[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58950-58952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-23856]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0922; FRL-8724-4]


Draft Risk and Exposure Assessment Report for Nitrogen Dioxide 
(NO2)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of draft report for public review and comment.

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SUMMARY: On or about October 3, 2008, the Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available for public 
review and comment additional sections of a draft document titled, Risk 
and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review of the NO 2 Primary 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Second Draft which was 
originally announced in a September 2, 2008 Federal Register notice (73 
FR 51297). The additional sections being released at this time are 
Chapter 8 and a revised Appendix B. The purposes of these two sections 
are to convey the approach taken to characterize NO2 
exposures, to convey the approach taken to characterize health risks 
associated with those exposures, and to present the results of those 
analyses.

DATES: Comments on the additional sections of the above report must be 
received on or before October 22, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2006-0922, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) 
to [email protected], Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-
0922.
     Fax: Fax your comments to 202-566-9744, Attention Docket 
ID. No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0922.
     Mail: Send your comments to: Air and Radiation Docket and 
Information Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0922.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver your comments to: EPA 
Docket Center, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Room 3334, Washington, DC. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2006-0922. The 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://

[[Page 58951]]

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: 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 Air Docket in the 
EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket 
telephone number is 202-566-1742; fax 202-566-9744.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Scott Jenkins, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; e-mail: 
[email protected]; telephone: 919-541-1167; fax: 919-541-0237.

General Information

A. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of 
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk 
or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM 
as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act 
(CAA), the Administrator identifies and lists certain pollutants which 
``cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be 
anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.'' The EPA then issues 
air quality criteria for listed pollutants, which are commonly referred 
to as ``criteria pollutants.'' The air quality criteria are to 
``accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge useful in 
indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on public 
health or welfare which may be expected from the presence of [a] 
pollutant in the ambient air, in varying quantities.'' Under section 
109 of the CAA, EPA establishes national ambient air quality standards 
(NAAQS) for each listed pollutant, with the NAAQS based on the air 
quality criteria. Section 109(d) of the CAA requires periodic review 
and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria. The 
revised air quality criteria reflect advances in scientific knowledge 
on the effects of the pollutant on public health or welfare. The EPA is 
also required to periodically review and revise the NAAQS, if 
appropriate, based on the revised criteria.
    Air quality criteria have been established for the nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) and NAAQS have been established for nitrogen dioxide 
(NO2), an indicator for gaseous NOX. Presently, 
EPA is in the process of reviewing the NAAQS for NO2. As 
part of its review of the NAAQS, EPA is preparing an assessment of 
exposures and health risks associated with ambient NO2. A 
draft plan describing the proposed approaches to assessing exposures 
and risks is described in the draft document, Nitrogen Dioxide Health 
Assessment Plan: Scope and Methods for Exposure and Risk Assessment. 
This document was released for public review and comment in September, 
2007 and was the subject of a consultation with the Clean Air 
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) on October 24 and 25, 2007. 
Comments received from that consultation were considered in developing 
the document titled, Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review 
of the NO 2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: First Draft, 
which was released for public review and comment in April 2008. This 
document was the subject of a CASAC review on May 1 and 2, 2008. 
Comments received from that review have been considered in developing 
the document titled, Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review 
of the NO 2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Second 
Draft, which was released (except for chapter 8 and part of appendix B) 
for public review and comment in August 2008. The EPA solicited advice 
and recommendations from the CASAC by means of a review of this draft 
document at a public meeting that was held on September 9-10, 2008 in 
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Chapter 8 of this document, and 
a revised appendix B, are being released on or about October 3, 2008.
    Chapter 8 and the revised appendix B will be available online at: 
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_cr_rea.html . Their 
purposes are to convey the approach taken to characterize 
NO2 exposures, to convey the approach taken to characterize 
health risks associated with those exposures, and to present the 
results of those analyses. The EPA is soliciting advice and 
recommendations from the

[[Page 58952]]

CASAC by means of a review of chapter 8 and the revised appendix B at a 
public teleconference that will be held on October 22, 2008. 
Information on that meeting has been announced separately in the 
Federal Register . In preparing a final risk and exposure assessment 
report, EPA will consider comments received from the CASAC and the 
public at the meeting held on September 9-10 and at the teleconference 
to be held on October 22 as well as written comments received during 
the public comment periods.

    Dated: September 18, 2008.
Jenny Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
 [FR Doc. E8-23856 Filed 10-7-08; 8:45 am]
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