[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58601-58603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16385]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0122; FRL-8070-3]


Risk Management Practices for Nanoscale Materials; Notice of 
Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is convening a public meeting on risk management practices 
under a possible stewardship program for nanoscale materials under the 
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA is considering development of 
a stewardship program for such nanoscale materials. This program is 
being explored to encourage responsible commercial development of 
nanoscale materials. The stewardship program will also enable EPA, 
affected industry, and other stakeholders to build the capacity to 
assess potential risks to human health and the environment from 
nanoscale materials and to identify risk management practices available 
to reduce such potential risks. EPA is requesting comments at the 
public meeting on: Risk management practices currently used or 
potentially available for use for nanoscale materials, the rationale 
for the use of these practices and the effectiveness or efficiency of 
these practices, and issues to consider for including risk management 
practices for nanoscale materials in the stewardship program. These 
comments will inform EPA on risk management practices to include in the 
stewardship program.

DATES: The meeting will be held on October 19, 2006, from 8 a.m. to 5 
p.m., and on October 20, 2006, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
    Comments must be received on or before 8 a.m., October 19, 2006.
    Requests to present oral comments must be submitted to the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT before 
October 16, 2006. Time for oral comments may be limited, depending on 
the number of requests received.
    Requests to attend the meeting may be submitted electronically 
through the Eastern Research Group (ERG) registration website at 
https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/nano by October 16, 2006. 
Advance requests will assist in planning adequate seating; however, 
members of the public may attend without prior registration. Requests 
for special accommodations may also be submitted through the ERG 
registration website by October 16, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 
L'Enfant Plaza, SW., Washington, DC 20024.
    Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) 
number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0122, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal. http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: OPPT Document Control Office (DCO), EPA 
East, Rm. 6428, 1201 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Attention: 
Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0122. The DCO is open from 8 a.m. to 
4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone 
number for the DCO is (202) 564-8930. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the DCO's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements 
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-
2004-0122. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the docket without change and may be made available on-line at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information

[[Page 58602]]

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 
regulations.gov or e-mail. The regulations.gov website 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 regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 electronically at 
http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in hard copy, at the 
OPPT Docket, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC). The EPA/DC suffered structural 
damage due to flooding in June 2006. Although the EPA/DC is continuing 
operations, there will be temporary changes to the EPA/DC during the 
clean-up. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room, which was temporarily closed 
due to flooding, has been relocated in the EPA Headquarters Library, 
Infoterra Room (Room Number 3334) in EPA West, located at 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room 
is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. The telephone number of the EPA/DC Public Reading Room 
is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket is 
(202) 566-0280. EPA visitors are required to show photographic 
identification and sign the EPA visitor log. Visitors to the EPA/DC 
Public Reading Room will be provided with an EPA/DC badge that must be 
visible at all times while in the EPA Building and returned to the 
guard upon departure. In addition, security personnel will escort 
visitors to and from the new EPA/DC Public Reading Room location. Up-
to-date information about the EPA/DC is on the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact: Colby 
Lintner, Regulatory Coordinator, Environmental Assistance Division 
(7408M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 554-1404; e-mail address: [email protected].
     For technical information contact: Scott Prothero, Economics, 
Exposure and Technology Division (7406M), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 
(202) 564-8514; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

    This action is directed to the public in general, and may be of 
particular interest to those persons who manufacture, import, process, 
or use nanoscale materials that are chemical substances subject to the 
jurisdiction of TSCA. Potentially affected entities may include, but 
are not limited to:
     Chemical manufacturers (NAICS code 325), e.g., persons 
manufacturing, importing, processing, or using chemicals for commercial 
purposes.
     Petroleum and coal product industries (NAICS code 324), 
e.g., persons manufacturing, importing, processing, or using chemicals 
for commercial purposes.
    Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency has not 
attempted to describe all the specific entities that may have an 
interest in this matter. If you have any questions regarding the 
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI to EPA through regulations.gov 
or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you 
claim to be CBI. For CBI information on a disk or CD ROM that you mail 
to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM that you mail to EPA as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
     ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
     iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Background

