[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4658-4661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01221]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2019-0499; FRL-10003-92]
Carbon Tetrachloride; Draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
Risk Evaluation and TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC)
Meetings; Notice of Availability, Public Meetings, and Request for
Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing the availability of and soliciting public
comment on the draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk
evaluation of carbon tetrachloride. EPA is also submitting the same
document to the TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) for
peer review and is announcing that there will be an in-person public
meeting of the TSCA SACC to consider and review the draft risk
evaluation. Preceding the in-person meeting, there will be a
preparatory virtual public meeting for the panel to consider the scope
and clarity of the draft charge questions for the peer review. The
purpose of conducting risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine
whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to
health or the environment under the conditions of use, including an
unreasonable risk to a relevant potentially exposed or susceptible
subpopulation.
DATES: Virtual Meeting: The preparatory virtual meeting will be held on
February 4, 2020, from 1:00 p.m. to approximately 4:00 p.m. (EST). You
must register online on or before February 4, 2020 to receive the
webcast meeting link and audio teleconference information. Submit your
comments for the preparatory virtual meeting, or request time to
present oral comments, on or before noon, January 31, 2020.
In-Person Meetings: The in-person meeting will be held on February
25-26, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. (EST) (final
times for each day will be provided in the Meeting Agenda that will be
posted). Any comments submitted on the draft risk evaluation on or
before February 19, 2020, will be provided to the TSCA SACC committee
for their consideration before the meeting. Comments received after
February 19, 2020 and prior to the oral public comment period during
the meeting will be available to the SACC for their consideration
during the meeting. Please submit requests to present oral comments
during the in-person meeting on or before February 19, 2020, to be
included on the meeting agenda. All comments received by the end of the
comment period will be considered by EPA.
Comments: All comments on the draft risk evaluation must be
received on or before March 27, 2020. For additional instructions, see
Unit III. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
ADDRESSES: Virtual Meeting: Please visit http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review to register.
In-Person Meeting: The location of the in-person meeting will be at
the Holiday Inn Rosslyn, 1900 N Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, Virginia
22209.
Comments. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2019-0499, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online
[[Page 4659]]
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: OPPT Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket
Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), 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.
Requests to present oral comments and requests for special
accommodations. Submit requests for special accommodations, or requests
to present oral comments during the virtual meeting and/or in-person
peer review meeting to the Designated Federal Official (DFO) listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by the deadline identified in the
DATES section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
TSCA SACC: Tamue Gibson, DFO, Office of Science Coordination and
Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-7642; email
address: [email protected].
Draft Risk Evaluation: Dr. Stan Barone, Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics (7403M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:
(202) 564-1169; 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. This action may
be of interest to persons who are or may be required to conduct testing
and those interested in risk evaluations of chemical substances under
TSCA, 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. Since other entities may also be
interested in this draft risk evaluation, the EPA has not attempted to
describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action.
B. What is EPA's authority for taking this action?
TSCA section 6, 15 U.S.C. 2605, requires EPA to conduct risk
evaluations to ``determine whether a chemical substance presents an
unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without
consideration of costs or other nonrisk factors, including an
unreasonable risk to a potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulation
identified as relevant to the risk evaluation by the Administrator,
under the conditions of use.'' 15 U.S.C. 2605(b)(4)(A). TSCA sections
6(b)(4)(A) through (H) enumerate the deadlines and minimum requirements
applicable to this process, including provisions that provide
instruction on chemical substances that must undergo evaluation, the
minimum components of a TSCA risk evaluation, and the timelines for
public comment and completion of the risk evaluation. TSCA also
requires that EPA operate in a manner that is consistent with the best
available science, make decisions based on the weight of the scientific
evidence and consider reasonably available information. 15 U.S.C.
2625(h), (i), and (k).
The statute identifies the minimum components for all chemical
substance risk evaluations. For each risk evaluation, EPA must publish
a document that outlines the scope of the risk evaluation to be
conducted, which includes the hazards, exposures, conditions of use,
and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations that EPA
expects to consider. 15 U.S.C. 2605(b)(4)(D). The statute further
provides that each risk evaluation must also: (1) Integrate and assess
available information on hazards and exposures for the conditions of
use of the chemical substance, including information that is relevant
to specific risks of injury to health or the environment and
information on relevant potentially exposed or susceptible
subpopulations; (2) describe whether aggregate or sentinel exposures
were considered and the basis for that consideration; (3) take into
account, where relevant, the likely duration, intensity, frequency, and
number of exposures under the conditions of use; and (4) describe the
weight of the scientific evidence for the identified hazards and
exposures. 15 U.S.C. 2605(b)(4)(F)(i)-(ii) and (iv)-(v). Each risk
evaluation must not consider costs or other nonrisk factors. 15 U.S.C.
