[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17490-17491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8671]



[[Page 17490]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0015; FRL-8792-1]


Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Carbon 
Monoxide

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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

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SUMMARY: On or about April 15, 2009, the Office of Air Quality Planning 
and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available for public review and 
comment a planning document titled Carbon Monoxide National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan for Health Risk and Exposure 
Assessment. This document describes EPA's planned approach for 
developing analyses as part of the review of the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for carbon monoxide (CO). The EPA is 
releasing this planning document to seek consultation with the Clean 
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and to solicit public 
comments.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before June 15, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2008-0015, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-9744.
     Mail: EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0015, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Please include a total of two copies.
     Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 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-
2008-0015. 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://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 materials, 
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 
and Radiation Docket and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 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 Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any questions concerning EPA's Carbon 
Monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan 
for Health Risk and Exposure Assessment should be directed to Ms. Ines 
Pagan at [email protected], telephone 919-541-5469.

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

[[Page 17491]]

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 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 CO to provide 
protection from exposure to ambient concentrations of CO. Presently, 
EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for CO. The EPA's 
overall plan and schedule for this review is presented in the 
Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
for Carbon Monoxide.\1\ A draft of the integrated review plan was 
released for public review and comment in March 2008 and was the 
subject of a publicly accessible teleconference consultation with the 
CASAC on April 8, 2008 (73 FR 12998). Comments received from that 
consultation and from the public were considered in finalizing the plan 
and in beginning the review of the air quality criteria.
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    \1\ EPA 452R-08-005; August 2008. Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_cr_pd.html.
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    As part of the review of the air quality criteria for CO, EPA's 
Office of Research and Development (ORD) has completed a draft 
document, Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Carbon Monoxide 
(First External Review Draft, March, 2009) and requested review by the 
CASAC and the public (74 FR 10734; March 12, 2009). In the future, 
EPA's OAQPS will prepare a Risk and Exposure Assessment (REA) focusing 
on human exposure, and possibly, risk assessment. The planning document 
announced today describes the planned approaches for conducting the 
quantitative assessments that will be presented in the REA as part of 
the review of the primary (health-based) standards. This planning 
document is available on the Agency's Technology Transfer Network (TTN) 
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_cr_pd.html. This document may be accessed in the ``Documents from Current 
Review'' section under ``Planning Documents.'' This planning document 
is intended to provide enough specificity to facilitate consultation 
with CASAC, as well as for public review, in order to obtain advice on 
the overall scope, approaches and key issues in advance of conducting 
quantitative analyses and presentation of results in the first draft 
REA. The CASAC consultation on this planning document coincides with 
its review of the first draft ISA. This CASAC meeting is scheduled for 
May 12 and 13, 2009. A separate Federal Register notice (74 FR 15265; 
April 3, 2009) provides additional details about this meeting and the 
process for participation.

    Dated: April 7, 2009.
Jennifer N. Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. E9-8671 Filed 4-14-09; 8:45 am]
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