[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 16 (Friday, January 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3527-3529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1628]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7442-6]


Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, Notification of Public 
Advisory Committee Meeting; Teleconference Consultation on Project Work 
Plan for Revised Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related 
Photochemical Oxidants

ACTION: EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, Notification of 
Public Advisory Committee Meeting; Teleconference Consultation on 
Project Work Plan for Revised Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and 
Related Photochemical Oxidants.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as 
amended (5 U.S.C. App.), Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that 
the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) of the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) will meet via teleconference on Thursday, February 6,

[[Page 3528]]

2003, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. eastern time. This teleconference meeting 
will be hosted out of Conference Room 6013, U.S. EPA, Ariel Rios 
Federal Building North, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20004. The meeting is open to the public; however, due to limited 
space, seating will be on a first-come basis. The public may also 
attend via telephone, however, lines may be limited. Information on how 
to participate is provided below.
    Purpose of this Meeting: The purpose of this public teleconference 
meeting is for the CASAC to conduct a consultation with EPA on the 
Project Work Plan for Revised Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and 
Related Photochemical Oxidants. (Note: A full CASAC review of the first 
revised draft AQCD for ozone and related photochemical oxidants is 
scheduled to take place later this calendar year, and will be announced 
via a separate Federal Register notice.)
    Background: EPA promulgates National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS) based on scientific information assessed in air quality 
criteria documents (AQCD) issued under the Clean Air Act (CAA), section 
108. The CAA also requires periodic (i.e., every five years) revision 
of criteria and review of NAAQS. Furthermore, section 109 of the CAA 
directed the establishment of the CASAC (42 U.S.C. 7409). The CASAC has 
a statutorily-mandated responsibility under the CAA to review and offer 
scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator on the air-
quality criteria and regulatory documents which form the basis for the 
NAAQS. The previous AQCD for ozone, published in July 1996, provided 
the scientific basis for EPA's promulgation, in July 1997, of a new 
eight-hour NAAQS for ground-level ozone.
    The Project Work Plan for Revised Air Quality Criteria for Ozone 
and Related Photochemical Oxidants was prepared by EPA's Office of 
Research and Development (ORD) National Center for Environmental 
Assessment (NCEA), located at Research Triangle Park (RTP), NC. The 
plan presents information on EPA's approach to assessing the latest 
available scientific information to be incorporated into a revised 
Ozone AQCD, identifies key issues to be addressed in the Ozone AQCD, 
and includes brief summaries of legislative requirements and the 
history of previous ozone criteria revisions and NAAQS reviews. ORD 
will prepare a draft revised Ozone AQCD and subject it to review at 
expert peer-review workshops, by the public, and by the CASAC.
    The main purpose of the forthcoming revised AQCD for Ozone and 
Related Photochemical Oxidants is to critically evaluate and assess the 
latest scientific knowledge useful in indicating the kind and extent of 
all identifiable effects on public health and welfare which may be 
expected from the presence of these pollutants in the ambient air. ORD 
will place emphasis on assessment of health and environmental effects 
information. Other scientific information will also be evaluated, in 
part to provide a better understanding of key issues such as those 
associated with ozone photochemistry; issues on environmental ozone 
concentrations attributable to anthropogenic and background sources; 
and issues related to the health and environmental effects associated 
with changes in solar UV radiation and global warming, as mediated by 
changes in tropospheric ozone. The final Ozone AQCD document will be 
used by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) in 
its review of the Ozone NAAQS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To participate in this meeting, 
contact Mr. Fred Butterfield, CASAC Designated Federal Officer, U.S. 
EPA Science Advisory Board (1400A), Suite 6450CC, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-
4561; fax at (202) 501-0582; or via e-mail at: 
[email protected]. Members of the public desiring additional 
information about the meeting locations or the call-in number for the 
teleconference must contact Mr. Butterfield at the addresses and 
numbers identified above.
    Submitting Public Comments: The CASAC will make a brief period of 
time available during the teleconference meeting to take public 
comments on the subject of the consultation. This oral public comment 
period will be no more than 15 minutes in length and will be divided 
among all speakers who register in advance. Registration is on a first-
come basis. Speakers who have been granted time on the agenda may not 
yield their time to other speakers. Those wishing to speak but who are 
unable to register in time may provide their comments in writing. 
Requests for oral comments must be in writing (e-mail, fax or mail) and 
received by Mr. Butterfield at the address above no later than noon 
eastern time on February 4, 2003.
    Availability of Review Material: There is only one document that is 
the subject of the CASAC consultation: NCEA's Project Work Plan for 
Revised Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical 
Oxidants. This document is available electronically at the following 
URL address: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=55125. 
For information and any questions pertaining to the review document, 
please contact Mr. James Raub, NCEA-RTP, via telephone: (919) 541-4157; 
fax: 919-541-1818; or e-mail: [email protected].
    Providing Oral or Written Comments: It is the policy of the EPA 
Science Advisory Board to accept written public comments of any length, 
and to accommodate oral public comments whenever possible. The EPA 
Science Advisory Board expects that public statements presented at its 
meetings will not be repetitive of previously-submitted oral or written 
statements. Specific instructions are as follows:
    Oral Comments: In general, each individual or group requesting an 
oral presentation at a face-to-face meeting will be limited to a total 
time of 10 minutes (unless otherwise indicated above). For 
teleconference meetings, opportunities for oral comment will usually be 
limited to no more than three minutes per speaker and no more than 15 
minutes total (unless otherwise indicated above). Deadlines for getting 
on the public speaker list for a meeting are given above. Speakers who 
plan to attend the teleconference meeting in person should bring at 
least 25 copies of their comments and presentation slides for 
distribution to the reviewers and public at the meeting.
    Written Comments: Although the SAB accepts written comments until 
the date of the meeting, written comments are requested to be provided 
so that they will be received in the SAB Staff Office at least one week 
prior to the meeting date, in order for the comments to be made 
available to the reviewers at the meeting for their consideration. 
Comments should be supplied to the appropriate DFO at the address/
contact information noted above, as follows: one hard copy with 
original signature and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file 
formats: Adobe Acrobat [.pdf], WordPerfect or MS Word). Those providing 
written comments who also attend the meeting are requested to bring 25 
copies of their comments for public distribution.
    Meeting Access: Individuals requiring special accommodations at 
this meeting, including wheelchair access to the conference room, 
should contact Mr. Butterfield at least five business days prior to the 
meeting (i.e., by Thursday, January 30) so that appropriate 
arrangements can be made.

[[Page 3529]]

    General Information: The SAB was statutorily-established in 1978 
(42 U.S.C. 4365) to provide independent scientific and technical 
advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on 
the technical basis for Agency positions and regulations. Additional 
information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board, including its 
structure, function, and composition, may be found on the EPA SAB Web 
site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab; and in the EPA Science Advisory Board 
FY2001 Annual Staff Report, which is available from the EPA SAB 
Publications Staff at phone: (202) 564-4533; via fax at: (202) 501-
0256; or on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/annreport01.pdf.

    Dated: January 16, 2003.
A. Robert Flaak,
Acting Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 03-1628 Filed 1-23-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P