[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 27 (Friday, February 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 6238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2183]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRN-8277-7]


Workshop on Assessment of Health Science for the Review of the 
NAAQS for Nitrogen (NOx) and Sulfur Oxides (SOx)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of workshop.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that a 
workshop on Assessment of Health Science for the Review of the National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Nitrogen (NOX) and 
Sulfur Oxides (SOX) is being organized by EPA's National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), in conjunction with the 
Office of Air Quality Standards (OAQPS), and will be held on February 
26-28, 2007. The workshop will be open to attendance by interested 
public observers. Space is limited, and reservations will be accepted 
on a first-come, first-served basis.

DATES: The workshop will be held on February 26-28, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding registration 
and logistics for the workshop please contact Kristin Wheeler, SAIC 
Conference Coordinator at 703-318-4535, facsimile: 703-318-4755, e-
mail: [email protected], or 11251 Roger Bacon Drive, Reston, VA 20190. 
For information regarding the scientific and technical aspects of the 
workshop please contact Dr. Anu Mudipalli at 919-541-0413, facsimile: 
919-541-1818, e-mail: [email protected] or Dr. Paul Reinhart at 
919-541-1456, facsimile: 919-541-1818, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Summary of Information About the Workshop/Document

    The U.S. Clean Air Act requires EPA to carry out periodic reviews 
of the NAAQS for major ``criteria'' air pollutants and to retain or 
revise the NAAQS for a given pollutant, as appropriate. EPA recently 
instituted a number of changes to the NAAQS review process to help 
improve the EPA the efficiency of the process while ensuring that EPA's 
decisions on the NAAQS are informed by the best science available. As 
part of the NAAQS reviews NCEA, within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development (ORD), will assess newly available scientific information 
in Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) documents (formerly known as 
Criteria Documents). The ISA will be supported by a more detailed and 
comprehensive Science Assessment Support Document (SASD). The 
assessments in these documents will provide the scientific basis for 
the reviews of the NAAQS. EPA's OAQPS will prepare risk and exposure 
assessment analyses, as appropriate, drawing upon the scientific 
evidence summarized in the ISA. Subsequently, the EPA will prepare a 
policy assessment that discusses, in part, the findings of the science 
and risk/exposure assessments related to the adequacy of the standards 
and describes a range of options for revising or retaining the NAAQS.
    NCEA is holding this workshop to inform the Agency's assessment 
process of the existing scientific evidence for the review of the NAAQS 
for the criteria pollutants NOX and SOX. The 
workshop will address various issues involved in the preparation of the 
draft material for the ISA and SASD and issues involved in the 
integration of health evidence from both animal and human toxicology 
and epidemiology studies, along with key information from atmospheric 
science and exposure studies. This workshop is planned to help ensure 
that the SASD provides an up-to-date, state of the art scientific basis 
for the review of the NAAQS for these criteria pollutants. Workshop 
discussions will be focused on identifying and integrating policy 
relevant health findings in the ISA and for future risk and exposure 
analyses.
    A second workshop will be announced in the next several months to 
discuss environmental effects related to the review of the NAAQS for 
NOX and SOX and the preparation of the draft ISA.

    Dated: February 5, 2007.
George Alapas,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E7-2183 Filed 2-8-07; 8:45 am]
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