[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46006-46008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18945]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0316; FRL-9997-91-OAR]


Notice of Public Meeting and Proposed List of Potential Peer 
Reviewers; Potential Approaches for Characterizing the Estimated 
Benefits of Reducing PM2.5 at Low Concentrations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting 
comment on the proposed list of candidate peer reviewers for the 
independent, contractor-managed, external peer review of the draft 
document titled ``Potential Approaches for Characterizing the Estimated 
Benefits of Reducing PM2.5 at Low Concentrations.'' This 
notice provides the names and professional affiliations of the proposed 
peer reviewers. The public is requested to provide relevant information 
or documentation on the candidates who are being evaluated by the 
external peer review contractor, ICF. ICF will consider the public 
comments on the proposed list of peer reviewers and will select the 
final peer reviewers who, collectively, best provide expertise spanning 
the multiple subject matter areas covered by the draft document and, to 
the extent feasible, best provide a balance of perspectives according 
to EPA peer review guidance. This notice also provides the public peer 
review meeting date as well as EPA's website that will provide details 
about the meeting location and how to register to attend the meeting 
either in person or remotely.

DATES: Comments: The comment period on the proposed peer reviewers 
begins on September 3, 2019 and ends on September 24, 2019.
    Meeting: A one-day panel meeting will be held on October 21, 2019, 
from approximately 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research 
Triangle Park, North Carolina. Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section for additional information on the panel meeting.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2019-0316, by any of the following methods:

[[Page 46007]]

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include the Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0316 in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: (202) 566-9744. Include the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2019-0316 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, Office of Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West 
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. 
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 
Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All comments received must include the Docket ID No. 
for this notice. Comments received may be posted without change to 
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    A one-day panel meeting will be held on October 21, 2019, at the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, 
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711. Specific details 
regarding the meeting and registration for in-person or remote 
attendance will be posted on EPA's website (https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty).
    Because the panel meeting is being held at a U.S. government 
facility, individuals planning to attend the meeting should be prepared 
to show valid picture identification to the security staff in order to 
gain access to the meeting room. Please note that the REAL ID Act, 
passed by Congress in 2005, established new requirements for entering 
federal facilities. For purposes of the REAL ID Act, EPA will accept 
government-issued IDs, including drivers' licenses, from the District 
of Columbia and all states and territories except from American Samoa. 
If your identification is issued by American Samoa, you must present an 
additional form of identification to enter the federal building where 
the meeting will be held. Acceptable alternative forms of 
identification include: federal employee badges, passports, enhanced 
driver's licenses, and military identification cards. For additional 
information for the status of your state regarding REAL ID, go to: 
https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-enforcement-brieffrequently-asked-questions. Any objects brought into the building need to fit through 
the security screening system, such as a purse, laptop bag, or small 
backpack. Demonstrations will not be allowed on federal property for 
security reasons.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Neal Fann, Health and Environmental 
Impacts, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (C-439-02), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research 
Triangle Park, NC 27711. Phone: (919) 541-0209, Fax: (919) 541-5315, 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-
0316, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the 
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may 
publish any submission received to its public docket. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 
accompanied by a written submission. The written submission is 
considered the official submission and should include discussion of all 
points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider 
submissions or submission content located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. Background

    The EPA uses evidence from long-term exposure cohort studies to 
estimate the number of PM2.5-related premature deaths and 
morbidity effects in its air pollution benefits analyses. Generally, 
EPA quantifies effects for the full distribution of ambient 
PM2.5 concentrations, including at concentrations below the 
lowest measured levels (LML) of these studies; this reflects the 
current scientific evidence, which does not find a threshold in the 
concentration-response relationship. However, because of the absence of 
data at such low concentrations, there is greater uncertainty about the 
likelihood of health effects, including premature death. The degree of 
uncertainty associated with premature deaths estimated at these lower 
levels has over time taken on greater prominence, due in part to 
decreasing ambient PM2.5 concentrations, the public health 
importance of PM2.5-associated mortality, and the magnitude 
of the economic value of the effect. As a means of improving its 
methods for quantifying and characterizing effects estimated at these 
lower PM2.5 levels, the Agency is developing and evaluating 
potential alternative approaches for estimating these effects. 
Potential approaches are described in the EPA draft report that will be 
made available at https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty. This report details new 
techniques for deriving information regarding uncertainty at low 
PM2.5 concentrations using data available from the peer-
reviewed published epidemiology literature; demonstrates the 
application of these techniques in an example PM2.5 air 
pollution benefits assessment; discusses the strengths and weaknesses 
of each technique; and compares these techniques against alternatives 
including the use of lowest measured level cut-points or the use of 
meta-analytic approaches designed to characterize the magnitude of the 
PM mortality effect across a broader array of concentrations.
    The EPA identified the ``Potential Approaches for Characterizing 
the Estimated Benefits of Reducing PM2.5 at Low 
Concentrations'' as a Highly Influential Scientific Assessment, and 
according to the Agency's Science and Technology Policy Council, Peer 
Review Handbook (Fourth Edition, EPA/100/B-15/001, 2015) (Agency's Peer 
Review Handbook), is required to conduct an external peer review of 
that report and supplemental files. The reviewers are asked to assess 
the accuracy, content, and interpretation of findings ensuring that 
they are factual and scientifically sound. The review shall generate 
comments from the individual expert reviewers.
    The draft report will be made available on the project website 
approximately 30 days prior to the meeting (https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty). 
The Agency will periodically update this website to include details on 
the public meeting and peer reviewer comments on the technical report.

