[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 93 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30966-30967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10313]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0312; FRL-7887-03-OAR]


Release of Volume 3 of the Integrated Review Plan in the Review 
of the Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: On or about May 12, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) is making available to the public, Volume 3 of the Integrated 
Review Plan for the Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards (IRP). 
The national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for lead (Pb) are 
set to protect the public health and the public welfare from Pb in 
ambient air. Volume 3 of the IRP is the planning document for 
quantitative analyses to be considered in the policy assessment (PA), 
including exposure and risk analyses.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 14, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments on Volume 3 of the IRP, identified by 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0312, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/ 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     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 or Courier (by scheduled appointment only): 
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 submissions 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. The draft document 
described here will be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/lead-pb-air-quality-standards. The documents will be 
accessible under ``Policy Assessments'' for the current review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Deirdre L. Murphy, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mail Code: C504-06, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12055, NC 27711; 
telephone number: 919-541-0729; or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-
0312, 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 comment received to its public docket. Do not submit to 
EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI), Proprietary 
Business Information (PBI), or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must 
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered 
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you 
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment 
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, 
cloud, or other file sharing system). Please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets for additional submission methods; the 
full EPA public comment policy; information about CBI, PBI, or 
multimedia submissions; and general guidance on making effective 
comments.

[[Page 30967]]

II. Information About the Documents

    Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) govern the 
establishment and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 directs the 
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then 
issue ``air quality criteria'' for those pollutants. The air quality 
criteria are to ``accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge 
useful in indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on 
public health or welfare which may be expected from the presence of 
such pollutant in the ambient air . . .'' (CAA section 108(a)(2)). 
Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA is then to establish primary 
(health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for each pollutant 
for which the EPA has issued air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(1) of 
the Act requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of 
existing air quality criteria. Revised air quality criteria are to 
reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the 
pollutant on public health and welfare. Under the same provision, the 
EPA is also to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the 
NAAQS, based on the revised air quality criteria.
    The Act additionally requires appointment of an independent 
scientific review committee that is to periodically review the existing 
air quality criteria and NAAQS and to recommend any new standards and 
revisions of existing criteria and standards as may be appropriate (CAA 
section 109(d)(2)(A)-(B)). Since the early 1980s, the requirement for 
an independent scientific review committee has been fulfilled by the 
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
    Presently the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS 
for Pb.\1\ The documents announced in this notice have been developed 
as part of the integrated review plan (IRP) which is developed in the 
planning phase for the review. The document has been prepared by the 
EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, within the Office 
of Air and Radiation. This document will be available on the EPA's 
website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/lead-pb-air-quality-standards, 
accessible under ``Planning Documents'' for the current review.
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    \1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on 
July 7, 2020 (85 FR 40641).
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    The IRP for the current review of the lead NAAQS is comprised of 
three volumes. Volume 3 is the subject of this notice. This volume is 
the planning document for quantitative analyses to be considered in the 
policy assessment (PA), including exposure and risk analyses. Comments 
are solicited from the public on Volume 3, which will also be the 
subject of a consultation with the CASAC. The consultation was 
announced in a separate Federal Register notice (88 FR 17218, March 22, 
2023).
    Volumes 1 and 2 were released in March 2022. Volume 1 provides 
background information on the air quality criteria and standards for Pb 
and may serve as a reference by the public and the CASAC in their 
consideration of volumes 2 and 3. Volume 2 addresses the general 
approach for the review and planning for the integrated science 
assessment (ISA) and was the subject of a consultation with the CASAC 
in April 2022.
    Comments on Volume 3 of the IRP should be submitted to the docket, 
as described above, by June 14, 2023. A separate Federal Register 
notice provided details about the CASAC consultation meeting and the 
process for participation in the CASAC consultation on Volume 3 (88 FR 
17218, March 22, 2023). The EPA will consider the consultation comments 
from the CASAC and public comments on the IRP, Volume 3, in preparation 
of any quantitative exposure and risk analyses for the PA. Volume 1 of 
the IRP, already available on the EPA website, provides background or 
contextual and historical material for this NAAQS review. These 
documents do not represent and should not be construed to represent any 
final EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination.

Erika Sasser,
Director, Health and Environmental Impacts Division.
[FR Doc. 2023-10313 Filed 5-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P