[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 91 (Friday, May 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 31803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11737]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7210-6]


Technical Peer Review Workshop on the EPA Risk Assessment Forum 
Draft Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a meeting, organized and convened by Versar, 
Inc., a contractor to EPA's Risk Assessment Forum, for external 
scientific peer review on the draft Framework for Cumulative Risk 
Assessment (EPA/630/P-02/001A). The meeting is being held to discuss 
technical issues associated with cumulative risk assessment and how to 
capture these issues in a broad, flexible framework that will inform 
future guidance development efforts in this area. The EPA also is 
announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft document. EPA 
will consider the peer review advice and public comment submissions in 
revising the Framework document.

DATES: The peer review meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 
Tuesday, June 4, 2002 and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 
5, 2002. The 30-day public comment period begins May 10, 2002, and ends 
June 10, 2002. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
postmarked by June 10, 2002.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Courtyard Crystal City 
Hotel, 2899 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. Versar, Inc., 
an EPA contractor, will convene and facilitate the workshop. To 
register to attend the workshop as an observer, visit www.versar.com/epa/cumriskmtg.htm, or contact Ms. Traci Bludis, Versar, Inc.; 
telephone: (703) 750-3000 extension 449; facsimile: 703-642-6954; e-
mail [email protected] by 5 p.m. eastern daylight time, May 31, 2002.
    The draft Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment is available via 
the Internet on the Risk Assessment Forum Publications home page at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea/raf/rafpub.htm under What's New. Copies are not 
available from Versar Inc.
    Public comments may be mailed to the Technical Information Staff 
(8623D), NCEA-W, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, or delivered to the 
Technical Information Staff at 808 17th Street, NW., 5th Floor, 
Washington, DC 20006; telephone: 202-564-3261; facsimile: 202-565-0050.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning the 
technical peer review workshop or the draft Framework for Cumulative 
Risk Assessment, please contact Steven Knott, U.S. EPA Office of 
Research and Development (8601-D), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460, Telephone (202) 564-3359, Fax (202) 565-0062, e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Several reports have highlighted the 
importance of understanding the accumulation of risks from multiple 
environmental stressors. These include the National Research Council's 
(NRC) 1994 report Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment and the 1997 
report by the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment 
and Risk Management entitled Risk Assessment and Risk Management in 
Regulatory Decision-Making. In addition, legislation such as the Food 
Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA), has directed the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) to move beyond single chemical assessments and 
to focus, in part, on the cumulative effects of chemical exposures 
occurring simultaneously. Further emphasizing the need for EPA to focus 
on cumulative risks are cases filed under Title VI of the 1964 Civil 
Rights Act.
    In response to the increasing focus on cumulative risk, several EPA 
programs have begun to explore cumulative approaches to risk 
assessment. In 1997, The EPA Science Policy Council issued a guidance 
on planning and scoping for cumulative risk assessments. More recently, 
the Office of Pesticide Programs has developed cumulative risk 
assessment guidance focused on implementing certain provisions of FQPA. 
The Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards has applied cumulative 
exposure models in its analyses for the National-Scale Air Toxics 
Assessment (NATA).
    The EPA Science Policy Council has asked the Risk Assessment Forum 
(RAF) to begin developing Agency-wide cumulative risk assessment 
guidance that builds from these ongoing activities. As a first step, a 
technical panel convened under the RAF has been working to develop a 
Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment. Building from the Agency's 
growing experiences, this Framework is intended to identify the basic 
elements of the cumulative risk assessment process. It should provide a 
flexible structure for the technical issues and define key terms 
associated with cumulative risk assessment.
    Feedback on early drafts of the Framework for Cumulative Risk 
Assessment was obtained through meetings with other Federal and State 
government scientists. In addition, feedback was obtained through a 
public peer consultation meeting held in August 2001. The workshop and 
public comment period announced in this notice are associated with the 
external scientific peer review of the current draft of the Framework. 
The peer review will focus on the technical issues associated with the 
draft Framework.

    Dated: May 3, 2002.
George W. Alapas,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 02-11737 Filed 5-9-02; 8:45 am]
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