[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 216 (Tuesday, November 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64926-64928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24924]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7835-4]


Air Quality Criteria Document for Lead

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice; call for information.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of 
Research and Development's National Center for Environmental Assessment 
(NCEA) is updating and revising, where appropriate, the Air Quality 
Criteria for Lead, EPA-600/8-83/028aF-dF, published in June 1986, and 
the associated supplement (EPA-600/8-89/049F) published in 1990. 
Interested parties are invited to assist the EPA in developing and 
refining the scientific information base for updating the Air Quality 
Criteria for Lead by submitting research studies that have been 
published, accepted for publication, or presented at a public 
scientific meeting.

DATES: The sixty-day period for submission of this information begins 
November 15, 2004, and ends January 15, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted electronically, by mail, by 
facsimile, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed 
instructions as provided in the section of this notice entitled 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For details on the period for 
submission of research information from the public, contact the Office 
of Environmental Information Docket; telephone: 202-566-1752; 
facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: [email protected].
    For technical information, contact Robert Elias, Ph.D., NCEA, 
facsimile: 919-541-1818 or e-mail: [email protected].

[[Page 64927]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Clean Air Act, lead is one of six 
principal (or ``criteria'') pollutants for which EPA has established 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Periodically, EPA 
reviews the scientific basis for these standards by preparing an Air 
Quality Criteria Document (AQCD). The AQCD is the scientific basis for 
the additional technical and policy assessments that form the basis for 
EPA decisions on the adequacy of a current NAAQS and the 
appropriateness of new or revised standards. One of the first steps in 
this process is to announce the beginning of this periodic NAAQS review 
and the start of the development of the AQCD, by requesting that the 
public submit scientific literature that they want to bring to the 
attention of the Agency as it begins this process. The Clean Air 
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), a review committee mandated by 
the Clean Air Act and part of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB), 
is charged with independent expert scientific review of EPA's draft 
AQCDs. As the process proceeds, the public will have opportunities to 
review and comment on the draft lead AQCD. These opportunities will 
also be announced in the Federal Register.
    Since completion of the 1986 Air Quality Criteria for Lead and the 
associated 1990 Lead Supplement, EPA has continued to follow the 
scientific research on lead exposure and its effects on health and the 
environment and has gathered some appropriate studies. The Agency is 
interested in additional new information, particularly concerning the 
effects of lead on humans and on laboratory animals, as well as on 
vegetation, both in agricultural ecosystems (crops) and in natural 
ecosystems. EPA also seeks recent information in other areas of lead 
research such as chemistry and physics, sources and emissions, 
analytical methodology, transport and transformation in the 
environment, and ambient concentrations. This and other selected 
literature relevant to a review of the NAAQS for lead will be assessed 
in the forthcoming revised Lead AQCD. One or more drafts of the lead 
AQCD are expected to be made available by EPA for public comment and 
CASAC review during 2005 and/or possibly 2006. In addition, other 
opportunities for submission of new peer-reviewed, published (or in-
press) papers will be possible as part of public comment on the draft 
documents that will be reviewed by CASAC.
    EPA has established an official public docket for information 
pertaining to the revision of the lead criteria document, Docket ID No. 
ORD-2004-0018. 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 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, E-Docket. 
You may use E-Docket 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 E-Docket. 
Information claimed as CBI and other information with disclosure 
restricted by statute, also not included in the official public docket, 
will not be available for public viewing in E-Docket. Copyrighted 
material also will not be placed in E-Docket 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 at the EPA Docket Center or in E-Docket. 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 E-
Docket. Physical objects will be photographed, where practical, and the 
photograph will be placed in E-Docket 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 may 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, it may delay or 
prohibit 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 key in Docket ID No. ORD-
2004-0018. The system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means 
EPA will not know your identity, e-mail address, or other contact 
details if you are merely viewing the information.
    Information may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected], Attention Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0018. 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 E-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 E-Docket.
    You may submit information on a disk or CD ROM mailed 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.


[[Page 64928]]


    Dated: November 3, 2004.
John Vandenberg,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 04-24924 Filed 11-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P