[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42573-42574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16745]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8695-5]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Demonstration of Alternative 
Asbestos Control Method Demolition for Two Asbestos-Containing 
Buildings 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 Agency is announcing the 
availability for review and comment of two draft reports titled, 
Evaluation of the Alternative Asbestos Control Method at Site Two 
(AACM2) for Demolition of Asbestos-Containing Buildings, and Evaluation 
of the Alternative Asbestos Control Method at Site Three (AACM3) for 
Demolition of Asbestos-Containing Buildings. These reports were 
prepared by EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) and are 
available through docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0523 located at 
http://www.regulations.gov and through http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/asbestos.
    EPA is also announcing that in the month of August or September an 
EPA contractor will convene a panel of experts and will organize and 
conduct an independent expert external peer review meeting of the two 
reports. The dates and location of the peer review meeting will be 
provided in a separate Federal Register Notice. The public will be 
invited to register to attend the peer review meeting as observers and 
also will be able to give oral or provide written comments at the 
meeting. The expert panel will review the scientific and technical 
aspects of the draft documents and consider public comments received 
prior to the meeting in the official public docket for this activity 
under docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0523.
    The public release of these draft documents is solely for the 
purpose of seeking public comment and external peer review. The draft 
reports do not represent and should not be construed to represent any 
final EPA by policy, viewpoint, or determination.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period on the two draft documents 
begins July 22, 2008, and ends August 21, 2008. All comments should be 
in writing and must be received by EPA by August 21, 2008. The dates 
and location of the peer review meeting will be announced at a later 
date in a subsequent Federal Register Notice.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on these documents to Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0523 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: ORD Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail 
Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 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-2008-0523. 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 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-
2008-0523. 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

[[Page 42574]]

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 Avenue, 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: For questions regarding the draft 
documents, please contact Roger Wilmoth, Office of Research and 
Development, Telephone (513) 569-7509, fax number (513) 569-7471, 
[email protected]; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 
445, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA is submitting the draft reports for 
independent, external scientific and technical peer review. The draft 
reports provide the documentation and scientific evaluation of the 
environmental effectiveness of the draft AACM protocol as a possible 
alternative technology in controlling multimedia asbestos emissions 
during demolition of asbestos-containing buildings, as required by the 
existing Asbestos National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air 
Pollutants (NESHAP). The draft AACM demolition protocol was used on two 
separate buildings. One building contained NESHAP-regulated quantities 
of asbestos-containing transite siding and the second building 
contained NESHAP-regulated quantities of asbestos-containing popcorn 
ceiling and wall surfacing material. In addition to assessing the 
environmental effectiveness of the draft AACM technology, these two 
draft reports assess the costs and time requirements of the application 
of the AACM protocol in these situations, as well as document lessons 
learned in each instance.
    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, and does not represent and should not be construed to represent 
any EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination.

    Dated: July 15, 2008.
Fred S. Hauchman,
Acting Director, Office of Science Policy, Office of Research and 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E8-16745 Filed 7-21-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P