[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 199 (Monday, October 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60703-60704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17098]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8231-2; EPA-HQ-Docket ID No. EPA-ORD-2006-0666]


Approaches To Estimating the Waterborne Disease Outbreak Burden 
in the United States: Uses and Limitations of the Waterborne Disease 
Outbreak Surveillance System; External Review Draft

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of peer-review workshop.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing that Versar, Inc., an EPA contractor for 
external scientific peer review, will convene an independent panel of 
experts and organize and conduct a two-day external peer-review 
workshop to review the external review draft document titled, 
``Approaches to Estimating the Waterborne Disease Outbreak Burden in 
the United States: Uses and Limitations of the Waterborne Disease 
Outbreak Surveillance System'' (EPA/600/R-06/069).
    On September 15, 2006 (71 FR 54481), EPA announced a 30-day public 
comment period for the draft document. The public comment period ends 
October 16, 2006. The draft document was prepared by the National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of 
Research and Development.
    The public comment period and the external peer-review workshop are 
separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested 
parties to comment on the document. In addition to consideration by 
EPA, all public comments submitted in accordance with this notice will 
also be forwarded to

[[Page 60704]]

EPA's contractor for the external peer-review panel prior to the 
workshop.
    EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. This draft document has not been formally disseminated by 
EPA. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any 
Agency policy or determination.
    Versar, Inc., invites the public to register to attend this 
workshop as observers. In addition, Versar, Inc., invites the public to 
give oral and/or provide written comments at the workshop regarding the 
draft document under review. The draft document and EPA's peer-review 
charge are available primarily via the Internet on NCEA's home page 
under the Recent Additions and the Data and Publications menus at 
http://www.epa.gov/ncea. In preparing a final report, EPA intends to 
consider Versar, Inc.'s report of the comments and recommendations from 
the external peer-review workshop and any public comments that EPA 
receives in accordance with this notice.

DATES: The peer-review panel workshop will begin on October 26, 2006, 
at 9 a.m. and end on October 27, 2006, at 5 p.m. The second day of the 
workshop is closed to the public and to EPA so that the peer-review 
panel members can consider the draft document and prepare their 
individual comments. On September 15, 2006, EPA announced a thirty-day 
public comment period for the draft document, which began September 15, 
2006, and ends October 16, 2006 (71 FR 54481). Technical comments 
should be in writing and must be received by EPA by October 16, 2006. 
For more information on how to submit comments, please refer to the 
September 15, 2006, Federal Register notice (71 FR 54481).

ADDRESSES: The peer-review workshop will be held at the U.S. EPA, 
Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center (AWBERC) Building, 
26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268. The EPA 
contractor, Versar, Inc., is organizing, convening, and conducting the 
peer-review workshop. To attend the workshop, register by October 20, 
2006, by visiting http://epa.versar.com/waterborne. You can also 
register by calling Keith E. Drewes at Versar, Inc. (386) 852-8322, 
sending a facsimile to (386) 322-6051, or sending an e-mail to 
[email protected].
    The draft document, ``Approaches to Estimating the Waterborne 
Disease Outbreak Burden in the United States: Uses and Limitations of 
the Waterborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System,'' is available 
primarily via the Internet on the National Center for Environmental 
Assessment's home page under the Recent Additions and the Data and 
Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of 
paper copies are available from the Technical Information Staff, NCEA-
Cincinnati by telephone: (513) 569-7257 or by facsimile: (513) 569-
7916. If you are requesting a paper copy, please provide your name, 
mailing address, and the document title, ``Approaches to Estimating the 
Waterborne Disease Outbreak Burden in the United States: Uses and 
Limitations of the Waterborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System.'' 
Copies are not available from Versar, Inc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding information, 
registration, and logistics for the external peer-review workshop 
should be directed to Keith E. Drewes of Versar, Inc., via e-mail: 
[email protected], telephone: (386) 852-8322, or facsimile: (386) 
322-6051.
    For information on the public comment period, contact the Office of 
Environmental Information Docket by telephone: (202) 566-1752, 
facsimile: (202) 566-1753, or e-mail: [email protected].
    If you need technical information about the document, please 
contact Glenn Rice, National Center for Environmental Assessment 
(NCEA), by telephone: (513) 569-7813, facsimile: (513) 487-2539, or e-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Summary of Information About the Project/Document

    Information about waterborne disease outbreaks (WBDOs) in the 
United States is voluntarily reported by State, territorial and local 
public health agencies to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC). CDC and EPA jointly maintain a WBDO database. The 
database describes outbreak attributes including, among other things, 
the drinking water system deficiency, the etiologic agent, and the 
number of individuals who became ill. Underreporting of such events is 
assumed but the magnitude of underreporting is unknown.
    This draft document presents an approach for estimating the 
epidemiologic and economic burden of disease associated with 665 WBDOs 
reported in the U.S. between 1971 and 2000. The term disease burden 
broadly refers to the magnitude of the impact incurred by society as a 
consequence of disease in the community (e.g., decrements in a 
population's health or the associated economic effects) and there are 
various metrics that can be employed by analysts to quantify burden. In 
order to capture some of the benefits of drinking water regulations, 
EPA has typically expressed waterborne disease impacts in terms of 
epidemiologic and monetary measures; this WBDO burden analysis employs 
those same measures. Because not all WBDOs in the United States and 
associated cases of illness are reported, the WBDO database on which 
this draft document is based is not comprehensive. The extent to which 
WBDOs are not recognized is unknown and is not examined in this 
analysis. This draft report develops several quantitative sensitivity 
analyses to characterize some of the uncertainty in the burden 
estimates but does not provide an evaluation of the potential impact of 
under- or overreporting of WBDOs or their associated severity 
characteristics. The draft report includes recommendations for the 
collection and reporting of additional outbreak information that would 
improve the usefulness of the WBDO database for future disease burden 
estimates.

II. Workshop Information

    Members of the public may attend the workshop as observers, and 
there will be a limited time for comments from the public in the 
afternoon. Please let Versar, Inc., know if you wish to make comments 
during the workshop. Space is limited, and reservations will be 
accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The second day of the 
workshop is closed to the public and to EPA so that the peer-review 
panel members can consider the draft document and prepare their 
individual comments.

    Dated: October 10, 2006.
George Alapas,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
 [FR Doc. E6-17098 Filed 10-13-06; 8:45 am]
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