[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5400-5402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02096]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL- 9906-07-OA]


Notification of Three Public Meetings of the Chemical Assessment 
Advisory Committee (CAAC), the CAAC Augmented for the Review of Ammonia 
and the CAAC Augmented for the Review of Trimethylbenzenes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or agency) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces three public meetings. The 
SAB Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) and additional 
experts will meet in a plenary session to learn about new enhancements 
to the EPA's process for developing Integrated Risk Information System 
(IRIS) health assessments for chemicals. After the

[[Page 5401]]

plenary session, there will be two concurrent panel meetings to conduct 
chemical-specific peer reviews. A panel composed of a subset of CAAC 
members augmented with subject matter experts will conduct a peer 
review of the EPA's IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 2013 
Draft). A panel composed of the remaining subset of CAAC members 
augmented with other subject matter experts will conduct a peer review 
of the EPA's Toxicological Review of Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 
Draft).

DATES: The plenary session will be held on Tuesday February 18, 2014 
from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Eastern Time). The meetings to review the 
two draft IRIS assessments, Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 
2013 Draft) and Toxicological Review of Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 
Draft) will be held concurrently on Tuesday February 18, 2014 from 
11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time), Wednesday February 19, 2014 
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) and Thursday February 20, 
2014 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The meetings will be held at the Crowne Plaza Washington 
National Airport, 1480 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA, 22202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information regarding this announcement may contact Dr. 
Sue Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the CAAC augmented 
for the Ammonia Review, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2057 or 
via email at [email protected] and Mr. Thomas Carpenter, DFO for 
the CAAC augmented for the Trimethylbenzenes Review, by telephone/voice 
mail at (202) 564-4885 or via email at [email protected]. 
General information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    Technical Contact for EPA's draft assessments: For information 
concerning the EPA draft assessments, please contact Dr. Samantha 
Jones, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research 
and Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 
8601P, Washington, DC 20460, phone (703) 347-8580 or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: The SAB was established pursuant 
to the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration 
Authorization Act (ERDDAA) codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide 
independent scientific and technical peer review, advice, consultation 
and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the technical basis for 
EPA actions. As a Federal Advisory Committee, the SAB conducts business 
in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. 
App. 2) and related regulations. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, 
notice is hereby given that the SAB Chemical Assessment Advisory 
Committee (CAAC) along with additional experts will hold public 
meetings to: (1) Learn about the EPA's enhancements to the process for 
developing Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) health assessments 
for chemicals and (2) to conduct peer reviews of two draft IRIS 
assessments, Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 2013 Draft) and 
Toxicological Review of Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 Draft). The SAB 
committee and panels will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    EPA's Office of Research and Development has requested that the SAB 
conduct peer reviews of two draft documents, Toxicological Review of 
Ammonia (August 2013 Draft) and Toxicological Review of 
Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 Draft). The EPA SAB Staff Office 
augmented the SAB CAAC with subject matter experts to provide advice 
through the chartered SAB regarding these IRIS assessments. The SAB 
Staff Office previously requested public nominations of experts to 
serve as chemical-specific experts for these peer reviews in a Federal 
Register notice published on August 28, 2013 (78:167 pp. 53144-46). 
Information about the formation of the SAB CAAC augmented for the 
Ammonia peer review can be found on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/02ad90b136fc21ef85256eba00436459/2fe334e0bec7a3cf85257b65005c500b!OpenDocument&TableRow=2.1#2. 
Information about the formation of the SAB CAAC augmented for the 
Trimethylbenzenes peer review can be found on the SAB Web site at 
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/02ad90b136fc21ef85256eba00436459/ee1e280e77586de985257b65005d37e7!OpenDocument&TableRow=2.1#2.
    Prior to the beginning of their peer review activities, the 
augmented CAAC panels will meet in a plenary session to receive EPA 
briefings on the enhancements to the process for developing IRIS health 
assessments for chemicals.
    Availability of the review materials: Information about these 
public meetings will be available on the SAB Web site (http://www.epa.gov/sab) prior to the meetings. Meeting materials can be 
accessed by using the ``calendar'' link in the blue navigation sidebar 
and then clicking on the date corresponding to the meeting date.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Public comments for 
consideration by EPA's federal advisory committees and panels have a 
different purpose from public comments provided to EPA program offices. 
Therefore, the process for submitting comments to a federal advisory 
committee is different from the process used to submit comments to an 
EPA program office. Federal advisory committees and panels, including 
scientific advisory committees, provide independent advice to EPA. 
Members of the public can submit relevant comments pertaining to the 
committee's charge, meeting materials and/or the group conducting the 
activity. Input from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if 
it consists of comments that provide specific scientific or technical 
information or analysis for the SAB committee to consider or if it 
relates to the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. 
Members of the public wishing to provide comment should contact the 
Designated Federal Officer for the relevant advisory committee 
directly.
    Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting an 
oral presentation will be limited to five minutes per speaker. 
Interested parties wishing to provide comments regarding the IRIS 
process enhancements or the SAB's review of the agency's Toxicological 
Review of Ammonia (August 2013 Draft) should contact Dr. Suhair 
Shallal, DFO, and interested parties wishing to provide comments 
regarding the Toxicological Review of Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 
Draft) should contact Mr. Thomas Carpenter, DFO in writing (preferably 
via email), at the contact information noted above, by February 10, 
2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers for the meeting. 
Written Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB 
Staff Office by February 10, 2014 so that the information can be made 
available to the SAB Committee for consideration. Written statements 
should be supplied to the appropriate DFO in electronic format via 
email (acceptable file formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS 
Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP 
format). It is the SAB Staff Office general policy to post written 
comments on the Web page for the advisory meeting or teleconference. 
Submitters are requested to provide an unsigned version of each 
document

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because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents with signatures 
on its Web sites. Members of the public should be aware that their 
personal contact information, if included in any written comments, may 
be posted to the SAB Web site. Copyrighted material will not be posted 
without explicit permission of the copyright holder.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Sue Shallal or Mr. 
Thomas Carpenter at the phone number or email address noted above, 
preferably at least ten days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much 
time as possible to process your request.

    Dated: January 23, 2014.
 Christopher S. Zarba,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-02096 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
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