[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 146 (Monday, July 31, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43154-43155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12216]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8204-6; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2004-0018]


Draft Air Quality Criteria for Lead

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period on Revised Integrative 
Synthesis Chapter and Executive Summary.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing a public comment period for revised 
Integrative Synthesis and Executive Summary chapters from the draft 
document titled, ``Air Quality Criteria for Lead; Second External 
Review Draft'' (EPA/600/R-05/144aB-bB). The document was prepared by 
the National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of 
Research and Development.
    EPA is releasing these draft chapters solely for the purpose of 
seeking public comment and for review by the Clean Air Scientific 
Advisory Committee (CASAC) via a teleconference meeting to be held on 
August 15, 2006 (time and phone number to be specified in a separate 
Federal Register notice). It does not represent and should not be 
construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, 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 or about August 1, 2006, and 
ends August 15, 2006. Comments must be received on or before August 15, 
2006.

ADDRESSES: The revised Integrative Synthesis and Executive Summary 
chapters from the draft ``Air Quality Criteria for Lead; Second 
External Review Draft'' will be available primarily via the Internet on 
the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home page under the 
Recent Additions and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A 
limited number of CD-ROM or paper copies will be available. Contact Ms. 
Diane Ray by phone (919-541-3637), fax (919-541-1818), or e-mail 
([email protected]) to request either of these, and please provide your 
name, your mailing address, and the document title, ``Air Quality 
Criteria for Lead; Second External Review Draft,'' (EPA/600/R-05/144aB-
bB) to facilitate processing of your request.
    Comments may be submitted electronically via www.regulations.gov, 
by mail, 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; or e-mail: [email protected].
    For technical information, contact Lori White, PhD., NCEA; 
telephone: 919-541-3146; facsimile: 919-541-1818; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information about the Project/Document

    Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to 
identify certain pollutants that ``may reasonably be anticipated to 
endanger public health and welfare'' and to issue air quality criteria 
for them. These air quality criteria are to (accurately reflect the 
latest scientific knowledge useful in indicating the kind and extent of 
all identifiable effects on public health or welfare which may be 
expected from the presence of [a] pollutant in the ambient air* * *.'' 
Under section 109 of the Act, EPA is then to establish National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA has 
issued criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act requires subsequent periodic 
review and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria 
to reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the 
pollutant on public health and welfare. EPA is also to revise the 
NAAQS, if appropriate, based on the revised criteria.
    Lead is one of six ``criteria'' pollutants for which EPA has 
established air quality criteria and NAAQS. On November 9, 2004 (69 FR 
64926), EPA formally initiated its current review of the criteria and 
NAAQS for lead, requesting the submission of recent scientific 
information on specified topics. A draft of EPA's ``Project Work Plan 
for Revised Air Quality Criteria for Lead'' (NCEA-R-1465) was released 
on January 7, 2005, for public comment (70 FR 1439) and was discussed 
by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) via a publicly 
accessible March 28, 2005, teleconference consultation (70 FR

[[Page 43155]]

11629). On July 15, 2005 (70 FR 41007), several workshops were 
announced to discuss, with invited recognized scientific experts, 
initial draft materials that dealt with various lead-related issues 
being addressed in the draft AQCD for lead. These workshops were held 
August 4-5, 16-18, and 17-19, 2005. The first external review draft of 
the Air Quality Criteria for Lead, EPA/600/R-05/144aA-bA, was announced 
in the Federal Register on December 2, 2005 (70 FR 72300). The CASAC 
Lead Review Panel reviewed the first external review draft at a public 
meeting on February 28 and March 1, 2006.
    Release of the second external review draft of the Air Quality 
Criteria for Lead, EPA/600/R-05/144aB-bB, was announced in the Federal 
Register on May 19, 2006 (71 FR 29152). The CASAC Lead Review Panel 
reviewed the second external review draft at a public meeting on June 
28-29, 2006. EPA is now releasing revised Integrative Synthesis and 
Executive Summary chapters for public and CASAC review. EPA has 
considered the comments of the CASAC review panel and of the public in 
preparing both the Second External Review Draft of the Air Quality 
Criteria for Lead and these revised Integrative Synthesis and Executive 
Summary chapters.
    After the end of the comment period on the revised Integrative 
Synthesis and Executive Summary chapters for the Air Quality Criteria 
for Lead, Second External Review Draft, EPA will present the draft at a 
public meeting for review by CASAC. Public comments received will be 
provided to the CASAC review panel. There will be a Federal Register 
notice to inform the public of the exact date and time of that CASAC 
meeting.

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-
0018, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in 
the Headquarters EPA Docket Center (Mail Code 2822T), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: 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. Deliveries are only accepted during the 
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.


    Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding 
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing 
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary 
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of 
operation for people who wish to make hand deliveries or visit the 
Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal 
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at 
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on docket 
operations, locations and telephone numbers. The Docket Center's 
mailing address for U.S. mail and the procedure for submitting 
comments to www.regulations.gov are not affected by the flooding and 
will remain the same.


    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.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2004-0018. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the included information is claimed as 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 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 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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket at the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: July 25, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E6-12216 Filed 7-28-06; 8:45 am]
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