[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 213 (Monday, November 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51415-51417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24112]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0585 and EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0586; FRL-9970-34]
New Chemicals Review Program Implementation and Approaches for
Identifying Potential Candidates for Prioritization for Existing
Chemical Risk Evaluations Under the Amended Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA); Notice of Public Meetings and Opportunity for Public
Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: EPA is holding two meetings to discuss implementation
activities under the Toxic Substances Control Act as amended by the
Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (TSCA).
The first meeting is to update and engage with the public on the
Agency's progress in implementing changes to the New Chemicals Review
Program as a result of the 2016 amendments to TSCA, including
discussion of EPA's draft New Chemicals Decision-Making Framework. EPA
will describe its review process for new chemical substances under the
amended statute and interested parties will have the opportunity to
provide input and to ask questions. The Agency plans to utilize the
feedback it receives from the public meeting and comments received to
improve policy and processes relating to the review of new chemicals
under TSCA. The second meeting will focus on possible approaches for
identifying potential candidate chemical substances for EPA's
prioritization process under TSCA. As amended, TSCA required that EPA
establish processes for prioritizing and evaluating risks from existing
chemical substances. EPA will describe and take comment on a number of
possible approaches that could guide the Agency in the identification
of potential candidate chemical substances for prioritization.
DATES: The New Chemicals Review Program Implementation meeting will be
held on December 6, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The meeting
regarding approaches for identifying potential candidates for
prioritization will be held on December 11, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. EPA will accept questions from the public in advance of the
meetings, and the Agency will respond to these questions at each
meeting as time allows, if such questions are received by November 20,
2017 (see Unit III under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION).
Members of the public who register to speak at either meeting may
make comments and may ask additional questions. Online requests to
participate in either meeting must be received on or before December 5,
2017. On-site registration will be permitted, but seating and speaking
priority will be given to those who pre-register by the deadline.
To request accommodation of a disability, please contact the
meetings logistics person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATON CONTACT,
preferably at least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much
time as possible to process your request.
EPA will hear oral comments at these meetings. EPA will accept
written comments and materials submitted to the docket for the New
Chemicals Review Program Implementation meeting on or before January
20, 2018. EPA will accept written comments and materials submitted to
the docket for the meeting regarding approaches for identifying
potential candidates for prioritization on or before January 25, 2018.
The dockets will remain open to receive comments and materials until
these dates. When submitting comments to the dockets, please be as
specific as possible, and please include any supporting data or other
information.
ADDRESSES: The meetings will both be held at the Ronald Reagan Building
and International Trade Center, Horizon Ballroom, 1300 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004. The meetings will also be available
by remote access for registered participants. For further information,
see Unit III under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
To participate in the New Chemicals Review Program Implementation
meeting on December 6 (identified by docket identification (ID) number
EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0585) you may register online (preferred) or in person
at the meeting. To register online, go to https://epa-ncrp.eventbrite.com.
To participate in the meeting regarding approaches for identifying
potential candidates for prioritization on December 11 (identified by
docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0586) you may register online
(preferred) or in person at the meeting. To register online, go to
https://epa-prioritization.eventbrite.com. See Unit III under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for information about submitting questions in
advance of the meetings.
Written comments, identified by the docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-
2017-0585 (for the New Chemicals Review Program meeting) or EPA-HQ-
OPPT-2017-0586 (for the meeting regarding approaches for identifying
potential candidates for prioritization), can be submitted 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 in general is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For technical information about the New Chemicals Review Program
Implementation meeting contact: Greg Schweer, Chemical Control Division
(7405M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8469; email address:
[email protected].
For technical information about the meeting regarding approaches
for identifying potential candidates for prioritization contact: Ryan
Schmit, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (7101M),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-0610; email
address: [email protected].
For meeting logistics or registration contact: Klara Zimmerman, Abt
Associates; telephone number: (301) 634-1722; 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 action is directed to the public in general, and may be of
interest to a wide range of stakeholders including chemical
manufacturers, processors and
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users, consumer product companies, non-profit organizations in the
environmental and public health sectors, state and local government
agencies, and members of the public interested in the environmental and
human health assessment and regulation of chemical substances. Since
others also may be interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe
all the specific entities that may be affected by this action.
B. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
The docket for the New Chemical Program Implementation meeting
(identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0585) and the docket
for the meeting regarding approaches for identifying potential
candidates for prioritization (identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OPPT-2017-0586) are available at http://www.regulations.gov or at the
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Docket (OPPT Docket),
Environmental Protection Agency Docket Center (EPA/DC), West William
Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 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 OPPT Docket is (202) 566-0280. Please review the visitor
instructions and additional information about the docket available at
http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
II. Background
The Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act,
amending the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, was signed into law
on June 22, 2016. The amendments have enhanced EPA's authority to
evaluate chemical substances.
