[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16324-16325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06551]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9908-76-OA]


Notification of a Public Teleconference and Meeting of the 
Science Advisory Board Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee Augmented 
for the Review of EPA's Draft Trimethylbenzenes 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 
Trimethylbenzenes Assessment (CAAC-TMB 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 Trimethylbenzenes (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 
Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 Revised External Review Draft).

DATES: The public teleconference will be held on May 22, 2014, from 
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). The public face-to-face meeting 
will be held on June 17-June 19, 2014. A briefing on the EPA's 
enhancements to the IRIS Program will be held on June 17, 2014 from 
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The peer review of the Agency's draft IRIS 
Toxicological Review of Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 Revised External 
Review Draft) will commence on June 17, 2014 from 1:15 p.m. to 5:30 
p.m. (Eastern Time). The peer review will continue on June 18-19, 2014, 
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The public teleconference will be conducted by telephone. 
The public face-to-face meetings 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 Mr. 
Thomas Carpenter, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the CAAC TMB 
Panel, by telephone or 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.

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 TMB 
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 Trimethylbenzenes (August 2013 Revised External 
Review Draft) and learn about the Health and Environment 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 trimethylbenzenes. 
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 
Trimethylbenzenes (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-TMB Review Panel was scheduled to meet on 
February 18-20, 2014 to conduct a peer review of the draft IRIS 
assessment of trimethylbenzenes (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-TMB Review Panel, can be found at the following URL: 
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/

[[Page 16325]]

fedrgstr--activites/IRIS%20Trimethylbenzenes?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 trimethylbenzenes 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%20Trimethylbenzenes?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 presentation 
at the face-to-face meeting will be limited to five minutes. Interested 
parties wishing to provide comments should contact Mr. Thomas Carpenter 
(preferably via email) at the contact information noted above by May 
13, 2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers for the 
teleconference and by June 9, 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 Mr. Thomas Carpenter at 
(202) 564-4885 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of 
a disability, please contact Mr. Carpenter 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. 2014-06551 Filed 3-24-14; 8:45 am]
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