[[Page 46008]]

III. Process of Obtaining Candidate Reviewers

    Consistent with guidelines for the peer review of Highly 
Influential Scientific Assessments, EPA tasked ICF to assemble 
approximately nine scientific experts to evaluate the draft report 
cited in this notice. As part of the peer-review process, a public 
nomination period was held from June 13, 2019, to July 5, 2019, during 
which members of the public were able to nominate scientific experts 
with knowledge and expertise in one or more of the following areas:

A. Epidemiology
B. Biostatistics
C. Risk Assessment
D. Decision and Uncertainty
E. Economics

    ICF also conducted an independent search for scientific experts to 
augment the list of publically nominated candidates. In total, ICF 
evaluated the 58 candidates nominated during the public nomination 
period and ICF identified 12 additional candidates.
     Selection process. ICF considered and screened all 
candidates against the selection criteria described in the Federal 
Register notice of June 13, 2019 (84 FR 27632) (FRL-9995-4-OAR) 
(https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0316-0001), 
which included having demonstrated expertise in the areas described, 
being free of any conflict of interest, being free of appearance of 
bias, and being available to participate in-person in a one-day peer 
review meeting in Research Triangle Park, NC, on October 21, 2019. 
Following the screening process, ICF narrowed the list of potential 
reviewers to 16 proposed candidates. This notice solicits comments on 
the proposed list of 16 candidates. The public is requested to provide 
relevant information or documentation on the candidates who are being 
evaluated by ICF. ICF will consider the public comments on the proposed 
list of peer reviewers and will post the final list of peer reviewers 
on EPA's website (https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty).
     Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers. Peer reviewers will be 
charged with evaluating and preparing written comments on the draft 
report. Specifically, reviewers will provide general comments, their 
overall impressions of the draft report, and respond to the peer review 
charge questions.
    Following the peer review meeting, ICF will provide a peer review 
summary report to EPA containing the comments and recommendations from 
the peer reviewers. The final peer review report will also be made 
available to the public on EPA's website (https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty). In 
preparing the final analytical support document, EPA will consider 
ICF's peer review report, which will include comments and 
recommendations from the external peer review meeting.

IV. Registration for Public Panel Meeting

    Registration can be made via EPA's website (https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty) 
for the one-day panel meeting to be held on October 21, 2019, at the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, 
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. Specific details regarding the 
meeting location and registration for in-person or remote attendance 
will be posted on EPA's website (https://www.epa.gov/economic-and-cost-analysis-air-pollution-regulations/PM_Uncertainty).
    Special Accommodations: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact the Designated Federal Official (DFO) listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least 10 days prior to the 
meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

V. Proposed List of Peer Reviewers

    The EPA asks that no individual or organization contact in any way 
its contractor (ICF) or the subcontractor panel members regarding the 
subject of the peer review meeting, send contractor written materials 
regarding the subject of the meeting, or make any offers or requests to 
any of them that appear to be linked to their participation in the peer 
review. The contractor will direct the panel members to report any such 
contacts, who will take appropriate action in consultation with EPA to 
ensure the independence and impartiality of the peer review.
    Following are the names and professional affiliations of the 
current candidates being considered for the external peer review of the 
draft report. A biosketch or current curriculum vitae for the proposed 
peer reviewers will be posted in the docket (docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2019-0316). ICF will select peer reviewers who, collectively, best 
provide expertise spanning the multiple required areas of expertise 
listed in Section III and, to the extent feasible, best provide a 
balance of perspectives.

A. Mark Dickie, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Economics, University 
of Central Florida
B. James Hammitt, Ph.D., Professor, Economics and Decision Sciences, 
Harvard University; Director of Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
C. Max Henrion, Ph.D., CEO and Co-founder, Lumina Decision Systems, 
Inc.
D. Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Sc.D., Assistant Professor, 
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University School 
of Public Health
E. Jenna R. Krall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Global and 
Community Health, George Mason University
F. Alan Krupnick, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
G. Jonathan I. Levy, Sc.D., Professor, School of Public Health, Boston 
University
H. Maria C. Mirabelli, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, Emory 
University
I. John Molitor, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Public Health 
and Human Sciences, Oregon State University
J. Lorenz R. Rhomberg, Ph.D., A.T.S., Principal, Gradient
K. V. Kerry Smith, Ph.D., Emeritus Regents Professor and Emeritus 
University Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, W. P. Carey 
School of Business, Arizona State University
L. George Thurston, Sc.D., Professsor, Department of Environmental 
Medicine, New York University School of Medicine
M. Roel Vermeulen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Environmental 
Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht 
University, The Netherlands
N. Thomas Wallsten, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor, Department of 
Psychology, University of Maryland
O. J. Jason West, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Environmental 
Sciences and Engineering, UNC Chapel Hill School of Global Public 
Health
P. Corwin Zigler, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Statistics 
and Data Science, University of Texas

    Dated: August 23, 2019.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2019-18945 Filed 8-30-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P