, Alternate
    Environmental Protection Agency
        Paul Campanella, Member
        David R. Williams, Alternate
    National Cancer Institute
        Victor Fung, Member
        Harry Seifried, Alternate
    National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
        William Eastin, Member, Chair
        H.B. Matthews, Alternate
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
        Albert E. Munson, Member
        Christine Sofge, Alternate
    National Science Foundation
        A. Frederick Thompson, Member
    Occupational Safety and Health Administration
        Lyn Penniman, Member
        Val H. Schaeffer, Alternate

    Liaison Organizations and Their Representatives

    Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
        William Cibulas, Member
    Consumer Product Safety Commission
        Jacqueline Ferrante, Member, Vice Chair
    Department of Agriculture
        Clifford P. Rice, Member
    Department of Defense
        Rick Drawbaugh, Member
        Janet Whaley, Alternate
        Jose Centeno, Alternate
    Department of the Interior
        Barnett A. Rattner, Member
    Food and Drug Administration
        Raju Kammula, Member
    National Library of Medicine
        Vera W. Hudson, Member
    National Toxicology Program
        NIEHS, FDA, and NIOSH Members
    Counsel
        Scott Sherlock, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
EPA
    Technical Support Contractor
        Syracuse Research Corporation
    ITC Staff
        John D. Walker, Executive Director
        Norma S. L. Williams, Executive Assistant

    TSCA Interagency Testing Committee, Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics (7401), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 
(202) 260-1825; fax number: (202) 260-7895; e-mail address: 
[email protected]; url: http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/itc.

[FR Doc. 00-29051 Filed 11-15-00; 8:45 am]
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