[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 246 (Friday, December 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77017-77019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21970]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8260-2; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2006-0950]


Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Request for Chemical 
Substance Nominations for 2007 Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Request for chemical substance nominations for the IRIS 2007 
program.

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SUMMARY: The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) database that contains EPA's 
scientific positions on human health effects that may result from 
exposure to chemical substances in the environment. EPA is soliciting 
public nominations for chemical substances for its 2007 agenda. EPA 
invites the public to submit nominations for substances to be 
considered for an assessment or reassessment in its IRIS Program in 
accordance with the instructions provided at the end of this notice.

DATES: Nominations must be submitted within 30 days of the publication 
of this notice. The 30-day period begins December 22, 2006 and ends 
January 22, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Nominations 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: For information on the IRIS Program, 
contact Abdel Kadry, Ph.D., Program Director, National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (mail code 8601D), Office of Research and 
Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 
20460, or call (202) 564-1645, or send electronic mail inquiries to: 
[email protected]. For general questions about access to IRIS or the 
content of IRIS, please call the IRIS Hotline at (301) 345-2870 or send 
electronic mail inquiries to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    IRIS is an EPA database containing EPA consensus scientific 
positions on potential adverse human health effects that might result 
from exposure to chemical substances found in the environment. IRIS 
currently provides information on health effects associated with more 
than 500 chemical substances. The database includes chemical-specific 
summaries of qualitative and quantitative health information in support 
of the first two steps of the risk assessment process, i.e., hazard 
identification and dose-response evaluation. Combined with specific 
situational exposure assessment information, the information in IRIS 
may be used as a source in evaluating potential public health risks 
from environmental contaminants.
    EPA's overall process for developing IRIS assessments consists of: 
(1) An annual Federal Register announcement of EPA's IRIS agenda and 
call for scientific information from the public on selected chemical 
substances; (2) a search of the current literature; (3) development of 
draft health assessments and IRIS summaries; (4) peer review within EPA 
and the Federal Government; (5) external peer review; (6) management 
approval; (7) preparation of final IRIS summaries and supporting 
documents; and (8) entry of summaries and supporting documents into the 
IRIS database.

A. The IRIS Annual Agenda

    Each year, EPA develops a list of priority chemical substances and 
an annual agenda for the IRIS Program. EPA uses the following general 
criteria to set these priorities: (1) EPA statutory, regulatory, or 
program-specific implementation needs; (2) potential public health 
impact; (3) availability of new scientific information or methodology 
that might significantly change the current IRIS information; (4) 
interest to other levels of government or the public; and (5) 
availability of other scientific assessment documents such that only a 
modest additional effort would be needed to complete the review and 
documentation for IRIS. The decision to assess any given substance 
depends on available EPA resources. Timing of EPA's risk assessment 
guidance, guidelines, and science policy decisions may also play a role 
in deciding when the Agency has the appropriate methods to assess a 
chemical substance.
    EPA continues to build and update the IRIS database by addressing 
the foremost user needs, as expressed by EPA, other federal agencies, 
and the public. EPA also works toward updating all assessments in the 
database where new scientific information is available to do so.
    EPA is currently conducting the following 80 assessments. Unless 
otherwise noted, EPA expects to assess noncancer and cancer endpoints 
for each substance. For all endpoints assessed, EPA intends to develop 
both qualitative and quantitative assessments if adequate data are 
available to support those assessments.

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              Substance name                           CAS no.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acetaldehyde..............................  75-07-0
Acrolein (acute exposure duration)........  107-02-8
Acrylamide................................  79-06-1
Acrylonitrile.............................  107-13-1
Aldicarb and aldicarb sulfoxide...........  116-06-3/1646-87-3
Aldicarb sulfone..........................  1646-88-4
Arsenic, inorganic........................  7440-38-2
Asbestos (noncancer and cancer effects)...  1332-21-4

[[Page 77018]]

