[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 133 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39695-39696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15727]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8690-2; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0983]


2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global Change Research 
Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air 
Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on 
O3

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Public Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 45-day public comment period for the draft 
document titled, ``2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global Change 
Research Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional 
U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on 
O3'' (EPA/600/R-07/094). The document was prepared by the 
National Center for Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of 
Research and Development.
    EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It 
does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency 
policy or determination. EPA will consider any public comments 
submitted in accordance with this notice when revising the document.

DATES: The 45-day public comment period begins July 10, 2008, and ends 
August 25, 2008. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by August 25, 2008.

ADDRESSES: The draft ``2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global 
Change Research Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on 
Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change 
Impacts on O3'' is 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 
NCEA's Information Management Team; telephone: 703-347-8561; facsimile: 
703-347-8691. If you are requesting a paper copy, please provide your 
name, mailing address, and the document title ``2007 Interim Report of 
the U.S. EPA Global Change Research Program Assessment of the Impacts 
of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis 
of Climate Change Impacts on O3.''
    Comments may be submitted electronically via http://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 public comment 
period, contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket; 
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: 
[email protected].
    For technical information, contact Brooke L. Hemming, PhD, National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA); telephone: 919-541-5668; e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Summary of Information About the Project/Document

    The ``2007 Interim Report of the U.S. EPA Global Change Research 
Program Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air 
Quality: A Preliminary Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on 
O3'' is intended to provide air quality managers and 
scientists a summary and synthesis of the scientific results that have 
emerged from the EPA ORD Global Change Research Program (ORD GCRP) 
assessment of the impact of global change on U.S. regional air quality. 
The report discusses the studies that have focused on the sensitivity 
of U.S. air quality to meteorological changes associated with a warming 
climate in large regions within the continental U.S.
    The EPA recognizes that climate-air quality interactions occur at 
multiple scales (both spatial and temporal), and that an understanding 
of these interactions demands contributions from several scientific 
disciplines. The EPA ORD GCRP developed a research and assessment 
program that combines the resources and expertise of the ORD labs and 
centers toward the goal of developing the necessary scientific 
underpinnings. The ultimate goal of the Program is to provide air 
quality managers with the scientific information and tools needed to 
evaluate the implications of global change and to enhance their ability 
to consider global change in their decisions. The ``2007 Interim Report 
of the U.S. EPA Global Change Research Program Assessment of the 
Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Preliminary 
Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on O3'' is a preliminary 
step in that direction.
    This report provides an update of the progress that has been made 
in applying climate and atmospheric chemistry models to investigate 
potential future meteorological effects on air quality. It does not 
include changes in air pollutant emissions other than those that are 
explicitly linked to meteorological variables and incorporated within 
the models (e.g., biogenic VOC emissions). In addition, it provides a 
preliminary interpretation of what this improved scientific 
understanding means for air quality management. Future assessment 
reports will cover the combined impacts of changing climate and air 
pollutant emissions on air quality. The program also plans to develop 
additional reports that focus on additional pollutants, including PM 
and mercury.
    NCEA worked collaboratively with the EPA Office of Air and 
Radiation (OAR), and ORD's National Risk Management Research Laboratory 
(NRMRL), National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and National 
Center for Environmental Research (NCER) on this report.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0983, 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, Room 3334 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.

[[Page 39696]]

    If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit 
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-
2007-0983. 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: 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 materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are 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: June 24, 2008.
Rebecca Clark,
Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E8-15727 Filed 7-9-08; 8:45 am]
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