[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