[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51592-51593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24189]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8966-5; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-0613]


Exposure Factors Handbook: 2009 Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period for the 
external review draft document titled, ``Exposure Factors Handbook: 
2009 Update'' (EPA/600/R-09/052A), which was prepared by the National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of 
Research and Development (ORD). The Exposure Factors Handbook provides 
a summary of the available statistical data on various factors used in 
assessing human exposure. This Handbook is aimed at exposure assessors 
inside the Agency as well as those outside who use data on standard 
factors to calculate human exposure to toxic chemicals. These factors 
include: drinking water consumption; mouthing behavior; soil ingestion 
rates; inhalation rates; dermal factors, including skin area and soil 
adherence factors; consumption of fruits and vegetables, fish, meats, 
dairy products, and homegrown foods; breast milk intake; human activity 
factors;

[[Page 51593]]

consumer product use; and residential characteristics. Recommended 
values are for the general population and also for various segments of 
the population who may have characteristics different from the general 
population. An external peer-review workshop is expected to be 
scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register. The 
public comment period and the external peer-review workshop are 
separate processes that provide opportunities for all interested 
parties to comment on the document. EPA intends to forward the public 
comments that are submitted in accordance with this notice to the 
external peer-review panel prior to the meeting for their 
consideration. When finalizing the draft document, EPA intends to 
consider any public comments that EPA receives in accordance with this 
notice.
    EPA is releasing this draft document solely for the purpose of pre-
dissemination peer review under applicable information quality 
guidelines. This document has not been formally disseminated by EPA. It 
does not represent and should not be construed to represent any Agency 
policy or determination.
    The draft document and EPA's peer-review charge are available via 
the Internet on the NCEA home page under the Recent Additions and the 
Data and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea.

DATES: The 60-day public comment period begins October 7, 2009, and 
ends December 7, 2009. Technical comments should be in writing and must 
be received by EPA by December 7, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The external review draft ``Exposure Factors Handbook: 2009 
Update'' is available primarily via the Internet on the National Center 
for Environmental Assessment's home page under the Recent Additions and 
the Data and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited 
number of CDs are available from NCEA's Information Management Team, 
NCEA; telephone: 703-347-8561; facsimile: 703-347-8691. If you are 
requesting a CD, please provide your name, your mailing address, and 
the document title, ``Exposure Factors Handbook: 2009 Update.''
    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 Jacqueline Moya, NCEA; 
telephone: 703-347-8539; facsimile: 703-347-8694; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2009-
0613 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-1753.
     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's 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-
2009-0613. 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: September 30, 2009.
Peter Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E9-24189 Filed 10-6-09; 8:45 am]
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