[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 206 (Thursday, October 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63464-63465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-25068]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9901-69-ORD; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2011-0391]


Notice of Extension of the Public Comment Period on the Draft 
Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene: In Support of the Summary 
Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and the 
Addition of Benzo[a]pyrene to the Agenda for the December 2013 IRIS 
Bimonthly Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Extension of the Public Comment Period to November 
21, 2013, and the Public Meeting.

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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing an extension of the public comment period 
for the 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 from October 21, 2013, to November 21, 2013. 
The draft assessment will be added to the agenda for the IRIS bimonthly 
public meeting scheduled for December 12-13, 2013. Information on this 
meeting, including location, time, registration, and participation 
procedures will be available on the IRIS Web site (http://www.epa.gov/iris/publicmeeting/).

DATES: The public comment period began on August 21, 2013, and is being 
extended to November 21, 2013. Comments should be in writing and must 
be received by EPA by November 21, 2013. Discussion of the draft 
Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene will be included on the agenda 
of the bimonthly IRIS public meeting to be held on December 12-13, 
2013, at EPA offices in Arlington, Virginia.

ADDRESSES: 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: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, (ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The ORD 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-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 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

[[Page 63465]]

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 
at www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the federal docket, 
contact the ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket Center at 202-
566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-9744; or email: [email protected].
    For information on the bimonthly IRIS public meeting please contact 
Christine Ross, IRIS Staff, National Center for Environmental 
Assessment, (Mail Code: 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: 703-347-8641; facsimile: 703-347-8689; or email: 
[email protected].

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 and the 
environment.

II. Extension of Comment Period

    The EPA is extending the deadline for submitting comments on the 
draft Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene and on the draft peer 
review charge questions to November 21, 2013. The original deadline for 
comments was October 21, 2013, as announced in the Federal Register on 
August 21, 2013 (78 FR 51719). This decision responds to requests to 
extend the comment deadline from the following organizations: American 
Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute, American Fuel & Petrochemical 
Manufacturers, American Petroleum Institute, Asphalt Institute, 
Association of American Railroads, and the Pavement Coatings Technology 
Council. The EPA believes this extension will assist in providing an 
adequate amount of additional time for the public to review the drafts 
and to provide written comments. EPA released 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.

III. Bimonthly Public Meeting

    In addition to the extension of the public comment period announced 
in this notice, the draft assessment will be discussed at the bimonthly 
IRIS public meeting scheduled for December 12-13, 2013. Information on 
this meeting, including location, time, registration, and participation 
procedures, will be available on 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 EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) for peer review.

IV. Peer Review

    In addition to this public comment period, the draft assessment 
will be sent to the 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 bimonthly 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.

    Dated: September 26, 2013.
Kenneth Olden,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2013-25068 Filed 10-23-13; 8:45 am]
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