[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52255-52256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19438]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL -7806-1]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Clean Air Scientific 
Advisory Committee (CASAC) Notification of Advisory Committee Meeting 
of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference of the Clean 
Air Scientific Advisory Committee's (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) 
Review Panel to discuss follow-on matters related to its ongoing peer 
review of the EPA Air Quality Criteria Document for Particulate Matter 
(Fourth External Review Draft).

DATES: The teleconference meeting will be held September 20, 2004, from 
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Eastern Time).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public who wishes to 
obtain the teleconference call-in numbers and access codes; would like 
to submit written or brief oral comments (5 minutes or less); or wants 
further information concerning this meeting, must contact Mr. Fred 
Butterfield, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory 
Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice mail: (202) 343-
9994; fax: (202) 233-0643; or e-mail at: [email protected]. 
General information concerning the CASAC or the EPA Science Advisory 
Board can be found on the EPA Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Summary: The CASAC, which comprises seven members appointed by the 
EPA Administrator, was established under section 109(d)(2) of the Clean 
Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) as an independent scientific advisory 
committee, in part to provide advice, information and recommendations 
on the scientific and technical aspects of issues related to air 
quality criteria and national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) 
under sections 108 and 109 of the Act. The CASAC is a Federal advisory 
committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as 
amended, 5 U.S.C., App. The CASAC PM Review Panel will comply with the 
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    The teleconference is a continuation of the PM Review Panel's peer 
review of the EPA Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (Fourth 
External Review Draft). Specifically, this meeting will be held to 
discuss the revisions to Chapter 9 (Integrative Synthesis) of the 
Fourth External Review Draft of the Air Quality Criteria Document 
(AQCD) for PM. The report from the CASAC PM Review Panel's last meeting 
to review this draft document, held on July 20-21, 2004, will soon be 
posted on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    Background: EPA is in the process of updating, and revising where 
appropriate, the AQCD for PM as issued in 1996. Section 109(d)(1) of 
the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires that EPA carry out a periodic review 
and revision, where appropriate, of the air quality criteria and the 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ``criteria'' air 
pollutants such as PM. On June 30, 2003, the National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA), within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development, made available for public review and comment a Fourth 
External Review Draft of a revised document, EPA Air Quality Criteria 
for Particulate Matter. Under CAA sections 108 and 109, the purpose of 
the revised document is to provide an assessment of the latest 
scientific information on the effects of airborne PM on the public 
health and welfare, for use in EPA's current review of the NAAQS for 
PM. Detailed summary information on the history of the current draft 
AQCD for PM is contained in a previous Federal Register notice (68 FR 
36985, June 20, 2003). The EPA Air Quality Criteria for Particulate 
Matter (Fourth External Review Draft), and the revised chapters of this 
draft document, can be viewed and downloaded from the NCEA Web site at: 
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/partmatt.cfm. Any questions concerning 
the draft document should be directed to Dr. Robert Elias, NCEA-RTP, 
via telephone: (919) 541-1818; or e-mail at: [email protected].
    Availability of Additional Meeting Materials: A copy of the agenda 
for this teleconference meeting will be posted on the SAB Web site at: 
http://www.epa.gov/sab (under the ``Agendas'' subheading) in advance of 
the CASAC PM Review Panel teleconference. Other materials that may be 
available will also be posted on the SAB Web site during this time-
frame.
    Providing Oral or Written Comments at SAB Meetings: It is the 
policy of the SAB Staff Office to accept written public comments of any 
length and to accommodate oral public comments whenever possible. The 
SAB Staff Office expects that public statements presented at its 
meetings will not be repetitive of previously-submitted oral or written 
statements. Oral Comments: In general, each individual or group 
requesting an oral presentation at a meeting or teleconference will be 
limited to a total time of five minutes (unless otherwise indicated). 
Requests to provide oral comments must be in writing (preferably via e-
mail) and received by Mr. Butterfield no later than noon Eastern Time 
five business days prior to the meeting in order to reserve time on the 
meeting agenda. Written Comments: The SAB Staff Office accepts written 
comments until the date of the meeting or teleconference (unless 
otherwise stated). Copies of both oral and written public comments 
should be provided to Mr. Butterfield (preferably via e-mail) at the 
address/contact information noted above, as follows: one hard copy with 
original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file 
format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, Word, or Rich Text files (in 
IBM-PC/Windows 95/98 format)). All comments should be received in the 
SAB Staff Office no later than noon Eastern Time five business days 
prior to the meeting or teleconference so that these comments may be 
made available to the CASAC PM Review Panel for their consideration.


[[Page 52256]]


    Dated: August 13, 2004.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 04-19438 Filed 8-24-04; 8:45 am]
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