[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 76 (Friday, April 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21128-21129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8393]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8555-7]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Meeting of 
the Science Advisory Board's Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance 
Analysis (Council)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a 
public face-to-face meeting of the Advisory Council on Clean Air 
Compliance Analysis (Council).

DATES: The meeting dates are Thursday, May 8, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 
p.m. and Friday, May 9, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the SAB Conference Center at 
1025 F Street, NW., Suite 3700, Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information about this meeting may contact Dr. Holly 
Stallworth, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory 
Board Staff Office (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; by telephone/voice 
mail: (202) 343-9867 or at [email protected]. General 
information about the SAB, as well as any updates concerning the 
meeting announced in this notice, may be found on the SAB Web Site at:  
http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: The Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis 
(Council) is a Federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. The Council 
is charged with providing advice, information and recommendations to 
the Agency on the economic issues associated with programs implemented 
under the Clean Air Act and its Amendments. Pursuant to a requirement 
under Section 812 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, EPA conducts 
periodic studies to assess the benefits and the costs of the Clean Air 
Act. The Council has been the chief reviewing body for these studies 
and has issued advice on a retrospective study issued in 1997, a 
prospective study issued in 1999 and since 2001, analytic blueprints 
for a second prospective study on the costs and benefits of clean air 
programs covering the years 1990-2020.
    On May 9, 2008, the Council will review a case study entitled 
``Section 812 Prospective Study of the Benefits and Costs of the Clean 
Air Act: Air Toxics Case Study--Health Benefits of Benzene Reductions 
in Houston, 1990-2020.'' This case study presents a methodology for 
assessing the benefits of reducing benzene levels in the Houston, 
Texas, area over 30 years. EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) 
conducted this case study (posted at http://www.epa.gov/air/sect812/prospective2.html#mar08/) as part of the second prospective study on 
the costs and benefits of the Clean Air Act programs being developed by 
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR).
    EPA's OAR has also requested the Council's advice on using results 
of a recently conducted expert elicitation in the regulatory context of 
a benefits assessment conducted as part of a regulatory impact analysis 
for a regulation promulgated in 2006. To better characterize 
uncertainty in the health benefits of particulate matter reductions, 
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation undertook an expert elicitation study 
in 2005-2006 to characterize the uncertainty in the concentration-
response function for premature mortality related to particulate 
matter, specifically PM2.5. EPA applied the results of this 
study to develop probabilistic estimates of reductions in premature 
mortality as part of its regulatory impact analysis for the 2006 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particle Pollution. The 
Council's review will focus on Chapter 5 and the Executive Summary of 
the regulatory impact analysis found at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/ecas/
regdata/RIAs/Chapter%205_Benefits.pdf. The

[[Page 21129]]

Council, augmented with additional experts, will conduct this review on 
May 8, 2008. The SAB Staff Office described a process for identifying 
experts for this advisory activity in the Federal Register on June 28, 
2007 (72 FR 35463-35465).
    The meeting agenda for May 8-9, 2008 and any background materials 
will be posted on the Council area (http://www.epa.gov/advisorycouncilcaa) of the SAB Web Site prior to the meeting.
    Technical Contacts: The OAR technical contact for the benzene case 
study is Ms. Jeneva Craig at (202) 564-1674 or [email protected]. 
The technical contact for the review of the application of the PM-
Mortality expert elicitation is Ms. Lisa Conner at (919) 541-5060 or 
[email protected].
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Materials in support of this 
meeting will be placed on the on the Council area (http://www.epa.gov/advisorycouncilcaa) of the SAB Web site in advance of this meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the Council 
to consider on the topics included in this advisory activity or the 
group providing advice on the benzene case study. Oral Statements: In 
general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a 
public meeting will be limited to five minutes per speaker, with no 
more than one hour for all speakers. Interested parties should contact 
Dr. Stallworth at the contact information provided above by May 1, 
2008, to be placed on the public speaker list for the May 8-9, 2008 
meeting. Written Statements: Written statements should be received in 
the SAB Staff Office by May 1, 2008, so that the information may be 
made available to the Council for their consideration prior to this 
meeting. Written statements should be supplied to the DFO via e-mail to 
[email protected] (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, 
WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/
Windows 98/2000/XP format).
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Holly Stallworth at 
(202) 343-9867, or via e-mail at [email protected]. To request 
accommodation of a disability, please contact Dr. Stallworth, 
preferably at least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much 
time as possible to process your request.

    Dated: April 11, 2008.
Anthony Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
 [FR Doc. E8-8393 Filed 4-17-08; 8:45 am]
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