[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39113-39115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10870]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8196-3; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2004-0002]


Draft Toxicological Review of Dichlorobenzenes: In Support of 
Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period and External Peer Review Panel 
Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing a public comment period and an external 
peer review panel meeting to review selected sections of the final 
draft document titled, ``Toxicological Review of Dichlorobenzenes: In 
Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information 
System (IRIS)'' (EPA/

[[Page 39114]]

635/R-03/015), related to the inhalation reference concentration (RfC) 
and inhalation cancer assessment for 1,4-dichlorobenzene. The document 
was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) 
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 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 public comment period begins on July 11, 2006 and ends 
August 9, 2006. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by August 9, 2006. The peer review panel meeting will 
be conducted on August 16, 2006 by teleconference and will begin at 1 
p.m. and end at 4 p.m. Members of the public may call into the 
teleconference meeting and are invited to provide oral statements at 
the commencement of the teleconference. (For more information refer to 
the instructions for registration provided in the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice.)

ADDRESSES: The external peer review panel meeting will be held by 
teleconference. Under an Interagency Agreement between EPA and the 
Department of Energy, the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education 
(ORISE) is organizing, convening, and conducting the peer review panel 
meeting. To obtain the teleconference call-in number and access code, 
register by August 11, 2006, by calling ORISE, P.O. Box 117, MS 17, Oak 
Ridge, TN 37831-0117, at (865) 576-2922 or (865) 241-3168 (facsimile). 
Interested parties may also register on-line at: http://www.orau.gov/dichlorobenzene. Public comments submitted to the EPA by August 9, 2006 
will be provided to the external peer review panel prior to the 
teleconference meeting.
    The draft ``Toxicological Review of Dichlorobenzenes: In Support of 
Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' 
(EPA/635/R-03/015) is available primarily via the Internet on NCEA's 
home page under the Recent Additions menu at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A 
limited number of paper copies are available by contacting the IRIS 
Hotline at (202) 566-1676, (202) 566-1749 (facsimile), or 
[email protected]. If you are requesting a paper copy, please 
provide your name, mailing address, the document title, and the EPA 
number of the requested publication. Copies are not available from 
ORISE.
    Copies of the study by Aiso et al. (2005), referenced in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice are available from the 
IRIS Hotline in paper or electronic format. If you are requesting a 
copy, please provide your name, mailing address or email address, and 
document citation: Aiso et al. (2005) Carcinogenicity and chronic 
toxicity in mice and rats exposed by inhalation to para-dichlorobenzene 
for two years. J Vet Med Sci 67(10): 1019-1029.
    Technical comments may be submitted electronically via 
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: Questions regarding registration and 
logistics for the external peer review panel teleconference should be 
directed to Margaret Lyday, ORISE, P.O. Box 117, MS 17, Oak Ridge, TN 
37831-0117, at (865) 576-2922 or (865) 241-3168 (facsimile), 
[email protected] (e-mail).
    If you have questions about the document, contact Audrey Galizia, 
Chemical Manager, National Center for Environmental Assessment 
telephone: 732-906-6887 facsimile: 732-452-6429 e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Document

    IRIS is a database that contains scientific Agency positions on 
potential adverse human health effects that may result from chronic (or 
lifetime) exposure to specific chemical substances found in the 
environment. The database (available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/iris) contains qualitative and quantitative health effects 
information for more than 500 chemical substances that may be used to 
support the first two steps (hazard identification and dose-response 
evaluation) of the risk assessment process. When supported by available 
data, the database provides oral reference doses (RfDs) and inhalation 
reference concentrations (RfCs) for chronic health effects, and oral 
slope factors and inhalation unit risks for carcinogenic effects. 
Combined with specific exposure information, government and private 
entities use IRIS to help characterize public health risks of chemical 
substances in a site-specific situation and thereby support risk 
management decisions designed to protect public health.
    1,4-Dichlorobenzene is widely used as a space deodorant for toilets 
and refuse containers, as a moth repellent in moth balls or crystals, 
and in other pesticide applications. The current IRIS assessment for 
1,4-dichlorobenzene was placed on the database in 1994 and contains an 
inhalation RfC. A reassessment of the potential health effects of 
dichlorobenzenes has been undertaken. The draft assessment for 
dichlorobenzenes (including the 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-isomers) was 
subject to an external peer review and 30-day public comment period in 
February 2004 (69 FR 4514, January 30, 2004). The scope of the current 
external peer review and public comment is limited to the analyses 
based on a chronic inhalation bioassay of 1,4-dichlorobenzene published 
in the peer-reviewed literature (Aiso et al., 2005. J Vet Med Sci 
67(10): 1019-29) that was not included in the February 2004 external 
peer review draft. This study was identified originally as an 
unpublished study report by the Japan Bioassay Research Center (JBRC, 
1995). Data from Aiso et al. (2005) were used subsequently in the 
quantitative dose-response assessments for the 1,4-dichlorobenzene RfC 
and inhalation cancer assessment.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2004-
0002 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the online 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, 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. 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

[[Page 39115]]

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-
2004-0002. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made 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 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 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: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: July 5, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-10870 Filed 7-10-06; 8:45 am]
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