[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51719-51721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19875]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9900-13-ORD; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-0391]


Draft Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene: In Support of the 
Summary Information in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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ACTION: Notice of public comment period and public meeting.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a 60-day public comment period for the 
external review draft human health assessment titled ``Toxicological 
Review of benzo[a]pyrene: In Support of Summary Information on the 
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)'' (EPA/635/R-13/138) and the 
draft peer review charge questions. 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 and peer review charge questions for the purpose of 
public comment. 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. The draft 
assessment will also be discussed at the first bi-monthly IRIS public 
meeting scheduled for October 23-24, 2013.

DATES: The public comment period begins, August 21, 2013, and ends 
October 21, 2013. Technical comments should be in writing and must be 
received by EPA by October 21, 2013.
    Discussion of the draft toxicological review of benzo[a]pyrene will 
be included on the agenda of the bi-monthly IRIS public meeting to be 
held on October 23-24, 2013, at EPA offices in Arlington, Virginia. 
Information on this meeting, including meeting location, time, and 
registration and participation procedures are available at the IRIS Web 
site (http://www.epa.gov/iris/publicmeeting/).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about IRIS 
public meetings, please contact Christine Ross, IRIS Staff, 
Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental 
Assessment (NCEA), Mail Code 8601P; telephone: 703-347-8592; facsimile: 
703-347-8689; or email:[email protected]. For information 
regarding the subject matter of a specific meeting, please contact the 
EPA representative identified on the IRIS public meeting Web site 
(http://www.epa.gov/iris/publicmeeting/).

ADDRESSES: The draft ``Toxicological Review of benzo[a]pyrene: 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.
    Discussion of the draft toxicological review of benzo[a]pyrene will 
be included on the agenda of the bi-monthly IRIS public meeting to be 
held on October 23-24, 2013, at EPA offices in Arlington, Virginia. 
Detailed information regarding meeting location, time, and registration 
and participation procedures will be available at the IRIS Web site 
(http://www.epa.gov/iris/publicmeeting/).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About IRIS

    EPA's IRIS Program 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 and decisions to protect public health. The IRIS 
database contains information for more than 500 chemical substances 
that can be used to support the first two steps (hazard identification 
and dose-response evaluation) of the human health risk assessment 
process. When supported by available data, IRIS provides health effects 
information and toxicity values for health effects (including cancer 
and effects other than cancer). Government and others combine IRIS 
toxicity values with exposure information to characterize public health 
risks of chemical substances; this information is then used to support 
risk management decisions designed to protect public health.

II. Bi-Monthly Public Meeting

    In addition to the 60-day public comment period announced in this 
notice, the draft assessment will be discussed at the first bi-monthly 
IRIS public meeting scheduled for October 23-24, 2013. Information on 
this meeting, including meeting location, time, and registration and 
participation procedures, will be available at the IRIS Web site 
(http://www.epa.gov/iris/publicmeeting/). The purpose of the IRIS 
public meeting is to allow all interested parties to present scientific 
and technical comments on the draft IRIS health assessment and charge 
questions to EPA and other interested parties attending the meeting. 
The public comments provided in response to this notice, and at the 
IRIS public meeting, will be considered by the Agency prior to 
submitting the draft assessment to the SAB for peer review.

III. Peer Review

    After consideration of public comments by EPA, the draft assessment 
will be sent to the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) Chemical 
Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) for peer review. 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 bi-monthly public meeting announced in this notice are 
separate processes from the SAB/CAAC peer review. The SAB will schedule 
one or more public peer review meetings, which will be announced in a 
separate Federal Register Notice at a later date.

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

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-
0391 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 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. 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-2011-0391. 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

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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 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 bi-monthly IRIS public meeting 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 Kathleen 
Newhouse, National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA); 
telephone: 707-347-8641; facsimile: 703-347-8689; or email: [email protected].

    Dated: August 15, 2013.
Abdel M. Kadry,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2013-19875 Filed 8-20-13; 8:45 am]
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