[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 110 (Thursday, June 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33306-33307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8937]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8181-6; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-0491]


External Review Draft, Estimation of Biota Sediment Accumulation 
Factor (BSAF) From Paired Observations of Chemical Concentrations in 
Biota and Sediment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 30-day public comment period for the draft 
document titled, ``Estimation of Biota Sediment Accumulation Factor 
(BSAF) from Paired Observations of Chemical Concentrations in Biota and 
Sediment'' (EPA/600/R-06/047). The document was prepared by the 
Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center managed by the National 
Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development.
    EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It 
does

[[Page 33307]]

not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency 
policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments 
submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins June 8, 2006, and ends 
July 10, 2006. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by July 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The draft document, ``Estimation of Biota Sediment 
Accumulation Factor (BSAF) from Paired Observations of Chemical 
Concentrations in Biota and Sediment,'' is available primarily via the 
Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment(s home 
page under the Recent Additions and Data and Publications menus at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of paper copies are available 
from the Technical Information Staff, NCEA-Cin; telephone: 513-569-
7257; facsimile: 513-569-7916. If you are requesting a paper copy, 
please provide your name, your mailing address, and the document title, 
``Estimation of Biota Sediment Accumulation Factor (BSAF) from Paired 
Observations of Chemical Concentrations in Biota and Sediment.''
    Comments may be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/
courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

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 Michael Kravitz, NCEA; 
telephone: 513-569-7740; facsimile: 513-487-2540; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Project/Document

    U.S. EPA's Ecological Risk Assessment Support Center (ERASC) is a 
knowledge center that provides technical information and addresses 
scientific questions on topics relevant to ecological risk assessment 
at hazardous waste sites for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency 
Response (OSWER) and Regional Superfund/Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) staff. Topics are submitted to ERASC by users in 
EPA program offices and regions. The ERASC is managed by the Office of 
Research and Development's (ORD's) National Center for Environmental 
Assessment and is located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
    The ERASC recently completed an external review draft of the 
document titled, ``Estimation of Biota Sediment Accumulation Factor 
(BSAF) from Paired Observations of Chemical Concentrations in Biota and 
Sediment.'' BSAF is a parameter describing bioaccumulation of sediment-
associated organic compounds or metals into tissues of ecological 
receptors. The draft provides information on methodologies to estimate 
BSAF. It is focused solely on the determination of BSAFs for nonionic 
organic chemicals and is primarily applicable to fish and high level 
shellfish, e.g., crabs. The determination of BSAFs for metals is not 
discussed.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at 
www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-
0491 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-1753.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-
566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center, Room B102 EPA West Building, 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. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should 
be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    If you provide comments in writing, please submit one unbound 
original with pages numbered consecutively, and three copies of the 
comments. For attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively 
with the comments, and submit an unbound original and three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2006-0491. It is EPA's policy to include all comments it receives in 
the public docket without change and to make the comments available 
online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed 
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
at http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: May 26, 2006.
George W. Alapas,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-8937 Filed 6-7-06; 8:45 am]
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