[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 48 (Friday, March 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13402-13403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5629]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9279-5; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0664]


Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of 
Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS 
assessments; request for information.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 
the availability of literature searches for cobalt (CASRN 7440-48-4) 
and inorganic cobalt compounds, vanadium pentoxide (CASRN 1314-62-1), 
vinyl acetate (CASRN 108-05-4), and Libby Amphibole asbestos. EPA is 
requesting scientific information on health effects that may result 
from exposure to these chemical substances. EPA's IRIS is a human 
health assessment program that evaluates quantitative and qualitative 
risk information on effects that may result from exposure to specific 
chemical substances found in the environment.

DATES: EPA will accept information related to the specific substances 
included herein as well as any other compounds being assessed by the 
IRIS Program. Please submit any information in accordance with the 
instructions provided below.

ADDRESSES: Please submit relevant scientific information identified by 
docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0664, online at http://www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method); by e-mail to 
[email protected]; mailed to Office of Environmental Information (OEI) 
Docket (Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; or by hand delivery 
or courier to EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Information on a disk or CD-
ROM should be formatted in Word or as an ASCII file, avoiding the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption, and may be mailed to 
the mailing address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the IRIS program, 
contact Karen Hammerstrom, IRIS Program Deputy Director, National 
Center for Environmental Assessment, (mail code: 8601D), Office of 
Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (703) 347-8642, facsimile: (703) 347-
8689; or e-mail: [email protected].
    For general questions about access to IRIS, or the content of IRIS, 
please call the IRIS Hotline at (202) 566-1676 or send electronic mail 
inquiries to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    EPA's IRIS is a human health assessment program that evaluates 
quantitative and qualitative risk information on effects that may 
result from exposure to specific 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

[[Page 13403]]

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 as well as assessments of potential 
carcinogenic effects resulting from chronic exposure. 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.
    This data call-in is a step in the IRIS process. As literature 
searches are completed, the results will be posted on the IRIS Web site 
(http://www.epa.gov/iris). The public is invited to review the 
literature search results and submit additional information to EPA.

Request for Public Involvement in IRIS Assessments

    EPA is soliciting public involvement in assessments on the IRIS 
agenda. While EPA conducts a thorough literature search for each 
chemical substance, there may be unpublished studies or other primary 
technical sources that are not available through the open literature. 
EPA would appreciate receiving scientific information from the public 
during the information gathering stage for the assessments listed in 
this notice or any other assessments on the IRIS agenda. Interested 
persons may provide scientific analyses, studies, and other pertinent 
scientific information. While EPA is primarily soliciting information 
on new assessments, the public may submit information on any chemical 
substance at any time.
    EPA is announcing the availability of additional literature 
searches on the IRIS Web site (http://www.epa.gov/iris). The public is 
invited to review the literature search results and submit additional 
information to EPA. Literature searches are now available for cobalt 
(CAS No. 7440-48-4) and inorganic cobalt compounds, vanadium pentoxide 
(CASRN 1314-62-1), vinyl aceate (108-05-4), and Libby Amphibole 
asbestos at http://www.epa.gov/iris under ``IRIS Agenda and Literature 
Searches.'' The literature search for Libby Amphibole asbestos 
encompasses publicly available and peer reviewed literature that is 
specific to Libby Amphibole asbestos. EPA would appreciate receiving 
scientific information from the public that is specific to Libby 
Amphibole asbestos, rather than general asbestos, in an effort to 
support the development of an IRIS human health assessment specific for 
Libby Amphibole asbestos (CASRN 1332-21-4). Instructions on how to 
submit information are provided below under General Information.

General Information

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0664 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 information 
by mail or 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 main 
text, and submit an unbound original and three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2007-0664. 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: February 28, 2011.
Darrel A. Winner,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2011-5629 Filed 3-10-11; 8:45 am]
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