[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1617-1619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-338]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9097-6; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-0398]


Draft Toxicological Review of Methanol: In Support of the Summary 
Information in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period and listening session.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a public comment period and a public 
listening session for the external review draft document titled 
``Toxicological Review of Methanol: In Support of Summary Information 
on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/635/R-09/013). 
The draft document was prepared by the National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA's Office of Research and 
Development (ORD). The public comment period and the EPA Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) meeting, which will be scheduled at a later date 
and announced in the Federal Register, 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 SAB 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 also announcing a listening session to be held on February 
23, 2010, during the public comment period for this draft document. 
This listening session is a step in EPA's revised IRIS process, 
announced on May 21, 2009, to develop human health assessments for 
inclusion in the IRIS database. The purpose of the listening session is 
to allow all interested parties to present scientific and technical 
comments on draft IRIS health assessments to EPA and other interested 
parties during the public comment period and before the external peer 
review meeting. EPA welcomes the scientific and technical comments that 
will be provided to the Agency by the listening session participants. 
The comments will be considered by the Agency as it revises the draft 
assessment in response to the independent external peer review and the 
public comments. All presentations submitted to EPA according to the 
instructions below will become part of the official public record.
    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.

DATES: The public comment period begins January 12, 2010, and ends 
March 15, 2010. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by March 15, 2010.
    The listening session on the draft IRIS health assessment for 
methanol will be held on February 23, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. and 
ending at 4 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. If you would like to make a 
presentation at the listening

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session, you should register by February 16, 2010, indicate that you 
wish to make oral comments at the session, and indicate the length of 
your presentation. When you register, please indicate if you will need 
audio-visual aid (e.g., lap top and slide projector). In general, each 
presentation should be no more than 30 minutes. If, however, there are 
more requests for presentations than the allotted time allows, then the 
time limit for each presentation will be adjusted. A copy of the agenda 
for the listening session will be available at the meeting. If no 
speakers have registered by February 16, 2010, the listening session 
will be cancelled and EPA will notify those registered of the 
cancellation.
    Listening session participants who want EPA to share their comments 
with the external peer reviewers should also submit written comments 
during the public comment period using the detailed and established 
procedures described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
notice. Comments submitted to the docket prior to the end of the public 
comment period will be submitted to the external peer reviewers and 
considered by EPA in the disposition of public comments. All comments 
must be submitted to the docket. Comments received after the public 
comment period closes will not be submitted to the external peer 
reviewers.

ADDRESSES: The draft ``Toxicological Review of Methanol: In Support of 
Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' 
is available primarily via the Internet on the NCEA 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. If you are requesting a paper copy, please provide your name, 
mailing address, and the document title.
    Comments may be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/
courier. Please follow the detailed instructions as provided in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.
    The listening session on the draft methanol assessment will be held 
at the EPA offices at Two Potomac Yard (North Building), 7th Floor, 
Room 7100, 2733 South Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia, 22202. To 
attend the listening session, register by February 16, 2010, by sending 
an e-mail to [email protected], (subject line: Methanol 
Listening Session); by calling Christine Ross at 703-347-8592; or by 
faxing a registration request to 703-347-8689. Please reference the 
``Methanol Listening Session'' and include your name, title, 
affiliation, full address and contact information. Please note that to 
gain entrance to this EPA building to attend the meeting, attendees 
must have photo identification with them and must register at the 
guard's desk in the lobby. The guard will retain your photo 
identification and will provide you with a visitor's badge. At the 
guard's desk, attendees should give the name Christine Ross and the 
telephone number, 703-347-8592, to the guard on duty. The guard will 
contact Ms. Ross who will meet you in the reception area to escort you 
to the meeting room. When you leave the building, please return your 
visitor's badge to the guard and you will receive your photo 
identification.
    A teleconference line will also be available for registered 
attendees/speakers. The teleconference number is 866-299-3188 and the 
access code is 926-378-7897, followed by the pound sign (). 
The teleconference line will be activated at 8:45 am, and you will be 
asked to identify yourself and your affiliation at the beginning of the 
call.
    Information on Services for Individuals with Disabilities: EPA 
welcomes public attendance at the Methanol Listening Session and will 
make every effort to accommodate persons with disabilities. For 
information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, 
please contact Christine Ross at 703-347-8592 or 
[email protected]. To request accommodation of a disability, 
please contact Ms. Ross, preferably at least 10 days prior to the 
meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

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 information on the public listening sessions, please contact 
Christine Ross, IRIS Staff, National Center for Environmental 
Assessment, (8601P), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone: 703-347-8592; facsimile: 703-347-8689; 
or e-mail: [email protected].
    If you have questions about the document, contact Jeffrey Gift, 
Ph.D., National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), U.S. EPA, 
109 T.W. Alexander Drive, B243-01, Durham, NC 27711; telephone: 919-
541-4828; facsimile: 919-541-0245; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About IRIS

    IRIS is a database that contains potential adverse human health 
effects information that may result from chronic (or lifetime) exposure 
to specific chemical substances found in the environment. The database 
(available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/iris) contains 
qualitative and quantitative health effects information for more than 
540 chemical substances that may be used to support the first two steps 
(hazard identification and dose-response evaluation) of a risk 
assessment process. When supported by available data, the database 
provides oral reference doses (RfDs) and inhalation reference 
concentrations (RfCs) for chronic health effects, and oral slope 
factors and inhalation unit risks for carcinogenic effects. Combined 
with specific exposure information, government and private entities can 
use IRIS data to help characterize public health risks of chemical 
substances in a site-specific situation and thereby support risk 
management decisions designed to protect public health.

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-2009-
0398 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, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 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

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one unbound original with pages numbered consecutively, and 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-
2009-0398. 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: 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 OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: December 17, 2009.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2010-338 Filed 1-11-10; 8:45 am]
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