[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61838-61840]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23581]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[E-DOCKET ID No. ORD-2004-0003; FRL-7829-7]


Draft Proposed Sampling Program To Determine Extent of World 
Trade Center Impacts to the Indoor Environment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability of external review draft and public 
comment period.

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

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of the External Review 
Draft entitled, Draft Proposed Sampling Program to Determine Extent of 
World Trade Center Impacts to the Indoor Environment (EPA/600/R-04/
169A), and a 30-day public comment period. The document was prepared by 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and 
Development and EPA's Region 2 office in New York City. EPA will 
consider the public

[[Page 61839]]

comment submissions in revising the document.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins October 21, 2004, and 
ends November 19, 2004. Technical comments should be in writing and 
must be postmarked by November 19, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The External Review Draft, Draft Proposed Sampling Program 
to Determine Extent of World Trade Center Impacts to the Indoor 
Environment, is available via the Internet on the Web page of the World 
Trade Center (WTC) Expert Technical Review Panel, http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel/. Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail, by 
facsimile or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed 
instructions as provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the draft 
sampling proposal, please contact Matthew Lorber at (202) 564-3243 or 
[email protected]. For further information regarding the WTC 
Expert Technical Review Panel, please contact Lisa Matthews at (202) 
564-6669 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. 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 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 until 
December 2002, residents impacted by WTC 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 EPA had cleaned and monitored 3,400 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 WTC Health 
Registry is a comprehensive and confidential health survey of those 
most directly exposed to the contamination resulting from the collapse 
of the WTC 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, EPA has convened a technical panel 
of experts who have been involved with WTC 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 members will provide individual advice on 
issues the panel addresses. Panel 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 WTC Expert Panel has met seven times as of the date of this 
notice. Mostly, panel members have addressed the development of a 
design for a sampling program to determine the geographic extent of WTC 
impacts to the indoor environment. For the last two meetings, there 
have also been presentations and discussions on studies, either 
underway or completed, which have addressed human health impacts 
resulting from the collapse of the WTC towers.
    Changes will be made to the Draft Proposed Sampling Program to 
Determine Extent of World Trade Center Impacts to the Indoor 
Environment based on comments received as a result of this notice. A 
final sampling program document will then be posted on the WTC Expert 
Panel's Web site.

2. How to Submit Information to E-Docket

    EPA has established an official public docket for information 
pertaining to this action, Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003. The official 
public docket is the collection of materials, excluding Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute, 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 Ave., NW., Washington, DC. 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 official 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, to access the index listing of the contents of 
the official public docket, and to view those documents in the public 
docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select 
``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket identification number.
    Certain types of information will not be placed in EPA Dockets. As 
indicated above, information claimed as CBI and other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute is not included in the official 
public docket; the same

[[Page 61840]]

information will not be available for public viewing in EPA Dockets. 
Copyrighted material also will not be placed in EPA Dockets but will be 
referenced there and available as printed material in the official 
public docket.
    Persons submitting information should note that EPA's policy makes 
the information available as received and at no charge for public 
viewing in EPA Dockets. This policy applies to information submitted 
electronically or in paper, except where restricted by copyright, CBI 
or statute.
    Unless restricted as above, information submitted on computer disks 
that are mailed or delivered to the docket will be transferred to EPA 
Dockets. Physical objects will be photographed, where practical, and 
the photograph will be placed in EPA Dockets along with a brief 
description written by the docket staff.
    You may submit information electronically, by mail, by facsimile or 
by hand delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, include the 
appropriate docket identification number with your submission. Please 
adhere to the specified submitting period. Information received or 
submitted past the close date will be marked ``late'' and will only be 
considered if time permits.
    If you submit information electronically, EPA recommends that you 
include your name, mailing address, and an e-mail address or other 
details for contacting you. Also include these contact details on the 
outside of any disk or CD ROM you submit and in any cover letter 
accompanying the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be 
identified as the person submitting the information and allows EPA to 
contact you in case the Agency cannot read what you submit due to 
technical difficulties or needs to clarify issues raised by what you 
submit. If EPA cannot read what you submit due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, this situation 
may delay or prevent the Agency's consideration of the information.
    To access EPA's electronic public docket from the EPA Internet Home 
Page, select ``Information Sources,'' ``Dockets,'' and ``EPA Dockets.'' 
Once in the system, select ``search,'' and then key in Docket ID No. 
ORD-2004-0003. The system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity, e-mail address or other contact 
details unless you provide it with the information you submit.
    Information may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected], Attention Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003. In contrast 
to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system is not an 
``anonymous access'' system. If you send an e-mail directly to the 
docket without going through EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-
mail system automatically captures your e-mail address, and it becomes 
part of the information in the official public docket and is made 
available in EPA's electronic public docket.
    You may submit information on a disk or CD ROM that you mail to the 
OEI Docket mailing address. Files will be accepted in WordPerfect, Word 
or ASCII file format. Avoid the use of special characters and any form 
of encryption.
    If you provide information in writing, please submit one unbound 
original, with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies. For 
attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively with the main 
text, and submit an unbound original and three copies.

    Dated: October 18, 2004.
Paul Gilman,
EPA Science Advisor and Assistant Administrator for Research and 
Development.
[FR Doc. 04-23581 Filed 10-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P