[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 38 (Friday, February 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8934-8935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3970]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9115-6; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0108]


Integrated Science Assessment for Lead (Pb)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice; call for information.

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

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that 
the Office of Research and Development's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) is preparing an Integrated Science 
Assessment (ISA) as part of the review of the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Lead (Pb). This ISA is intended to update 
and revise, where appropriate, the scientific assessment presented in 
the Air Quality Criteria for Lead (EPA/600/R-5/144aF), published on 
October 1, 2006. Interested parties are invited to assist the EPA in 
developing and refining the scientific information base for the review 
of the Pb NAAQS by submitting research studies that have been 
published, accepted for publication, or presented at a public 
scientific meeting.

DATES: All communications and information should be received by EPA by 
April 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted electronically, by mail, by 
facsimile, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed 
instructions as provided in the section of this notice entitled 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For details on the period for 
submission of research information from the public, contact the Office 
of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket; telephone: 202-566-1752; 
facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: [email protected]. For technical 
information, contact Ellen Kirrane, Ph.D., NCEA, telephone, 919-541-
1340; facsimile: 919-541-2985; or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Project

    Section 108 (a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to 
identify pollutants that meet certain criteria, including emissions 
which ``may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and 
welfare'' and whose presence ``in the ambient air results from numerous 
or diverse mobile or stationary sources,'' and to issue air quality 
criteria for them. These air quality criteria are to ``accurately 
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 such pollutant in the 
ambient air * * *.'' Welfare effects as defined in section 302(h) (42 
U.S.C. 7602(h)) include, but are not limited to, ``effects on soils, 
water, crops, vegetation, man-made materials, animals, wildlife, 
weather, visibility and climate, damage to and deterioration of 
property, and hazards to transportation, as well as effects on economic 
values and on personal comfort and well-being.'' Under section 109 of 
the Act, EPA is then to establish National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. 
Section 109(d) of the Act subsequently requires periodic review and, if 
appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria to reflect 
advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the pollutant on 
public health and welfare. EPA is also to revise the NAAQS, if 
appropriate, based on the revised air quality criteria.
    Lead (Pb) is one of six ``criteria'' pollutants for which EPA has 
established NAAQS. Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific basis for 
these standards by preparing an Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), 
formerly called an Air Quality Criteria Document (AQCD). The ISA and 
its supplementary annexes are the scientific basis for the additional 
technical and policy assessments that form the basis for EPA decisions 
on the adequacy of current NAAQS and the appropriateness of new or 
revised standards. Early steps in this process include announcing the 
beginning of this periodic NAAQS review and the development of the ISA, 
and EPA requesting that the public submit scientific literature that 
they want to bring to the attention of the Agency as it begins this 
process. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), an 
independent science advisory committee mandated by the Clean Air Act 
and part of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB), is charged with 
independent expert scientific review of EPA's draft ISAs. As the 
process proceeds, the public will have opportunities to review and 
comment on drafts of the Pb ISA. These opportunities will also be 
announced in the Federal Register.
    The Agency is interested in obtaining information concerning 
toxicological studies of effects of controlled exposure to Pb on 
laboratory animals and in vitro systems, epidemiologic (observational) 
studies of health effects associated with exposures of human 
populations to Pb, and ecological effects of Pb exposure. Information 
particular to air-related

[[Page 8935]]

pathways, including those involving deposition, are also of interest to 
the Agency. EPA also seeks recent information in other areas of Pb 
research such as toxicokinetic modeling, exposure assessment and 
exposure assessment methodologies, sources and emissions, chemistry and 
physics, analytical methodology, fate and transport in the environment, 
ambient concentrations, including concentration changes in response to 
changes in Pb deposition, and effects on public welfare or the 
environment. This and other selected literature relevant to a review of 
the NAAQS for Pb will be assessed in the forthcoming Pb ISA.
    As part of this review of the Pb NAAQS, EPA intends to sponsor a 
workshop in May 2010, which will be announced in the Federal Register, 
to highlight significant new and emerging Pb research, and to make 
recommendations to the Agency regarding the design and scope of the 
review of the air quality criteria and the primary (health-based) and 
secondary (welfare-based) Pb standards to ensure that it addresses key 
policy-relevant issues and considers the new science that is relevant 
to informing our understanding of these issues. In addition, other 
opportunities for submission of new peer-reviewed, published (or in-
press) papers will be possible as part of public comment on the draft 
ISAs that will be reviewed by CASAC.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-
0108 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 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-OAR-
2010-0108. 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: February 12, 2010.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2010-3970 Filed 2-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P