[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59716-59717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24305]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9207-8; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2010-0633]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period and listening session.

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

SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period and a public 
listening session for the external review draft human health assessment 
titled, ``Toxicological Review of Urea: In Support of Summary 
Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' [EPA/
635/R-10/005]. The draft assessment was prepared by the National Center 
for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the EPA Office of Research 
and Development (ORD). EPA is releasing this draft assessment solely 
for the purpose of pre-dissemination peer review under applicable 
information quality guidelines. This draft assessment has not been 
formally disseminated by EPA. It does not represent and should not be 
construed to represent any Agency policy or determination. After public 
review and comment, an EPA contractor will convene an expert panel for 
independent external peer review of this draft assessment. The public 
comment period and external peer review meeting are separate processes 
that provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the 
assessment. The external peer review meeting will be scheduled at a 
later date and announced in the Federal Register. Public comments 
submitted during the public comment period will be provided to the 
external peer reviewers before the panel meeting and considered by EPA 
in the disposition of public comments. Public comments received after 
the public comment period closes will not be submitted to the external 
peer reviewers and will only be considered by EPA if time permits.
    The listening session will be held on November 16, 2010, during the 
public comment period for this draft assessment. 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 attending the listening session. EPA 
welcomes the 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 after the independent 
external peer review. If listening session participants would like EPA 
to share their comments with the external peer reviewers, they 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.

DATES: The public comment period begins September 28, 2010, and ends 
November 29, 2010. Comments should be in writing and must be received 
by EPA by November 29, 2010.
    The listening session on the draft assessment for urea will be held 
on November 16, 2010, beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., Eastern 
Daylight Time. To present at the listening session, indicate in your 
registration that you want to make oral comments at the session and 
provide the length of your presentation. To attend the listening 
session, register by November 9, 2010, via e-mail at 
[email protected] (subject line: Urea Listening Session), by phone: 
703-750-3000, ext. 545, or toll free at 1-800-2-VERSAR (ask for Kathy 
Coon, the Urea Listening Session Coordinator), or by faxing a 
registration request to 703-642-6809 (please reference the ``Urea 
Listening Session'' and include your name, title, affiliation, full 
address and contact information). When you register, please indicate if 
you will need audio-visual equipment (e.g., laptop computer 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 November 
9, 2010, the listening session will be cancelled, and EPA will notify 
those registered of the cancellation.

ADDRESSES: The draft ``Toxicological Review of Urea: 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 (Address: Information Management Team, National Center 
for Environmental Assessment (Mail Code: 8601P), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: 703-347-8561; facsimile: 703-347-8691). If you request a 
paper copy, please provide your name, mailing address, and the draft 
assessment title.
    Comments may be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, by e-mail, by mail, by facsimile, or by hand 
delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed instructions provided in 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.
    The listening session on the draft urea assessment will be held at 
the EPA offices at Potomac Yard (North Building), Rm. 7100, 2733 South 
Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Please note that to gain 
entrance to this EPA building to attend the meeting, you must have 
photo identification 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, you should provide 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 a.m., 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 urea 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 by phone at 703-347-8592 or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. To request accommodation for 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.
    Additional Information: For information on the docket, 
www.regulations.gov, or the public comment period, please contact the 
Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket (Mail Code: 2822T), 
U.S.

[[Page 59717]]

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; 
or e-mail: [email protected].
    For information on the public listening session, please contact 
Christine Ross, IRIS Staff, National Center for Environmental 
Assessment (Mail Code: 8601P), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: 703-
347-8592; facsimile: 703-347-8689; or e-mail: 
[email protected].
    For information on the draft assessment, please contact Amanda 
Persad, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Mail Code: B-243-
01, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 
27711; telephone: 919-541-9781; facsimile: 919-541-2985; or e-mail: 
[[email protected]].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About IRIS

    EPA's IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates 
quantitative and qualitative risk information on effects that may 
result from exposure to chemical substances found in the environment. 
Through the IRIS Program, EPA provides the highest quality science-
based human health assessments to support the Agency's regulatory 
activities. The IRIS database contains information for more than 540 
chemical substances that can be used to support the first two steps 
(hazard identification and dose-response evaluation) of the risk 
assessment process. When supported by available data, IRIS provides 
oral reference doses (RfDs) and inhalation reference concentrations 
(RfCs) for chronic noncancer health effects and cancer assessments. 
Combined with specific exposure information, government and private 
entities use IRIS 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 Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2010-
0633, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Facsimile: 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 telephone number is 
202-566-1752. If you provide comments by mail, please submit 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.
     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 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. 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 
hand delivery, please submit 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-
2010-0633. 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 comments include 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 that EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comments. If you send e-mail 
comments directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comments that are placed in the public 
docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit electronic 
comments, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact 
information in the body of your comments and with any disk or CD-ROM 
you submit. If EPA cannot read your comments due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be 
able to consider your comments. Electronic files should avoid the use 
of special characters and 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 
at http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the 
EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: September 20, 2010.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2010-24305 Filed 9-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P