2605(b)(4)(F)(iii).
The statute requires that the risk evaluation process last no
longer than three years, with a possible additional six-month
extension. 15 U.S.C. 2605(b)(4)(G). The statute also requires that the
EPA allow for no less than a 30-day public comment period on the draft
risk evaluation, prior to publishing a final risk evaluation. 15 U.S.C.
2605(b)(4)(H).
C. What action is EPA taking?
EPA is announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on
the draft risk evaluation of the chemical substance identified in Unit
II. EPA is seeking public comment on all aspects of the draft risk
evaluation, including any preliminary conclusions, findings, and
determinations, and the submission of any additional information that
might be relevant to the draft risk evaluation, including the science
underlying the risk evaluation and the outcome of the systematic review
associated with the chemical substance. This 60-day comment period on
the draft risk evaluation satisfies TSCA section 6(b)(4)(H), which
requires EPA to ``provide no less than 30 days public notice and an
opportunity for comment on a draft risk evaluation prior to publishing
a final risk evaluation'' and 40 CFR 702.49(a), which states that ``EPA
will publish a draft risk evaluation in the Federal Register, open a
docket to facilitate receipt of public comment, and provide no less
than a 60-day comment period, during which time the public may submit
comment on EPA's draft risk evaluation.'' In addition to any new
comments on the draft risk evaluation, the public should resubmit or
clearly identify any previously filed comments, modified as
appropriate, that are relevant to the draft risk evaluation and that
the submitter feels have not been addressed. EPA does not intend to
respond to comments submitted prior to the release of the draft risk
evaluation unless they are clearly identified in comments on the draft
risk evaluation.
EPA is also submitting the draft risk evaluation and associated
supported documents to the TSCA SACC for peer review and announcing the
meeting for the peer review panel. All comments submitted to the docket
on the draft risk evaluation by the deadline identified in the DATES
section will be provided for consideration to the TSCA SACC peer review
panel, which will have the opportunity to consider the comments during
its discussions.
D. 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 CBI. In addition to one complete
version of the comment that
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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 preparing and submitting
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
II. Draft TSCA Risk Evaluation
A. What is EPA's risk evaluation process for existing chemicals under
TSCA?
The risk evaluation process is the second step in EPA's existing
chemical process under TSCA, following prioritization and before risk
management. As this chemical is part of the first ten chemical
substances undergoing risk evaluation, the chemical substance was not
required to go through prioritization (81 FR 91927, December 19, 2016)
(FRL-9956-47). The purpose of conducting risk evaluations is to
determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of
injury to health or the environment, under the conditions of use,
including an unreasonable risk to a relevant potentially exposed or
susceptible subpopulation. As part of this process, EPA must evaluate
both hazard and exposure, not consider costs or other nonrisk factors,
use reasonably available information and approaches in a manner that is
consistent with the requirements in TSCA for the use of the best
available science, and ensure decisions are based on the weight-of-
scientific-evidence.
The specific risk evaluation process that EPA has established by
rule to implement the statutory process is set out in 40 CFR part 702
and summarized on EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluations-existing-chemicals-under-tsca. As explained in the preamble to EPA's final rule on
procedures for risk evaluation (82 FR 33726, July 20, 2017) (FRL-9964-
38), the specific regulatory process set out in 40 CFR part 702,
subpart B will be followed for the first ten chemical substances
undergoing risk evaluation to the maximum extent practicable.
B. What is carbon tetrachloride?
Carbon tetrachloride is a solvent used primarily as a feedstock in
the production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and
hydrofluoroolefins and as a process agent in the manufacturing of other
chlorinated compounds and petrochemicals-derived and agricultural
products. The Montreal Protocol and Title VI of the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990 led to a phase-out of carbon tetrachloride
production in the United States for most non-feedstock domestic uses in
1996. The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of carbon
tetrachloride in consumer products (excluding unavoidable residues not
exceeding 10 parts per million atmospheric concentration) in 1970.
Information from the 2016 Chemical Data Reporting for carbon
tetrachloride indicates the reported yearly production volume was 117
to 143 million pounds (manufacture and import) between 2012 and 2015.
Information about the problem formulation and scope phases of the
TSCA risk evaluation for this chemical is available at https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluation-carbon-tetrachloride.
III. TSCA SACC
A. What is the purpose of the TSCA SACC?
The TSCA SACC was established by EPA in 2016 and operates in
accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C.