    Nanoscale materials are chemical substances containing structures 
in the length scale of approximately 1 to 100 nanometers, and may have 
different molecular organizations and properties than the same chemical 
substances in a larger size.
    EPA is considering a stewardship program pertaining to these 
nanoscale materials. (See the Federal Register of May 10, 2005 (70 FR 
24574-24576) (FRL-7700-7.) Information derived from the stewardship 
program would allow EPA and the affected industry to better understand 
the issues with respect to potential risks and for EPA to gain 
experience in the evaluation of such types of chemical substances.
    EPA has received input from the National Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics Advisory Committee (NPPTAC) regarding the intended outcomes of a 
voluntary program in the form of an Overview Document (Ref.1). The

[[Page 58603]]

Overview Document indicates that the program should:
    1. Give EPA and the public a better understanding of the types of 
nanoscale materials produced in the United States. Characteristics of 
these materials that should be identified include: Physical, chemical, 
hazard and exposure characteristics; production volume; and the uses of 
the materials.
    2. Help EPA develop a capacity and process for identifying and 
assessing risks of engineered nanoscale materials.
    3. Help EPA determine what information it needs about engineered 
nanoscale materials and articulate those information needs to industry 
and other stakeholder groups.
    4. Help EPA understand what risk management practices are being 
employed during production, processing, use and disposal stages, and 
what additional risk management practices should be considered for 
implementation.
    5. Prompt or reinforce the implementation of risk management 
practices.
    6. Provide the information and experience needed to develop an 
overall approach to the treatment of nanoscale chemical substances 
under TSCA that builds public trust in nanoscale materials while 
enabling innovation and responsible development. The Overview Document 
indicated that participants in the program should implement basic risk 
management practices or other environmental or occupational health 
protection controls (e.g., worker training, hazard communication 
(including Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)), use of available 
engineering controls, provision of personal protective equipment, 
product labeling, customer training, waste management practices, etc.). 
The Overview Document also suggested that, in developing the program, 
EPA should hold one or more public peer consultation meetings. Among 
other issues, the meeting(s) would address risk management practices to 
be included in a basic program and in an in-depth program, each offered 
under the overall program (Ref. 1).
    EPA is holding this public meeting to assist in elaborating 
possible risk management practices for the stewardship program. The 
public meeting will involve panel discussions of EPA's discussion paper 
on possible risk management practices for the basic program, with time 
allotted for public comment. EPA will place in the public docket and 
the ERG registration website the discussion paper on possible risk 
management practices for nanoscale materials as well as an agenda for 
the meeting.

III. Issues for EPA and Stakeholders

    EPA is requesting comments on the following risk management 
practices for nanoscale materials:
    1. Worker training, including work practices.
    2. Hazard communication.
    3. Engineering controls.
    4. Personal protective equipment.
    5. Product labeling.
    6. Customer training.
    7. Waste management and environmental release management.
    Comments in these specific areas will be particularly helpful:
     Risk management practices currently used for nanoscale 
materials.
     Risk management practices that could potentially be used 
for nanoscale materials.
     Rationale for the use of these practices and the 
effectiveness or efficiency of these practices.
     Issues to consider for determining risk management 
practices for nanoscale materials to include in the basic program.
     Comments on EPA's proposed risk management practices for 
nanoscale materials in the basic program.
    EPA is also requesting comments on:
    1. Other risk management practices for nanoscale materials that 
should be considered.
    2. Consideration for possible additional risk management practices 
for nanoscale materials in the in-depth program.

 IV. References

    The following references have been placed in the public docket that 
was established under docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2004-0122 for this 
action as indicated under ADDRESSES.
    1. NPPTAC. November 22, 2005. Overview of Issues for Consideration 
by NPPTAC.
    2. Discussion paper for public meeting on risk management practices 
for nanoscale materials.
    3. Agenda for public meeting on risk management practices for 
nanoscale materials.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection, Chemicals, Hazardous substances, 
Nanoscale materials.


    Dated: September 22, 2006.
Charles M. Auer,
 Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
[FR Doc. E6-16385 Filed 10-3-06; 8:45 am]
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