[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78788-78789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30517]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8756-4; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2008-0663]


An Exposure Assessment of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of an extension of the public comment period.

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

SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing an extension of the public comment 
period for the draft document titled, ``An Exposure Assessment of 
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers'' (EPA 600/R-08/086A). The public 
comment period was announced on December 4, 2008 (FR73, 73930).
    The draft document was prepared by the National Center for 
Environmental Assessment within EPA's Office of

[[Page 78789]]

Research and Development to provide a comprehensive assessment of the 
exposure of Americans to polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs, a class 
of brominated flame retardants. The document is being distributed 
solely for the purpose of pre-dissemination review under applicable 
information quality guidelines. It does not represent and should not be 
construed to represent any Agency policy, viewpoint, or determination. 
EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this 
notice when revising the document.

DATES: The public comment period began on December 4, 2008. This notice 
announces the extension of the deadline for public comment from January 
5, 2008, to February 2, 2008. Comments must be received on or before 
February 2, 2008.

ADDRESSES: The draft document entitled, ``An Exposure Assessment of 
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers,'' is available primarily via the 
Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home 
page under the Recent Additions and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of paper copies are available from 
the Information Management Team, NCEA; telephone: 703-347-8561; 
facsimile: 703-347-8691. Please provide your name, your mailing 
address, and the draft document title, ``An Exposure Assessment of 
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers'' (EPA/600/R-08/086A) to facilitate 
processing of your request. 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 Matthew Lorber, NCEA; telephone: 
703-347-8535; facsimile: 703-347-8692; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Project/Document

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formed 
a working group comprised of individuals from several program offices 
including the Offices of Pesticides, Prevention, and Toxic Substances; 
the Office of Water; the Office of Research and Development; and the 
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation, to study production, use, 
alternatives, environmental fate, exposure, and health effects of 
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). This working group issued a 
project plan in 2006 that outlined projects in these areas. EPA reports 
regularly on progress in completing the activities identified in the 
project plan, with the most recent status report issued in March 2008. 
The Web site that describes this working group, including the project 
plan, is http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pbde. This draft document addresses 
the exposure assessment needs identified in that project plan. It 
provides a comprehensive assessment of the exposure of Americans to 
this class of persistent organic pollutants. Individual chapters in 
this document address: The production, use, and lifecycle of PBDEs; 
environmental fate; environmental and exposure media levels; and human 
exposure.

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 2008-
0663, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the online 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.
    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-
2008-0663. 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: December 16, 2008.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E8-30517 Filed 12-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P