[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 87 (Friday, May 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24039-24041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9081]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7908-7; E-Docket ID No. ORD-2005-0016]


External Review Draft, The Inventory of Sources and Environmental 
Releases of Dioxin-Like Compounds in the U.S.: the Year 2000 Update, 
March 2005 (EPA/600/P-03/002A)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period for the 
external review draft document titled, The Inventory of Sources and 
Environmental Releases of Dioxin-Like Compounds in the U.S.: the Year 
2000 Update, March 2005 (EPA/600/P-03/002A) (Draft Dioxin Inventory 
Update). The document was prepared by the EPA's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment within the Office of Research and Development. 
EPA will consider the public comment submissions in revising the 
document. An independent, external, peer-review panel will review the 
document at a workshop in the future. That workshop will be announced 
in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins May 6, 2005, and ends 
July 5, 2005. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by July 5, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The Draft Dioxin Inventory Update is available primarily via 
the Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home 
page at http://www.epa.gov/ncea under the Recent Additions and Data and

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Publications menus. A limited number of CDs and paper copies are 
available from the Technical Information Staff, NCEA-W; telephone: 
(202) 564-3261; facsimile: (202) 565-0050. If you are requesting a CD 
or paper copy, please provide your name, your mailing address, and the 
document title, The Inventory of Sources and Environmental Releases of 
Dioxin-Like Compounds in the U.S.: the Year 2000 Update, March 2005 
(EPA/600/P-03/002A).
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment 
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket; 
telephone: (202) 566-1752; facsimile: (202) 566-1753; or e-mail: 
[email protected].
    For technical information, contact David Cleverly, National Center 
for Environmental Assessment (8623N), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 564-3238; 
facsimile: (202) 565-2018; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

About the Document

    The purpose of the Draft Dioxin Inventory Update is to present an 
inventory of sources and environmental releases of dioxin-like 
compounds in the United States. This Draft is associated with three 
distinct reference years: 1987, 1995, and 2000. The presentation of 
information in this manner permits the ranking of sources by magnitude 
of annual release and allows for the evaluation of environmental trends 
over time.
    The term ``dioxin-like'' includes congeners (chemical compounds) of 
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans 
(CDFs) having chlorine atoms in the 2,3,7,8 positions on the molecule, 
and certain coplanar-substituted polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). 
``Dioxin-like'' refers to the fact that these compounds have similar 
chemical structure and physical-chemical properties and invoke a common 
battery of toxic responses. Because of their hydrophobic nature and 
resistance towards metabolism, these chemicals persist and 
bioaccumulate in fatty tissues of animals and humans. Consequently, the 
principal route of chronic population exposure is through the dietary 
consumption of animal fats, fish, shellfish, and dairy products. 
Dioxin-like compounds are persistent in soils and sediments, with 
environmental half-lives ranging from years to several decades.
    The Draft Dioxin Inventory Update is an update of a previous 
external review draft report entitled, The Inventory of Sources of 
Dioxin in the United States (EPA/600/P-98/002Aa), dated April 1998. The 
1998 draft inventory presented annual estimates of environmental 
releases for reference years 1987 and 1995. A meeting of scientific and 
engineering experts was convened June 3-4, 1998, to review the 
scientific soundness of EPA's dioxin inventory. Overall, the reviewers 
found the inventory report to be comprehensive and well documented and 
the ``emission factor approach'' that was used to develop the inventory 
to be scientifically defensible. The review committee recommended that 
EPA (a) take a less conservative approach for including data on 
emissions of dioxin-like compounds from sources, especially data from 
foreign countries and those found in the nonpayer-reviewed literature; 
(b) adopt a qualitative ranking system that clearly indicates the 
relative amount of uncertainty behind the calculations of annual 
releases of dioxin-like compounds; (c) present the inventory of sources 
and environmental releases specific to the reference years, because 
technologies and emissions of dioxin from sources changes over time; 
and (d) present the dioxin inventory as a summary table of sources and 
estimated annual releases, including quantifiable as well as poorly 
understood sources. The Draft Dioxin Inventory Update reflects comments 
made by the review committee and also represents an update with the 
inclusion of a third reference year, 2000.
    One of the preliminary conclusions in the Draft Dioxin Inventory 
Update is that, between 1987 and 2000, there was an approximately 89% 
reduction in the release of dioxin-like compounds to the circulating 
environment of the United States from all known sources combined. 
Annual emission estimates (TEQDF-WHO98) of 
releases of CDDs/CDFs to air, water, and land from reasonably 
quantifiable sources are approximately 1,529 g in reference year 2000; 
3,280 g in reference year 1995; and 13,962 g in reference year 1987. In 
1987 and 1995, the leading sources of dioxin emissions to the U.S. 
environment were municipal waste combustors. The inventory also 
identifies bleached chlorine pulp and paper mills as a significant 
source of dioxin to the aquatic environment in 1987 but a minor source 
in 1995 and 2000. The Draft concludes that the major source of dioxin 
in 2000 was the uncontrolled burning of refuse in backyard burn barrels 
in rural areas of the United States.
    The reduction in environmental releases of dioxin-like compounds 
from 1987 to 2000 is attributable to source-specific regulations, 
improvements in source technology, advancements in the pollution 
control technologies specific to controlling dioxin discharges and 
releases, and the voluntary actions of U.S. industries to reduce or 
prevent dioxin releases.

How to Submit Comments to EPA's E-Docket

    EPA has established an official public docket for information 
pertaining to the revision of the Draft Dioxin Inventory Update, Docket 
ID No. ORD-2005-0016. 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, which is not included in the official public 
docket, also will not be available for public viewing in E-Docket. 
Copyrighted material will not be placed in E-Docket, but will be 
referenced there and available as printed material in the official 
public docket.
    For people submitting public comments, please note that EPA's 
policy makes that information available for public viewing as received 
at the EPA Docket Center or in E-Docket. This

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policy applies to information submitted electronically or in paper 
form, except where restricted by copyright, CBI, or statute. When EPA 
identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide 
a reference to that material in the version of the comment placed in 
EPA's electronic public docket; the entire printed comment, including 
the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket.
    Public comments 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 comments 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; public comments received or 
submitted past the closing date will be marked ``late'' and may only be 
considered if time permits.
    If you submit public comments electronically, EPA recommends that 
you include your name, mailing address, and an e-mail address or other 
contact information in the body of your comment. Also include these 
contact details on the outside of any submitted disk or CD-ROM, and in 
any cover letter accompanying the disk or CD-ROM. This ensures that you 
can be identified as the person submitting the public comments and 
allows EPA to contact you in case the Agency cannot read your 
submission due to technical difficulties, or needs further information 
on the substance of your comment. EPA will not edit your comment, and 
any identifying or contact information provided in the body of the 
comment will be included as part of the comment placed in the official 
public docket and made available in E-Docket. If EPA cannot read what 
you submit due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, it may delay or prohibit EPA's consideration of your 
comments.
    Electronic submission of comments via E-Docket is the preferred 
method for receiving comments. 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-2005-0016. 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 in the body of your comment.
    Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected], Attention Docket ID No. ORD-2005-0016. 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 E-
Docket.
    You may submit comments on a disk or CD-ROM mailed to the OEI 
Docket mailing address. Files will be accepted in WordPerfect, Word, or 
PDF file format. Avoid the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption.
    If you provide comments 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: May 2, 2005.
George W. Alapas,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 05-9081 Filed 5-5-05; 8:45 am]
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