EPA's New Chemicals Review Program has and will continue to support
innovation while managing potential risks to human health and the
environment from chemical substances new to the marketplace. Under
section 5 of TSCA, anyone who plans to manufacture (including import) a
new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial purpose is required
to provide EPA with notice before initiating the activity.
Additionally, EPA must also be notified before chemical substances
are manufactured or processed for a use that the Agency has designated,
by rule, as a significant new use. Under the amended law, EPA is now
required to make one of several determinations regarding whether the
new use or new chemical presents an unreasonable risk of injury to
health or the environment, whether there is insufficient information to
allow for a reasoned evaluation of the health and environmental effects
of the chemical substance, or whether the substance is produced in
substantial quantities and may either enter into the environment in
substantial quantities or have significant or substantial human
exposure.
The amended statute has resulted in significant changes for both
the EPA's New Chemicals Review Program and those manufacturers
submitting notices prior to commercialization. EPA has worked to keep
stakeholders informed of its efforts to implement the statutory changes
and will continue this dialogue during the meeting on December 6, 2017.
Information obtained during this meeting and collected in the docket
will be considered as the Agency works to increase efficiency in its
review process under TSCA. An agenda for the meeting and supporting
materials will be made available in the docket and on the Agency's Web
site in advance of the meeting.
TSCA, as amended, also required that EPA establish procedures for
prioritizing and evaluating risks from existing chemical substances.
EPA announced its final procedures on June 22, 2017 (see https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/federal-register-notice-procedures-prioritization), and the final procedural
rule addressing the prioritization process published in the Federal
Register on July 20 2017 (82 FR 33753) (FRL-9964-24). The
prioritization process involves a 9-month to 12-month public process,
including multiple opportunities for public comment, to designate a
chemical substance as either High-Priority for further risk evaluation,
or Low-Priority for which risk evaluation is not warranted at the time.
In the proposed Prioritization rule, EPA included several provisions
intended to convey activities the Agency would expect to undertake
prior to initiating prioritization (e.g., potential candidate
identification, information gathering/review, etc.). Based on public
comments received, EPA determined not to finalize those particular
provisions at the time and to engage in further discussions with
interested stakeholders.
The purpose of the second meeting is to describe and take comment
on a number of possible approaches that could guide the Agency in the
identification of potential candidate chemical substances for
prioritization. More information on these possible approaches will be
made available in the docket and on EPA's Web site prior to the
meeting. EPA is fully committed to further dialogue on best practices
for these activities, and to carrying out these activities in a
transparent, science-based manner, to ensure successful implementation
of the prioritization and risk evaluation processes required by section
6 of TSCA.
Additional information on the TSCA amendments can be found at
https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/frank-r-lautenberg-chemical-safety-21st-century-act.
III. Meetings
A. Remote Access
The meetings will both be accessible remotely for registered
participants. Registered participants will receive information on how
to connect to the meetings prior to their start.
B. Public Participation at the Meetings
Members of the public may register to attend either or both the New
Chemicals Review Program Implementation meeting and or the meeting
regarding approaches for identifying potential candidates for
prioritization as observers and may also register to provide oral
comments and ask questions on the day of the respective meetings, using
one of the registration methods described under ADDRESSES. A registered
speaker is encouraged to focus on issues directly relevant to the
meeting's subject matter. Each speaker is allowed no more than five
minutes at each meeting to provide oral comments and ask questions. A
speaker must be registered in order to provide oral comments or ask
questions during the meetings. To accommodate as many registered
speakers as possible, speakers may present oral comments and questions
only, without visual aids or written material. Persons registered to
speak (as well as others) may submit written materials to the dockets
as described under ADDRESSES. Agendas for the meetings and supporting
materials will be made available in the dockets and on EPA's Web site
in advance of the respective meetings. Additionally, EPA will accept
questions from the public in advance of the meetings, and will respond
to these questions at the meetings as time allows, if such questions
are received by November 20, 2017. Additional information regarding
methods of submission of advance questions will be available on EPA's
Web site and in the
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dockets along with the supporting materials.
IV. How can I request to participate in these meetings?
A. Registration
To attend the meetings in person or to receive remote access, you
must register online no later than December 5, 2017, using one of the
methods described under ADDRESSES. While on-site registration will be
available, seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis, with
priority given to early registrants, until room capacity is reached.
For registrants not able to attend in person, the meetings will also
provide remote access capabilities; registered participants will be
provided information on how to connect to the meetings prior to its
start.
B. Required Registration Information
Members of the public may register to attend as observers or to
speak if planning to offer oral comments during the scheduled public
comment periods. To register for the meetings online, you must provide
your full name, organization or affiliation, and contact information.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.
Dated: October 27, 2017.
Nancy Beck,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2017-24112 Filed 11-3-17; 8:45 am]
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