[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23191-23193]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9718]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7654-7; E-Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003]


Telephone Conference Call of the World Trade Center Expert 
Technical Review Panel To Continue Evaluation on Issues Relating to 
Impacts of the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel will hold 
a telephone conference call to provide for greater input on ongoing 
efforts to monitor the situation for New York residents and workers 
impacted by the collapse of the World Trade Center. The individual 
panel members will help guide the EPA's use of the available exposure 
and health surveillance databases and registries to characterize any 
remaining exposures and risks, identify unmet public health needs, and 
recommend any steps to further minimize the risks associated with the 
aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. The panel will meet 
several times over the course of approximately two years, and these 
panel meetings will be open to the public, except where the public 
interest requires otherwise. Information on the panel meeting agendas, 
documents (except where the public interest requires otherwise), and 
public registration to attend the meetings will be available from an 
Internet Web site. EPA has established an official public docket for 
this action under Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003. Instructions for the 
dial-in telephone conference call are in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: The telephone conference call of this panel will be held on May 
12, 2004,

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from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., eastern daylight savings time.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For call information, please see the 
Web site http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel or contact Sarah Bauer by 
telephone at (202) 564-3267 or by e-mail at [email protected]. The 
meeting agenda will be posted on the Web site and EDOCKET and will also 
be available in hard copy. For further information only regarding the 
technical panel, contact Michael Brown at (202) 564-6766 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Call Information

    The meeting proceedings can be heard live by following these 
instructions for the dial-in telephone conference call:
    1. Dial 1-800-341-3088 and follow the voice prompt.
    2. At the voice prompt, enter the Conference Code 1646347 and the 
 key.
    3. You will be connected to the conference.
    4. If you are disconnected for any reason, you can dial 1-800-341-
3088 and enter Conference Code 1646347  to continue with the 
conference or call the Conference Center at 1-800-574-3456 for further 
assistance.

Playback Instructions

    The conference call will be recorded. To listen to the recording:
    1. Dial 1-800-756-3819 after 2 p.m. eastern daylight savings time 
on May 12th.
    2. At the voice prompt, press 162137 followed by the  key.
    3. The conference will then be played back to you over the phone.
    The nine digits on your keypad will allow you to control the 
playback:
    1. Slow Rewind;
    2. Increase volume;
    3. Slow Forward;
    4. Medium Rewind;
    5. Pause On/Off;
    6. Medium Forward;
    7. Fast Rewind;
    8. Decrease Volume; and
    9. Fast Forward.

II. Background Information

    Immediately following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on 
New York City's World Trade Center, many Federal agencies, including 
the EPA, were called upon to focus their technical and scientific 
expertise on the national emergency. EPA, other Federal agencies, New 
York City, and New York State public health and environmental 
authorities focused on numerous cleanup, dust collection and ambient 
air monitoring activities to ameliorate and better understand the human 
health impacts of the disaster. Detailed information concerning the 
environmental monitoring activities that were conducted as part of this 
response is available at the EPA Response to 9-11 Web site at http://www.epa.gov/wtc/ wtc/.
    In addition to environmental monitoring, EPA efforts also included 
toxicity testing of the dust on laboratory mice, as well as the 
development of a human exposure and health risk assessment. This risk 
assessment document, Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne 
Pollution from the World Trade Center Disaster (http://www.epa.gov/ncea/wtc.htm), has been subjected to public comment and expert peer 
review, and is currently undergoing revisions prior to finalization. 
Numerous additional studies by other Federal and State agencies, 
universities, and other organizations have documented impacts to both 
the outdoor and indoor environments, and to human health.
    While these monitoring and assessment activities were ongoing, and 
the cleanup at Ground Zero itself was occurring, EPA began planning for 
a program to clean and monitor residential apartments. From June 2002 
until December 2002, residents impacted by World Trade Center dust and 
debris in an area of about 1 mile by 1 mile south of Canal Street were 
eligible to request federally funded cleaning and monitoring for 
airborne asbestos or only monitoring of their residences. The cleanup 
continued into the summer of 2003, by which time the EPA had cleaned 
and monitored 3400 apartments and monitored an additional 800 
apartments. Detailed information on this portion of the EPA response is 
also available at http://www.epa.gov/wtc/.
    A critical component of understanding long-term human health 
impacts is the establishment of health registries. The World Trade 
Center Health Registry is a comprehensive and confidential health 
survey of those most directly exposed to the contamination resulting 
from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. It is intended to 
give health professionals a better picture of the health consequences 
of 9/11. It was established by the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the New York City Department of Health and 
Mental Hygiene (NYCDHMH), in cooperation with a number of academic 
institutions, public agencies and community groups. Detailed 
information about the registry can be obtained from the registry Web 
site at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wtc/index.html.
    In order to obtain individual advice on the effectiveness of these 
programs, unmet needs and data gaps, the EPA has convened a technical 
panel of experts who have been involved with World Trade Center 
assessment activities. Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA Science Advisor, serves as 
Chair of the panel, and Dr. Paul Lioy, Professor of Environmental and 
Community Medicine at the Environmental and Occupational Health 
Sciences Institute of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-UMDNJ and 
Rutgers University, serves as Vice Chair. A full list of the panel 
members and a charge statement and operating principles for the panel 
are available from the panel Web site listed above. Panel meetings will 
each be one-day meetings, and they will occur over the course of 
approximately a two-year period. Panel members will provide individual 
advice on issues the panel addresses. These meetings will occur in New 
York City and nearby locations. All of the meetings will be announced 
on the Web site and by a Federal Register Notice, and they will be open 
to the public for attendance and also to provide brief oral comment. 
The focus of the phone call is to discuss a draft sampling program to 
evaluate the incidence of contamination in apartments around the World 
Trade Center site. Future meetings will address planned activities by 
EPA regarding monitoring, assessment and health registries. Further 
information on these meetings can be found at the Web site identified 
earlier: http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel.

III. How To Get Information on E-DOCKET

    EPA has established an official public docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003. The official public docket consists of the 
documents specifically referenced in this action, any public comments 
received, and other information related to this action. Although a part 
of the official docket, the public docket does not include Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. The official public docket is the collection of 
materials that is available for public viewing at the Office of 
Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in the Headquarters EPA Docket 
Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West Building, Room B102, 1301 Constitution 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading 
Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading 
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for

[[Page 23193]]

the OEI Docket is (202) 566-1752; facsimile: (202) 566-1753; or e-mail: 
[email protected].
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may 
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view public 
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the official 
public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that 
are available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,'' 
then key in the appropriate docket identification number.

    Dated: April 23, 2004.
William H. Farland,
Chief Scientist, Office of the Science Advisor.
[FR Doc. 04-9718 Filed 4-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P