Appendix 2 et seq. The TSCA SACC provides expert independent scientific
advice and consultation to the EPA on the scientific and technical
aspects of risk assessments, methodologies, and pollution prevention
measures and approaches for chemicals regulated under TSCA.
The TSCA SACC is comprised of experts in: Toxicology; human health
and environmental risk assessment; exposure assessment; and related
sciences (e.g., synthetic biology, pharmacology, biotechnology,
nanotechnology, biochemistry, biostatistics, physiologically based
pharmacokinetic modelling (PBPK) modeling, computational toxicology,
epidemiology, environmental fate, and environmental engineering and
sustainability). When needed, the committee will be assisted in their
reviews by ad hoc participants with specific expertise in the topics
under consideration.
B. How can I access the TSCA SACC documents?
EPA's background documents, related supporting materials, and draft
charge questions to the TSCA SACC are available on the TSCA SACC
website and in the docket established for the specific chemical
substance. In addition, EPA will provide additional background
documents (e.g., TSCA SACC members participating in this meeting and
the meeting agenda) as the materials become available. You may obtain
electronic copies of these documents, and certain other related
documents that might be available, in the docket at http://www.regulations.gov and the TSCA SACC website at http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review.
After the public meeting, the TSCA SACC will prepare meeting
minutes summarizing its recommendations to the EPA. The meeting minutes
will be posted on the TSCA SACC website and in the relevant docket.
C. What do I need to know about the TSCA SACC public meetings?
The focus of the public meetings is to peer review EPA's draft risk
evaluation. After the peer review process, EPA will consider peer
reviewer comments and recommendations and public comments, in
finalizing the risk evaluation. The draft risk evaluation contains:
Discussion of chemistry and physical-chemical properties;
characterization of conditions of use; environmental fate and transport
assessment; human health exposures; environmental hazard assessment;
risk characterization; risk determination; and a detailed description
of the systematic review process developed by the Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics to search, screen, and evaluate scientific
literature for use in the risk evaluation process.
D. How do I participate in the public meetings?
You may participate in the public meetings by following the
instructions in this unit. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, it is
imperative that you identify the corresponding docket ID number in the
subject line on the first page of your request.
1. Preparatory virtual meeting. The preparatory virtual meeting
will be conducted via webcast and telephone. You may participate in the
preparatory virtual meeting by registering to join the webcast. You may
also submit written or oral comments.
i. Registration. You must register to participate in the
preparatory virtual meeting. To participate by listening or making a
comment during this meeting, please go to the EPA website to register:
http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review. Registration online will be
confirmed by an email that will include the webcast meeting link and
audio teleconference information.
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ii. Written comments. Written comments for consideration during the
preparatory virtual meeting should be submitted, using the instructions
in ADDRESSES and this unit, on or before the date set in the DATES
section.
iii. Oral comments. Requests to make brief oral comments to the
TSCA SACC during the preparatory virtual meeting should be submitted
when registering online or with the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT on or before noon on the date set in the DATES
section. Oral comments before the TSCA SACC during the preparatory
virtual meeting are limited to approximately 5 minutes due to the time
constraints of this virtual meeting.
2. In-person meeting. You may participate in the in-person public
meeting by attending and by providing written or oral comments. The in-
person meeting may also be webcast. Please refer to the TSCA SACC
website at http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review for information on how
to access the webcast. Please note that for the in-person meeting, the
webcast is a supplementary public process provided only for
convenience. If difficulties arise resulting in webcasting outages, the
in-person meeting will continue as planned.
i. Seating at the meeting. Seating at the meeting will be open and
on a first-come basis.
ii. Written comments. To provide the TSCA SACC the time necessary
to consider and review your comments, written comments must be
submitted by the date set in the DATES section and using the
instructions in the ADDRESSES section and this unit. Comments received
after the date set in the DATES section and prior to the end of the
oral public comment period during the meeting will still be provided to
the TSCA SACC for their consideration.
iii. Oral comments. To be included on the meeting agenda, submit
your request to make brief oral comments at the in-person meeting to
the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before the
date set in the DATES section. The request should identify the name of
the individual making the presentation, the organization (if any) the
individual will represent, and any requirements for audiovisual
equipment. Oral comments before TSCA SACC during the in-person meeting
are limited to approximately 5 minutes unless prior arrangements have
been made. In addition, each speaker should email their comments and
presentation to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT,
preferably, at least 24 hours prior to the oral public comment period.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.
Dated: January 21, 2020.
Andrew R. Wheeler,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-01221 Filed 1-24-20; 8:45 am]
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