[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8309-8311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2697]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

 [FRL-8528-3]


Notice of Availability of the Nanomaterial Research Strategy 
External Review Draft and Expert Peer Review Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of document availability and external peer review 
meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection is announcing the 
availability of a draft report titled, Draft Nanomaterial Research 
Strategy (EPA/600/S-08/002), which was prepared by EPA's Office of 
Research and Development (ORD). EPA is also announcing that Versar, 
Inc., an EPA contractor for external peer review, will convene a panel 
of experts and will organize and conduct an independent expert external 
peer meeting April 11, 2008, to review the draft document. Versar, Inc. 
invites the public to register to attend this meeting as observers. In 
addition, Versar, Inc. invites the public to give oral comments or 
provide written comments at the external peer review meeting regarding 
the draft document under review. The expert panel will review the draft 
document and consider public comments received prior to the meeting in 
the official public docket for this activity under docket ID number 
EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0114 as well as comments made by the public at the 
meeting. The draft document is available through http://www.regulations.gov and at http://es.epa.gov/ncer/nano/publications/index.html. In preparing a final document, EPA will consider Versar, 
Inc.'s report of the comments and recommendations from the external 
peer-review meeting, as well as public comments. EPA plans to issue a 
final research strategy for nanomaterials in 2008.
    The public release of this draft document is solely for the purpose 
of seeking public comment and external peer review. This draft research 
strategy does not represent and should not be construed to represent 
any EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination.

[[Page 8310]]


DATES: The peer review panel meeting will begin on April 11, 2008, at 9 
a.m. and end at 5 p.m. The public comment period begins on February 7, 
2008, and ends 30-days after publication in the Federal Register. 
Technical comments should be in writing and must be received by EPA 30-
days after publication of the Federal Register Notice.

ADDRESSES: The independent expert external peer review meeting will be 
held at the Westin Alexandria, located at 400 Courthouse Square, 
Alexandria, VA; telephone 703-253-8600. Members of the public may 
attend the meeting as observers, and there will be a limited time for 
comments from the public in the afternoon. Space is limited, and 
reservations will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis. To 
attend this meeting, register by April 4, 2008, by visiting http://epa.versar.com/nanostrategy or contact Ms.Gina Casciano of Versar, 
Inc., 6850 Versar Center, Springfield, VA, 22151, at 703-642-6813, and 
via e-mail at [email protected]. You will be asked for your name, 
contact information, the organization you represent, and your title. 
Please indicate if you intend to make an oral statement during the 
public comment period at the meeting.
    You may also submit comments prior to the meeting, identified by 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0114, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: ORD Docket, Environnemental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Room B102, EPA 
West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, 
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0114. Deliveries are only 
accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, 
please submit three copies of the comments. For attachments, provide 
and 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-
2008-0114. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the 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.
    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 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 ORD Docket, EPA/
DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. 
The 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, and the telephone number for the 
ORD Docket is (202) 566-1752.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding logistics for the 
external peer review meeting should be directed to Ms. Gina Casciano, 
Versar, Inc., 6850 Versar Center, Springfield, VA, 22151; telephone: 
703-642-6813; or via e-mail at [email protected]. For questions 
regarding the draft document, please contact Dr. Nora Savage, Office of 
Research and Development, Mailcode 8722F, Telephone 202-343-9858, fax 
number 202-233-0678, [email protected]; or Dr. Randy Wentsel Office 
of Research & Development, Mail Code 8101R, Telephone 202-564-3214, fax 
number 202-564-3214, email [email protected]; Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is submitting the Draft Nanomaterial 
Research Strategy for independent, external peer review. Public 
comments received in the docket will be shared with the external peer 
review panel for their consideration. Although EPA is under no 
obligation to do so, EPA may consider comments received after the close 
of the comment period. The public release of this draft document is 
solely for the purpose of seeking public comment and peer review. This 
draft research strategy does not represent and should not be construed 
to represent any EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination.
    The Draft Nanomaterial Research Strategy identifies research needs 
and outlines research for environmental implications; recognizing the 
latter need for exploring environmental applications of nanotechnology 
that can inform the appropriate regulatory and policy decisions for 
nanotechnology. The draft research strategy provides a discussion of 
research to be conducted both in-house and extramurally to understand 
the impact of engineered nanomaterials. The purpose of this strategy is 
to guide the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) program in 
nanomaterial research. The strategy builds on and is consistent with 
the foundation of scientific needs identified in the report by the 
Nanotechnology Environmental and Health Implications (NEHI) Workgroup 
(NSTC, 2006), and on the EPA White Paper on Nanotechnology (EPA, 2007). 
Special attention is given to EPA's role among Federal Agencies in 
addressing data needs for hazard assessment, risk assessment, and risk 
management relevant to the EPA mission and regulatory responsibilities. 
ORD will use the NRS and incorporate these research activities into the 
multi-year planning process.
    ORD has identified four key research themes and seven key 
scientific questions addressing each of the research themes where we 
can provide leadership for the Federal government research program and 
support the science needs of the Agency. The themes are: (1) Sources, 
fate, transport, and exposure; (2) human health and

[[Page 8311]]

ecological research; (3) risk assessment methods and case studies; and 
(4) preventing and Mitigating Risks. Supplemental information is 
provided in a number of appendices. Following the expert external peer 
review, EPA plans to issue a final research strategy on nanotechnology 
in mid-2008.

    Dated: February 1, 2008.
Kevin Teichman,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, Office of Research 
and Development.
[FR Doc. E8-2697 Filed 2-12-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P