[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31072-31074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12605]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 745

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0173; FRL-9910-44]
RIN 2070-AJ56


Lead; Framework for Identifying and Evaluating Lead-Based Paint 
Hazards From Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities in Public and 
Commercial Buildings

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

[[Page 31073]]


ACTION: Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking; availability and 
request for comment on Framework.

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SUMMARY: EPA is making the following document available for public 
review and comment: ``Framework for Identifying and Evaluating Lead-
Based Paint Hazards From Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities in 
Public and Commercial Buildings'' (Framework). The Framework describes 
an approach for identifying and evaluating hazards created by 
renovations of public and commercial buildings (P&CBs). The Framework 
also describes how the analyses under this approach would be performed, 
and presents results of some preliminary analyses that evaluated the 
impact of different variables on exposure estimates for young children. 
EPA will consider these comments as the Agency determines whether 
hazards are created by P&CB renovations and, if appropriate, develops 
proposed requirements.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 30, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2010-0173, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute.
     Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand 
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the 
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    For technical information contact: Hans Scheifele, National Program 
Chemicals Division (7404T), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-3122; email 
address: [email protected].
    For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 
422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202) 
554-1404; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This document is directed to the public in general. However, you 
may be potentially affected by this action if you perform renovations, 
repairs, or painting activities on the exterior or interior of P&CBs. 
The following list of North American Industrial Classification System 
(NAICS) codes is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide to help readers determine whether this document applies to them. 
Potentially affected entities may include:
     Building construction (NAICS code 236).
     Specialty trade contractors (NAICS code 238).
     Real estate (NAICS code 531).
     Other general governmental support (NAICS code 921).
    Full descriptions of these NAICS codes and related establishments 
are maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau online at https://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/index.html. If you have any questions 
regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, 
consult the technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Authority

    Title IV of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), 15 U.S.C. 2681 
et seq., was enacted to assist the Federal Government in reducing lead 
exposures, particularly those resulting from lead-based paint. Section 
403 of TSCA directs EPA to identify lead-based paint hazards, lead-
contaminated dust, and lead-contaminated soil. ``Lead-based paint 
hazard'' is defined at TSCA section 401(10).
    Section 402(c)(3) of TCSA directs EPA to revise its lead-based 
paint activities regulations (commonly referred to as lead abatement 
activities), promulgated under TSCA section 402(a), to apply the 
regulations to renovation or remodeling activities in target housing, 
public buildings constructed before 1978, and commercial buildings that 
create lead-based paint hazards.

III. Overview of the Framework

    The Framework (Ref. 1) describes an approach for identifying and 
evaluating hazards created by renovations of P&CBs. The Framework also 
describes how the analyses under this approach would be performed, and 
presents results of some preliminary analyses that evaluated the impact 
of different variables on exposure estimates for young children.
    The Framework also reviews the approach used in 2008 to identify 
and evaluate hazards in residences and in child-occupied facilities 
(COFs)--a subset of P&CBs, such as day care centers. This approach is 
predicated upon defining a hazard as a condition of paint (e.g., 
peeling, cracking, chipping, or otherwise damaged), or a lead level in 
dust, soil, paint, etc., that EPA would consider to be a hazard. In the 
2008 final Renovation, Repair, and

[[Page 31074]]

Painting (RRP) rule (Ref. 2) EPA compared the observed dust-lead levels 
from the renovations tested in the Revised Final Report on 
Characterization of Dust Lead Levels After Renovation, Repair, and 
Painting Activities (Ref. 3) to the dust-lead hazard standards 
promulgated in 2001 (Ref. 4). This approach formed the basis for EPA's 
determination that all renovation activities that disturb lead-based 
paint in target housing and COFs--a subset of P&CBs, such as day care 
centers--create lead-based paint hazards.
    Under the approach being considered for the P&CB analysis, however, 
hazards would be identified as exposures created by P&CB renovations 
that result in adverse health effects. EPA would model specific 
interior and exterior P&CB renovation scenarios that represent the 
broad range of exposure that can occur in P&CBs in order to evaluate 
whether adverse health effects could occur. These scenarios would take 
into account the variability in exposure times as well as in building 
sizes and configurations when evaluating hazards. For children, EPA 
would likely evaluate Intelligence Quotient (IQ) decrements. For 
adults, EPA would consider appropriate health effects and their 
associated concentration-response functions, such as renal effects, 
cardiovascular effects and others. EPA is reviewing currently available 
scientific literature to determine if appropriate adverse health 
effects for adults can be selected and analyzed.
    The Framework discusses possible considerations of using the 
approach for evaluating risk inside P&CBs from renovation activities, 
including: Ability to target risks associated with renovations, 
quantification of adult health effects and applicability of modeling 
results.
    Additionally, the Framework describes how the full analyses might 
be done if this approach were to be selected, and presents the results 
of preliminary analyses that EPA performed to determine the impact of 
different variables on predictions of IQ and blood lead level changes 
for young children. The preliminary analysis was deterministic while 
any full analysis conducted for the approach would be probabilistic. 
Thus, preliminary analysis results are not representative of all 
scenarios that could be analyzed. EPA will determine whether these 
preliminary results are reproducible once more robust analyses are 
performed. Therefore, the preliminary findings reported in the 
Framework should not be construed as final and may change.
    Because EPA is providing the information contained in the Framework 
and an opportunity for public comment prior to issuing any proposed 
rule, the information contained in the Framework is limited. For 
instance, the document does not provide significant detail regarding 
modeling inputs and results, how EPA might apply the results of any 
analyses, or a discussion regarding what magnitude of deleterious 
health effect would be considered to be adverse. Further details and 
the results of such analyses would be provided for review and comment 
in any future proposal. In addition, EPA plans to make public, and 
provide for peer review of any such analyses.

IV. Request for Comment

    EPA is requesting public review and comment on all aspects of the 
Framework, and particularly related to the following:
     The utility of the approach discussed in the Framework to 
assessing risk to human health inside P&CBs as a result of P&CB 
renovations.
     Making a hazard finding inside nearby homes and COFs as a 
result of P&CB renovations.
     The overview of an analysis approach outlined in the 
Framework.

V. References

    The following is a listing of the documents that are specifically 
referenced in this document. The docket includes these documents and 
other information considered by EPA, including documents that are 
referenced within the documents that are included in the docket, even 
if the referenced document is not physically located in the docket. For 
assistance in locating these other documents, please consult the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

1. EPA. Framework for Identifying and Evaluating Lead-Based Paint 
Hazards from Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities in Public 
and Commercial Buildings. May 2014.
2. EPA. Lead; Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program; Final Rule. 
Federal Register (73 FR 21692, April 22, 2008) (FRL-8355-7).
3. EPA. Revised Final Report on Characterization of Dust Lead Levels 
After Renovation, Repair, and Painting Activities. November 11, 
2007. Document ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2005-0049-0857.
4. EPA. Lead; Identification of Dangerous Levels of Lead; Final 
Rule. Federal Register (66 FR 1206, January 5, 2001) (FRL-6763-5).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 745

    Environmental protection, Buildings and facilities, Business and 
industry, Hazardous substances, Lead-based paint, Public and commercial 
buildings, Renovation, Repair, and Painting Program (RRP), Safety.

    Dated: May 22, 2014.
James Jones,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2014-12605 Filed 5-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P