[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 111 (Friday, June 8, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34039-34041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13825]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2012-0399; FRL-9683-8]


Draft Toxicological Review of Ammonia: 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 60-day public comment period and a public 
listening session for the external review draft human health assessment 
titled ``Toxicological Review of Ammonia: In Support of Summary 
Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/
635/R-11/013A). 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 
for the purposes of public comment and peer review. This draft 
assessment is not final as described in EPA's information quality 
guidelines, and it does not represent and should not be construed to 
represent Agency policy or views.
    EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) will convene an expert panel for 
independent external peer review of the draft assessment. The EPA SAB 
is a body established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act with a 
broad mandate to advise the Agency on scientific matters. The public 
comment period and the SAB peer review are separate processes that 
provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the 
document. The SAB will schedule one or more public peer-review 
meetings, which will be announced in the Federal Register at a later 
date.
    EPA is also announcing a listening session to be held on Thursday, 
July 12, 2012, during the public comment period. The purpose of the 
listening session is to allow all interested parties to present 
scientific and technical comments on the draft IRIS health assessment 
to EPA and other interested parties attending the listening session. 
EPA welcomes the scientific and technical comments that will be 
provided to the Agency by the listening

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session participants. The comments will be considered by the Agency as 
it revises the draft assessment after the independent external peer 
review.

DATES: The public comment period begins, June 8, 2012, and ends August 
7, 2012. Technical comments should be in writing and must be received 
by EPA by August 7, 2012.
    The listening session on the draft IRIS health assessment for 
ammonia will be held on July 12, 2012, beginning at 9 a.m. and ending 
at 4 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, or when the last presentation has 
been completed. If you would like to make a presentation at the 
listening session, you should register by July 3, 2012, following the 
detailed instructions below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES: The draft ``Toxicological Review of Ammonia: 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 request a paper copy, please provide your name, mailing 
address, and the document title.
    The listening session on the draft assessment of ammonia will be 
held at the EPA offices at Two Potomac Yard (North Building), 7th 
Floor, Room 7100, 2733 South Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia, 22202. 
There are two buildings at Potomac Yard, please be sure you go to 
Building Two, the North Building. Please note that to gain entrance to 
this EPA building, attendees must register at the guard's desk in the 
lobby and present photo identification. The guard will retain your 
photo identification and 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 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 Ammonia 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.

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, IRIS data are used by government 
and private entities to help characterize public health risks of 
chemical substances in site-specific situations and thereby support 
risk management decisions designed to protect public health.

II. How To Register for the Listening Session

    To attend the July 12, 2012, listening session, register by July 3, 
2012, by sending an email to [email protected] (subject 
line: Ammonia Listening Session); by calling Christine Ross at 703-347-
8592; or by faxing a registration request to 703-347-8689. Please 
reference the ``Ammonia Listening Session'' and include your name, 
title, affiliation, sponsoring organization, if any, full address, and 
contact information. To present at the listening session, indicate in 
your registration that you would like to make oral comments and provide 
the length of your presentation. When you register, please indicate if 
you will need audio-visual aid (e.g., laptop 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 July 3, 
2012, the listening session will be cancelled and EPA will notify those 
registered of the cancellation.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2012-
0399 by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-9744.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 28221T), 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, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Avenue 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. 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 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 for submitting comments to the EPA Docket: Direct your 
comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2012-0399. 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

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consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or email. 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 email comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://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 about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the federal docket, 
contact the Office of Environmental Information Docket; telephone: 202-
566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-9744; or email: [email protected].
    For information on the public listening session, 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 email: [email protected].
    If you have questions about the document, contact Audrey Galizia, 
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA); telephone: 732-
906-6887; facsimile: 732-452-6429; or email: [email protected].

    Dated: May 24, 2012.
Darrell A. Winner,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2012-13825 Filed 6-7-12; 8:45 am]
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