[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 223 (Monday, November 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67119-67121]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19558]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8244-1; EPA-HQ-Docket ID No. EPA-ORD-2006-0939]


Draft Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins: Anatoxin-a, 
Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins LR, RR, YR and LA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of public comment period and external peer-review panel 
meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 
forty-five day public comment period and an external peer-review panel 
meeting to review the external review draft documents entitled, 
``Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins: Anatoxin-a, 
Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins LR, RR, YR and LA'' (NCEA-C-1743, 
NCEA-C-1763 and NCEA-C-1765). Cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as 
blue-green algae, are found in freshwater, estuarine and marine 
environments. Cyanobacteria, other freshwater algae, and their toxins 
are included as microbial contaminants on EPA's Office of Water (OW) 
Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). These draft assessments discuss 
potential human health effects of exposure to these cyanobacterial 
toxins for four durations--acute, short-term, subchronic and chronic-- 
focusing on noncancer effects due to oral exposure.
    The public comment period and the external peer review are separate 
processes that provide opportunities for all interested parties to 
comment on these documents. These documents were prepared by EPA's 
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office 
of Research and Development. EPA will use comments and recommendations 
from the public and the expert panel meeting to finalize the draft 
documents. EPA is releasing these draft documents solely for the 
purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information 
quality guidelines. These documents have not been formally disseminated 
by EPA. They do not represent and should not be construed to represent 
any Agency policy or determination.

DATES: The public comment period will begin on November 20, 2006 and 
continue until January 4, 2007. The public may submit comments via 
Regulations.gov (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below). The peer-review 
panel meeting will begin on January 10, 2007, at 9 a.m. and will end at 
5 p.m.

[[Page 67120]]

The public may attend the peer-review panel meeting and are invited to 
provide oral statements at the commencement of the meeting (for more 
information refer to the instructions for registration below).

ADDRESSES: Eastern Research Group, Inc., an EPA contractor for external 
scientific peer review, will convene an independent panel of experts 
and organize and conduct an external peer-review panel meeting to 
review these draft documents. The external peer-review panel meeting 
will be held at EPA's Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research 
Center (AWBERC) located at 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, 
OH. Observers may attend the peer review meeting by filling out the 
form found on the Web site, https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/ncea/toxin.htm, by calling Eastern Research Group, Inc.'s 
conference line between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EST at (781) 
674-7374 or toll free at (800) 803-2833, or by faxing a registration 
request to (781) 674-2906 (include full address and contact 
information). Pre-registration will begin December 15, 2006. Pre-
registration is strongly recommended as space is limited, and 
registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The 
deadline for online pre-registration is January 3, 2007. Telephone and 
fax registrations will continue to be accepted after this date, as will 
on-site registration, if space allows. Public comments submitted to 
Regulations.gov by December 29, 2006, will be provided to the external 
peer review panel prior to the meeting.
    The draft ``Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins: 
Anatoxin-a, Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins LR, RR, YR and LA'' are 
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 (TIS) at NCEA's Cincinnati office; telephone: (513) 569-7257; 
facsimile: (513) 569-7916. If you are requesting a paper copy, please 
provide your name, mailing address, and title of these documents. 
Copies are not available from Eastern Research Group, Inc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding information about, 
registration, and logistics for the external peer review workshop 
should be directed to Eastern Research Group, Inc., 110 Hartwell 
Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421-3136 beginning December 15, 2006; 
telephone: (781) 674-7374 or toll free at (800) 803-2833; facsimile: 
(781) 674-2906; or e-mail: [email protected].
    If you have questions about the draft documents, contact Belinda 
Hawkins, National Center for Environmental Assessment, 26 W. Martin 
Luther King Drive (A-110), Cincinnati, OH; telephone: (513) 569-7523; 
facsimile: (513) 487-2542; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has established an official public 
docket for this action under docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-0939. The 
official public docket consists of the documents referenced in this 
notice and a list of charge questions that have been submitted to the 
external peer reviewers. All documents are available on the Internet at 
http://www.regulations.gov by using the search function and 
corresponding docket identification number.

How to Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov

    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 
http://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 http://www.regulations.gov are not affected 
by the flooding and will remain the same.

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-
0939 by one of the following methods:

     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: ORD [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, 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 hard copy, 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-
2006-0939. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified comment period. Comments received after the closing date will 
be marked ``late,'' and may only be considered if time permits. 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 a 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: All 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

[[Page 67121]]

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: November 13, 2006.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
 [FR Doc. E6-19558 Filed 11-17-06; 8:45 am]
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