[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 249 (Tuesday, December 30, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75240-75241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-32054]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7604-5]


Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (External Review 
Draft)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of drafts of chapters for public review and comment.

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SUMMARY: On or about December 29, 2003, the National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA), within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development, will make available for public review and comment revised 
drafts of Chapters 7 and 8 of EPA's document Air Quality Criteria for 
Particulate Matter, which incorporate revisions made in response to 
earlier external review of those chapters. Under sections 108 and 109 
of the Clean Air Act, the purpose of this document is to provide an 
assessment of the latest

[[Page 75241]]

scientific information on the effects of airborne particulate matter 
(PM) on the public health and welfare for use in EPA's current review 
of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM.

DATES: Comments on the draft chapters must be submitted in writing no 
later than January 31, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send the written comments to the Project Manager for 
Particulate Matter, National Center for Environmental Assessment--RTP 
(B243-01), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27711.
    A copy of the revised Chapters 7 and 8 of the Air Quality Criteria 
for Particulate Mater will be available on CD-ROM from NCEA-RTP. 
Contact Ms. Diane Ray by phone (919-541-3637), fax (919-541-1818), or 
e-mail ([email protected]) to request these chapters. Please provide 
the document's title, Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, and 
the EPA numbers for each of the two revised chapters (EPA/600/P-99/
002aE, EPA/600/P-99/002bE), as well as your name and address, to 
properly process your request. Internet users will be able to download 
a copy from the NCEA home page. The URL is http://www.epa.gov/ncea/. 
Hard copies of the revised chapters can also be made available upon 
request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Robert Elias, National Center for 
Environmental Assessment-RTP (B243-01), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone: 919-541-4167; fax: 
919-541-1818; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is in the process of updating and 
revising, where appropriate, its Air Quality Criteria for Particulate 
Matter as issued in 1996 (usually referred to as the ``Criteria 
Document''). Sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act require that EPA 
carry out a periodic review and revision, where appropriate, of the air 
quality criteria (embodied in the Criteria Document) and national 
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ``criteria'' air pollutants 
such as PM. Details of EPA's plans for the review of the NAAQS for PM 
were initially announced in a previous Federal Register noitce (62 FR 
55201, October 23, 1997). EPA made a First External Review Draft of the 
updated Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter available for 
review by the Clean Air Act Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and 
members of the public in October 1999 (64 FR 57884, October 27, 1999). 
Following that public review period and a meeting of the CASAC in 
December 1999 (64 FR 61875, November 15, 1999), EPA revised the 
document as appropriate to incorporate CASAC and public comments, as 
well as to reflect many new studies on the effects of PM that were not 
available in time for discussion in the First External Review Draft.
    EPA then made a Second External Review Draft of the Air Quality 
Criteria for Particulate Matter available for CASAC and public review 
in April 2001 (66 FR 18929, April 12, 2001). Following that public 
review period and a second CASAC meeting in July 2001 (66 FR 34924, 
July 2, 2001), EPA again revised the document as appropriate to 
incorporate changes in response to CASAC and public comments and also 
made further revisions reflecting new studies on effects of particulate 
matter that had become available between issuance of the First and 
Second External Review Drafts.
    EPA then made a Third External Review Draft of the Air Quality 
Criteria for Particulate Matter available for CASAC and public review 
in May 2002 (67 FR 31303, May 9, 2002). Following that public review 
period and a third CASAC meeting in July 2002 (67 FR 41723, June 19, 
2002), EPA again revised the document as appropriate to incorporate 
revisions in response to CASAC and public comments and also made 
further revisions reflecting new studies on effects of particulate 
matter that had become available between issuance of the Second and 
Third External Review Drafts, as well as reanalyses of certain existing 
studies occasioned after discovery of problems with applications of 
statistical software.
    EPA made a Fourth External review Draft available for CASAC and 
public review in June 2003 (68 FR 36985).A public meeting with CASAC 
was held August 25-26, 2003, during which CASAC reached closure on 
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, with only relatively minor final 
revisions to be made. No further public review is requested on these 
chapters. However, CASAC did not reach closure on Chapters 7 
(toxicology), 8 (human health), and 9 (integrative synthesis), each of 
which are to be more extensively revised or, in the case of chapter 9, 
to be significantly restructured.
    EPA is now making revised drafts of Chapters 7 and 8 available for 
CASAC and public review. These two revised draft chapters will be 
reviewed by CASAC via a publicly accessible teleconference call in late 
January, 2004 (date and time to be announced in a subsequent Federal 
Register notice). Following that CASAC teleconference, Chapter 9 will 
be released for CASAC and public review at a public meeting in early 
March (date and site to be announced in a later Federal Register 
notice).

    Dated: December 22, 2003.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 03-32054 Filed 12-29-03; 8:45 am]
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