[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 126 (Thursday, July 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39926-39927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14996]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7780-8]


Fifth Meeting 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.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel will hold 
its fifth meeting intended to provide for greater input from 
individuals on ongoing efforts to monitor the situation for New York 
residents and workers impacted by the collapse of the World Trade 
Center. The 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. 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.

DATES: The fifth meeting of this panel will be held on July 26, 2004 
from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., eastern daylight savings time. On-site 
registration will begin at 9:00 a.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at St. John's University, Saval 
Auditorium, 101 Murray Street (between Greenwich Street and West Side 
Highway), New York City (Manhattan). The auditorium is located on the 
second floor of the building and is handicap accessible. A government-
issued identification (e.g., driver's license) is required for entry.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For meeting information, registration 
and logistics, please see the Web site http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel or 
contact ERG at (781) 674-7374. The meeting agenda and logistical 
information will be posted on the Web site and will also be available 
in hard copy. For further information regarding the technical panel, 
contact Ms. Lisa Matthews, EPA Office of the Science Advisor, telephone 
(202) 564-6669 or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Meeting Information

    Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG), an EPA contractor, will 
coordinate the meeting. To attend the meeting as an observer, please 
register by visiting the Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel. You 
may also register for the meeting by calling ERG's conference 
registration line between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. e.d.s.t. at 
(781) 674-7374 or toll free at 1-800-803-2833, or by faxing a 
registration request to (781) 674-2906 (include full address and 
contact information). Pre-registration is strongly recommended as space 
is limited, and registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-
served basis. The deadline for pre-registration is July 21, 2004. 
Registrations will continue to be accepted after this date, including 
on-site registration, if space allows. There will be a limited time at 
the meeting for oral comments from the public. Oral comments will be 
limited to five (5) minutes each. If you wish to make a statement 
during the observer comment period, please check the appropriate box 
when you register at the Web site. Please bring a copy of your comments 
to the meeting for the record or submit them electronically via e-mail 
to [email protected], subject line: WTC.

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/.
    In addition to environmental monitoring, EPA efforts also included 
toxicity testing of the dust, 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, is available on the Web at www.epa.gov/ncea/wtc.htm). 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 either federally-funded cleaning and monitoring for 
airborne asbestos or monitoring of their residences. The cleanup 
continued into the summer of 2003, by which time the EPA had cleaned 
and monitored 3,400 apartments and monitored 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,

[[Page 39927]]

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, a charge statement and operating principles for the panel are 
available from the panel Web site listed above. Panel meetings 
typically will be one-or two-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 brief oral comments. The 
focus of the fifth meeting is to review concepts for a sampling and 
testing program to determine the geographic extent of World Trade 
Center contamination, to review plans for a World Trade Center 
signature validation study, and also to begin briefing the panel 
members on current public health studies related to World Trade Center 
impacts. Further information on panel 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 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: June 25, 2004.
Paul Gilman,
EPA Science Advisor and Assistant Administrator for Research and 
Development.
[FR Doc. 04-14996 Filed 6-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P