[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 18, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41695-41696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19755]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-NNNN; FRL-8943-2]


Availability of the External Peer Review Draft of Using 
Probabilistic Methods To Enhance the Role of Risk Analysis in Decision-
Making With Case Study Examples

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of document availability for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 
15-day public comment period for the external peer review draft of 
``Using Probabilistic Methods to Enhance the Role of Risk Analysis in 
Decision-Making With Case Study Examples,'' a white paper, and the 
``Manager's Summary'' of the same document. All comments received by 
the closing date of September 1, 2009 will be shared with the external 
peer review panel for their consideration. Comments received after the 
close of the comment period may be considered by EPA when it finalizes 
the document. These draft interim papers do not represent and should 
not be construed to represent any EPA policy, viewpoint, or 
determination. Members of the public may obtain the draft documents 
from http://www.regulations.gov; or http://www.epa.gov/raf/prawhitepaper; or from Gary Bangs via the contact information below.
    EPA will convene a panel of invited experts to review the draft 
document. The external expert peer review will be conducted by letter 
and closed teleconference in the May 2009 time frame. The panel may 
consider public comments received in the official public docket for 
this activity under docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-NNNN. The draft 
documents and peer-review charge are available at http://www.epa.gov/raf/prawhitepaper. In preparing a final document, EPA will consider the 
public comments submitted to EPA's docket during the public comment 
period as well as the comments and recommendations from the external 
peer-reviewers.
    EPA is releasing these draft documents solely for the purpose of 
pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. These documents have not been formally disseminated by the 
EPA. They do not represent and should not be construed to represent any 
Agency policy or determination.

DATES: All comments received by September 1, 2009 will be shared with 
the external peer review panel for their consideration. Comments 
received beyond that time may be considered by EPA when it finalizes 
the documents.

ADDRESSES: The draft documents are available electronically through the 
EPA Office of the Science Advisor's Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/raf/prawhitepaper.
    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-
NNNN, by one of the following methods:
     Online at: http://www.regulations.gov; Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: ORD Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Room 3334, EPA 
West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, 
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-NNNN. 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.

[[Page 41696]]

    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2009-NNNN. 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 by statute 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.
    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, EPAWest, 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 ORD Docket is (202) 566-1752.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Bangs, Risk Assessment Forum, 
Mail Code 8105R, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-6667; 
fax number: (202) 564-2070, E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Various stakeholders, inside and outside the 
Agency, have called for a more comprehensive characterization of risks, 
including uncertainties, in protecting more sensitive or vulnerable 
populations and life stages. Therefore, the Office of the Science 
Advisor of the EPA, together with EPA's Science Policy Council and 
members of EPA's Risk Assessment Forum (RAF), identified a need to 
examine the use of probabilistic approaches in Agency risk assessment 
and risk management. An RAF Technical Panel developed this paper and 
the manager's summary to provide a general overview of the value of 
probabilistic analyses and similar or related methods, and some 
examples of current applications across the Agency. The purpose of 
these papers is not only to describe potential and actual uses of these 
tools in the risk decision process, but also to encourage their further 
implementation in human, ecological and environmental risk analysis and 
related decision making. The enhanced use of probabilistic analyses to 
characterize uncertainty in assessments would not only reflect external 
scientific advice on how to further advance EPA risk assessment 
science, but will also help to address specific challenges faced by 
managers and improve confidence in Agency decisions. The draft document 
was prepared by the Probabilistic Risk Analysis Technical Panel of 
EPA's Risk Assessment Forum and has undergone internal peer review.

    Dated: August 4, 2009.
Kevin Teichman,
Acting EPA Science Advisor.
[FR Doc. E9-19755 Filed 8-17-09; 8:45 am]
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