 
Benzene (less-than-lifetime exposure        71-43-2
 durations).
Benzo(a)pyrene............................  50-32-8
Beryllium (cancer effects)................  7440-41-7
Bromobenzene..............................  108-86-1
Butyl benzyl phthalate....................  85-68-7
Cadmium...................................  7440-43-9
Carbon tetrachloride......................  56-23-5
Cerium and compounds......................  1306-38-3
Chloroethane..............................  75-00-3
Chloroform (inhalation route).............  67-66-3
Chloroprene...............................  126-99-8
Cobalt....................................  7440-48-4
Copper....................................  7440-50-8
Dibutyl phthalate.........................  84-74-2
1,2-Dichlorobenzene.......................  95-50-1
1,3-Dichlorobenzene.......................  541-73-1
1,4-Dichlorobenzene.......................  106-46-7
cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene..................  156-59-2
trans-1,2-Dichloroethylene................  156-60-5
Di(2-ethylhexyl)adipate...................  103-23-1
Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate................  117-81-7
1,4-Dioxane...............................  123-91-1
Ethanol...................................  64-17-5
Ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE).........  637-92-3
Ethylbenzene..............................  100-41-4
Ethylene dichloride.......................  107-06-2
Ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (cancer     111-76-2
 effects).
Ethylene oxide (acute exposure duration)..  75-21-8
Ethylene oxide (cancer effects)...........  75-21-8
Formaldehyde..............................  50-00-0
Hexachlorobutadiene.......................  87-68-3
Hexachloro- cyclopentadiene (acute          77-47-4
 exposure duration).
Hexachloroethane..........................  67-72-1
Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-triazine (RDX)...  121-82-4
2-Hexanone................................  591-78-6
Hydrogen cyanide..........................  74-90-8
Hydrogen sulfide (acute exposure duration)  7783-06-4
Isopropanol...............................  67-63-0
Kepone....................................  143-50-0
Methanol..................................  67-56-1
Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE)........  1634-04-4
Methylene chloride (dichloromethane)......  75-09-2
Mirex.....................................  2385-85-5
Naphthalene...............................  91-20-3
Nickel (soluble salts)....................  [N.A.-various]
Nitrobenzene..............................  98-95-3
PAH mixtures..............................  [N.A.-various]
Pentachlorophenol.........................  87-86-5
Perfluorooctanoic acid--ammonium salt.....  3825-26-1
Perfluorooctane sulfonate--potassium salt.  2795-39-3
Phosgene (acute exposure duration)........  75-44-5
Platinum..................................  7440-06-4
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
  -tetraBDE...............................  5436-43-1
  -pentaBDE...............................  60348-60-9
  -hexaBDE................................  68631-49-2
  -decaBDE................................  1163-19-5
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)..........  1336-36-3
Propionaldehyde...........................  123-38-6
Refractory ceramic fibers.................  [N.A.]
Styrene...................................  100-42-5
2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin).....................  1746-01-6
1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane.................  79-34-5
Tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene)...  127-18-4
Tetrahydrofuran...........................  109-99-9
Thallium..................................  7440-28-0
Trichloroacetic acid......................  76-03-9
1,1,1-Trichloroethane.....................  71-55-6
Trichloroethylene.........................  79-01-6
1,2,3-Trichloropropane....................  96-18-4
2,2,4-Trimethylpentane....................  540-84-1
Uranium compounds.........................  7440-61-1
Vinyl acetate.............................  108-05-4
------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Submission of Nominations for New Assessments for the 2007 IRIS 
Program

    Today's notice invites voluntary public nominations for chemical 
substances not already listed in this notice. Nominations are most 
useful if they identify the nominator; including full name, title, 
affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number.

II. How to Submit Nominations to the Docket at www.regulations.gov

    Submit your nominations, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 
2006-0950 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
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 3334, 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., Eastern Standard Time 
(EST), Monday through Friday, excluding Federal 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.
    Consult EPA's EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on docket operations, 
locations and telephone numbers.
    If you provide nominations by mail or hand delivery, please submit 
one unbound original with pages numbered consecutively, and three 
copies of the nominations. For attachments, provide an index, number 
pages consecutively with the nominations, and submit an unbound 
original and three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your nominations to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2006-0950. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified nomination period. Nominations 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 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

[[Page 77019]]

Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: 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 materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are 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 in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: December 14, 2006.
George Alapas,
Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
 [FR Doc. E6-21970 Filed 12-21-06; 8:45 am]
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