[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 8 (Friday, January 11, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2394-2395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00430]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0108; FRL-9769-6]


Release of Draft Document Related to the Review of the National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Lead

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Availability of draft documents for public comment.

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SUMMARY: On or about January 8, 2013, the Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) will make available for public review 
the draft document titled, Policy Assessment for the Review of the Lead 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, External Review Draft (PA). 
This document was prepared as part of the current review of the 
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb).

DATES: Comments should be received on or before February 4.

ADDRESSES: This document is available primarily via the Internet at the 
following Web site: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_index.html.
    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-
0108, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-1741.
     Mail: EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0108, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mail code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Please include a total of two copies.
     Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries 
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2010-0108. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the 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 www.regulations.gov 
(or email). The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means the 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 the 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, the 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 the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the 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 the 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 
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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and Radiation Docket 
and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West,

[[Page 2395]]

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 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, and the telephone number for the Air 
and Radiation Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Deirdre Murphy, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code C504-06), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-0729; fax number: 919-541-0237; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to the EPA 
through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of 
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk 
or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-
ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM 
the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Information Specific to This Document

    Two sections of the Clean Air Act govern the establishment and 
revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 (42 U.S.C. 7408) directs the 
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then to 
issue air quality criteria for those pollutants. The Administrator is 
to list those air pollutants that in her ``judgment, cause or 
contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to 
endanger public health or welfare;'' ``the presence of which in the 
ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary 
sources;'' and ``for which * * * [the Administrator] plans to issue air 
quality criteria * * *''. Air quality criteria are intended 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 * * *'' 42 U.S.C. 7408(b). Under section 
109 (42 U.S.C. 7409), the EPA establishes primary (health-based) and 
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants for which air quality 
criteria are issued. Section 109(d) requires periodic review and, if 
appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria. The revised air 
quality criteria reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the 
effects of the pollutant on public health or welfare. The EPA is also 
required to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS, 
based on the revised air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(2) requires 
that an independent scientific review committee ``shall complete a 
review of the criteria * * * and the national primary and secondary 
ambient air quality standards * * * and shall recommend to the 
Administrator any new * * * standards and revisions of existing 
criteria and standards as may be appropriate * * *.'' Since the early 
1980's, this independent review function has been performed by the 
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
    Presently, EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for 
Pb. The EPA's overall plan and schedule for this review is presented in 
the Integrated Review Plan for the Lead National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards.\1\ The draft PA document announced today, when final, will 
serve to ``bridge the gap'' between the scientific information and the 
judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether to 
retain or revise the existing NAAQS for Pb, and, if revision is 
considered, what revisions may be appropriate. The draft PA builds upon 
information presented in the third draft Integrated Science Assessment 
for Lead \2\ and health and ecological risk assessments developed in 
the last review.\3\ The draft PA will be available on or about January 
8, 2013, through the agency's Technology Transfer Network (TTN) Web 
site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_index.html.
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    \1\ EPA EPA-452/R-11-008; November 2011; Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/data/20111117PbIRPfinal.pdf.
    \2\ EPA/600/R-10/075C; November 2012; http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=242655.
    \3\ Upon consideration of the evidence newly available in this 
review with regard to risk and exposure assessment in the REA 
Planning Document for the review (available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/data/20110628pbplanningdoc.pdf), staff 
concluded, and CASAC Pb Panel generally concurred, that new health 
and ecological REAs were not warranted by the newly available 
evidence.
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    The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by 
means of a review of this draft document at an upcoming public meeting 
of the CASAC. Information about this public meeting, including the 
dates and location, will be published as a separate notice in the 
Federal Register. Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider 
comments received from the CASAC and the public in preparing revisions 
to this document. The EPA will consider public comments submitted in 
response to this notice when revising the documents. Comments should be 
submitted to the docket, as described above. The document that is the 
subject of today's notice does not represent and should not be 
construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or 
determination.

    Dated: January 7, 2013.
Mary E. Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2013-00430 Filed 1-10-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P