[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5247-5249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2327]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9626-1; EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-0051]


Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Lead

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of a document titled, 
``Second External Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Lead'' 
(EPA/600/R-10/075B). The document was prepared by the National Center 
for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development as part of the review of the national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb).
    EPA is releasing this draft document to seek review by the Clean 
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the public (meeting date 
and location to be specified in a separate Federal Register Notice). 
The draft document does not represent and should not be construed to 
represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will 
consider any public comments submitted in response to this notice when 
revising the document.

DATES: The public comment period begins February 2, 2012, and ends 
April 2, 2012. Comments must be received on or before April 2, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The ``Second External Review Draft Integrated Science 
Assessment for Lead'' will be available primarily via the Internet on 
the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home page under the 
Recent Additions and Publications menus at http://www.epa.gov/ncea. A 
limited number of CD-ROM or paper copies will be available. Contact Ms. 
Marieka Boyd by phone (919-541-0031), fax (919-541-5078), or email 
([email protected]) to request either of these, and please provide 
your name, your mailing address, and the document title, ``Second 
External

[[Page 5248]]

Review Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Lead'' (EPA/600/R-10/
075B) to facilitate processing of your request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact Dr. 
Ellen Kirrane, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-1340; facsimile: 919-541-2985; 
or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Document

    Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to 
identify certain pollutants, which among other things, ``cause or 
contribute to air pollution, which may reasonably be anticipated to 
endanger public health or welfare'' 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 [a] pollutant in the ambient air. * * *'' 
Under section 109 of the Act, EPA is to establish NAAQS for each 
pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act 
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 or welfare. EPA is also 
required to periodically review and revises the NAAQS, if appropriate, 
based on the revised air quality criteria.
    Pb is one of six principal (or ``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). The ISA and 
its supplementary materials provide a comprehensive assessment of the 
current scientific literature pertaining to known and anticipated 
effects on public health and welfare associated with the presence of 
the pollutant in the ambient air, emphasizing information that has 
become available since the last air quality criteria review in order to 
reflect the current state of knowledge. As such, the ISA forms the 
scientific foundation for each NAAQS review and is intended to provide 
information useful in forming EPA judgments about the different 
elements of the NAAQS. The CASAC, an independent scientific advisory 
committee whose review and advisory functions are mandated by Section 
109(d)(2) of the Clean Air Act, is charged (among other things) with 
independent scientific review of EPA's air quality criteria.
    On February 26, 2010 (75 FR 8934), EPA formally initiated its 
current review of the air quality criteria for Pb, requesting the 
submission of recent scientific information on specified topics. Soon 
after, a science policy workshop was held to identify key policy issues 
and questions to frame the review of the Pb NAAQS (75 FR 20843). 
Drawing from the workshop discussions, a draft ``Integrated Review Plan 
for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Lead'' (EPA-452/D-
11-001) (IRP) was developed and made available in late March 2011 for 
public comment and consultation with CASAC and was discussed by the 
CASAC via a publicly accessible teleconference consultation on May 5, 
2011 (76 FR 20347, 76 FR 21346). The final IRP was released in December 
2011 (76 FR 76972) and is available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_2010_pd.html.
    As part of the science assessment phase of the review, EPA held a 
workshop in December 2010 (75 FR 69078) to discuss, with invited 
scientific experts, preliminary draft materials prepared during the 
ongoing development of the Pb ISA. The first external review draft ISA 
for Pb was released on May 6, 2011, and is available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=226323. The CASAC Pb 
Review Panel met at a public meeting on July 20, 2011, to review the 
draft ISA (76 FR 36120). Subsequently, on December 9, 2011, the CASAC 
panel provided a consensus letter for their review to the Administrator 
of the EPA http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebCASAC/
D3E2E8488025344D852579610068A8A1/$File/EPA-CASAC-12-002-unsigned.pdf). 
The second external review draft ISA for Pb will be discussed at a 
public meeting of the CASAC Pb Review Panel, and public comments 
received will be provided to the CASAC panel. A future Federal Register 
notice will inform the public of the exact date and time of that CASAC 
meeting.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at 
www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-
0051, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-1753.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue 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 Avenue 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-ORD-
2011-0051. 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 
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 through 
www.regulations.gov or email that you consider to be CBI or otherwise 
protected. The 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 email comment directly to EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email 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

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about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at 
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: January 26, 2012.
Darrell A. Winner,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2012-2327 Filed 2-1-12; 8:45 am]
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