[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16326-16327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06548]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9908-74-OA]


EPA Science Advisory Board; Notification of a Public 
Teleconference and Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Chemical 
Assessment Advisory Committee Augmented for the Review of EPA's Draft 
Ammonia Assessment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two meetings of the Chemical 
Assessment Advisory Committee Augmented for the Review of the Draft 
Ammonia Assessment (CAAC-Ammonia Panel). A public teleconference will 
be held to discuss the charge questions, to learn about the development 
of the agency's draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) 
Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 2013 Revised External Review 
Draft), and to learn about the Health and Environment Research Online 
(HERO) database prior to a face-to-face meeting that will be held in 
Arlington, VA. The purpose of the face-to-face meeting is to receive a 
briefing on the EPA's enhancements to the IRIS Program, including the 
process for developing IRIS assessments, and to conduct a peer review 
of the Agency's draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 2013 
Revised External Review Draft).

DATES: The public teleconference will be held on June 4, 2014, from 
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). The public face-to-face meeting 
will be held on July 14--July 16, 2014. A briefing on the EPA's 
enhancements to the IRIS Program will be held on July 14, 2014 from 
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The peer review of the Agency's draft IRIS 
Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 2013 Revised External Review 
Draft) will commence on July 14, 2014 from 1:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
(Eastern Time). The peer review will continue on July 15-16, 2014, from 
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The public teleconference will be conducted by telephone 
only. The public face-to-face meeting will be held at the Crowne Plaza 
Washington National Airport, 1480 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA, 22202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public who wants 
further information concerning these public meetings may contact Dr. 
Sue Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the CAAC-Ammonia 
Panel, by telephone at (202) 564-2057 or via email at 
[email protected]. General information concerning the EPA SAB can 
be found at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 advice to the Administrator on the technical 
basis for Agency positions and regulations. The SAB is a Federal 
Advisory Committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(FACA), 5 U.S.C., App. 2. The SAB will comply with the provisions of 
FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies. Pursuant 
to FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby given that the SAB CAAC-
Ammonia Panel will hold a public teleconference and public face-to-face 
meeting. The purpose of the teleconference is to discuss the charge 
questions, to learn about the development of the agency's draft IRIS 
Toxicological Review of Ammonia (August 2013 Revised External Review 
Draft) and learn about the EPA's Health and Environmental Research 
Online (HERO) database. The purposes of the face-to-face meeting are to 
receive a briefing on the EPA's enhancements to the IRIS Program, 
including the process for developing IRIS assessments, and to conduct a 
peer review of the EPA's draft IRIS assessment of ammonia. This SAB 
panel will provide advice to the Administrator through the chartered 
SAB.
    Background: EPA's Office of Research and Development requested that 
the SAB conduct a peer review of the draft IRIS Toxicological Review of 
Ammonia

[[Page 16327]]

(August 2013 Revised External Review Draft). The EPA SAB Staff Office 
augmented the SAB CAAC with subject matter experts to provide advice 
through the chartered SAB regarding this IRIS assessment. The SAB CAAC-
Ammonia Review Panel was scheduled to meet on February 18-20, 2014 to 
conduct a peer review of the draft IRIS assessment of ammonia (79 
Federal Register 5400-5402). To allow more time for the public to 
prepare for the meeting, the agency asked the SAB to reschedule its 
February meeting. Additional information about this advisory activity, 
including, the formation of the SAB CAAC-Ammonia Review Panel, can be 
found at the following URL: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/IRIS%20Ammonia?OpenDocument.
    A meeting agenda and other meeting materials will be posted at the 
above noted URL prior to the meeting.
    Technical Contacts: Any technical questions concerning EPA's draft 
IRIS assessment of ammonia should be directed to Dr. Samantha Jones by 
telephone at 703-347-8580 or by email at [email protected].
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Prior to the meeting, the review 
documents, agenda and other materials will be accessible through the 
calendar link on the blue navigation bar at http://www.epa.gov/sab/. 
Materials may also be accessed at the following SAB Web page http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/IRIS%20Ammonia?OpenDocument.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Public comment for 
consideration by EPA's federal advisory committees and panels has a 
different purpose from public comment 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 the EPA. 
Interested members of the public may submit relevant information on the 
topic of this advisory activity, and/or the group conducting the 
activity, for the SAB to consider during the advisory process. Input 
from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if it provides 
specific scientific or technical information or analysis for SAB 
committees and panels 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 DFO directly. Oral Statements: In 
general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation on the 
teleconference will be limited to three minutes and oral presentations 
at the face-to-face meeting will be limited to five minutes. Interested 
parties wishing to provide comments should contact Dr. Sue Shallal, 
DFO, in writing (preferably via email) at the contact information noted 
above by May 27, 2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers for 
the teleconference and by July 7, 2014 to be placed on the list of 
public speakers for the face-to-face meeting.
    Written Statements: Written statements will be accepted throughout 
the advisory process; however, for timely consideration by Committee/
Panel members, statements should be supplied to the DFO via email at 
the contact information noted above at least one week prior to a public 
meeting. Written statements should be supplied in one of the following 
electronic formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, 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 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 at (202) 
564-2057 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact Dr. Shallal preferably at least ten days 
prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process 
your request.

    Dated: March 18, 2014.
 Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-06548 Filed 3-24-14; 8:45 am]
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