[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36316-36317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14995]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019; FRL-9912-94-OW]


Extension of Request for Scientific Views for External Peer 
Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criterion for 
Selenium--Freshwater 2014

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; extension of the request for scientific views.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is re-opening the 
comment period for the external peer review draft aquatic life ambient 
water quality criterion for selenium announced in a previous notice 
entitled ``External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water 
Quality Criterion for Selenium--Freshwater 2014.'' In response to 
stakeholder requests, the EPA is extending the period of time in which 
the Agency will accept scientific views for an additional 30 days.

DATES: Scientific views must be received on or before July 28, 2014. 
Scientific views postmarked after this date may not receive the same 
consideration.
    The comment period was originally scheduled to end on June 13, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your scientific views, identified by Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Attention Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2004-0019.
     Mail: EPA Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode: 2822-IT, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. 
Attention Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019. Please include a total of two 
copies (including references).
     Hand Delivery: EPA Water Docket, EPA Docket Center, 
William Jefferson Clinton West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov 
or email. The 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 
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. 
For additional instructions on submitting comments, go to Section III 
of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA-HQ-OW-2004-0019 
Docket, EPA/DC, William Jefferson Clinton Building West, Room 3334, 
1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 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, and the telephone number for the EPA Water Docket is 
(202) 566-2426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathryn Gallagher at U.S. EPA, Office 
of Water, Health and Ecological Criteria Division (4304T), 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone: (202) 564-
1398; or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 14, 2014, the EPA announced the 
availability of the external peer review draft national recommended 
aquatic life water quality criterion for selenium in a previous notice 
entitled ``External Peer Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water 
Quality Criterion for Selenium--Freshwater 2014'' in the Federal 
Register (79 FR 27601). EPA's recommended aquatic life water quality 
criteria provide technical information for states and authorized tribes 
to adopt water quality standards under the Clean Water Act to protect 
aquatic life.
    EPA is re-opening the public comment period of the External Peer 
Review Draft Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criterion for 
Selenium--Freshwater 2014 (EPA-822-P-14-001). The original comment 
deadline was June 13, 2014. This action re-opens the comment period for 
30 days. Written scientific views must now be received by July 28, 
2014. This external peer review draft criterion document does not 
represent and should not be construed to represent any final EPA 
policy, viewpoint, or determination.

[[Page 36317]]

    Following closure of the public comment period, an EPA contractor 
will organize and conduct an independent expert external letter peer 
review of the draft criterion document. Public comments will be made 
available to the peer reviewers for consideration during their review. 
Following peer review, EPA will consider the peer reviewer and public 
comments, and revise the document as necessary. EPA will then publish a 
Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the draft 
proposed selenium criterion and soliciting scientific views from the 
public. EPA will then revise the document as necessary and issue a 
final updated selenium criterion document.

    Dated: June 18, 2014.
Elizabeth Southerland,
Director, Office of Science and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2014-14995 Filed 6-25-14; 8:45 am]
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