[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44297-44299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14682]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0351; FRL-11152-01-OCSPP]


Definition of Lead-Based Paint Joint Virtual Workshop; Notice of 
Public Meeting and Request for Comments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is co-hosting a 
virtual workshop with the Department of

[[Page 44298]]

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on October 17 and 18, 2023, to hear 
stakeholder perspectives on specific topics related to detection of and 
exposure to potential lead hazards from existing residential lead-based 
paint. This virtual workshop will be used to gather stakeholder input 
on innovative methods to address lead in paint and reduce lead exposure 
across the United States. EPA and HUD will use information shared 
during the workshop to inform their joint effort to revisit the federal 
definition of lead-based paint and revise it, if necessary. This 
document announces the virtual workshop and provides essential details 
for potential presenters and attendees in terms of registration, 
related activities and important dates.

DATES: Presenter Abstracts: If you wish to make a presentation at the 
virtual workshop, submit an abstract for your presentation on or before 
August 4, 2023. EPA and HUD will review the abstracts to determine 
appropriateness and sequencing for inclusion on the workshop agenda. 
Presentation abstracts and final materials for each presentation will 
be made available in the docket before the meeting.
    Virtual Public Meeting: Will be held virtually on October 17 and 
18, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to approximately 5:00 p.m. (EDT) each day. 
See the additional details and instructions for registration that 
appear in Unit II of this document.
    Written Comments: Submit your written comments on or before 
December 31, 2023.
    Special accommodations: Requests for special accommodations should 
be submitted on or before September 29, 2023, to allow EPA time to 
process these requests.

ADDRESSES: Virtual Public Meeting: You must register online to receive 
the webcast meeting link and audio teleconference information. Please 
follow the registration instructions that will be announced on the lead 
program website at: https://www.epa.gov/lead/2023-lead-based-paint-technical-workshop by September 29, 2023. For additional instructions 
related to this meeting, see Unit II.
    Written Comments: Submit written comments, identified by docket 
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0351, through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Do not electronically submit any 
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI; 
broadly defined as proprietary information, considered confidential to 
the submitter, the release of which would cause substantial business 
injury to the owner) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Additional information on commenting or visiting 
the docket, along with more information about dockets generally, is 
available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Special accommodations: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation for a 
disability, please contact Catherine Taylor, listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Taylor, Office of Chemical 
Safety and Pollution Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004; telephone number: (202) 
566-3008; email address: [email protected]. Individuals who have 
speech or other communication disabilities may use a relay service to 
reach the contact phone number provided. To learn more about how to 
make an accessible telephone call, visit the web page for the Federal 
Communications Commission's Telecommunications Relay Service, https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This notice is directed to the public in general. This notice may 
be of specific interest to persons who conduct or may be interested in 
lead-based paint (LBP) inspections, lead hazard screens, risk 
assessments, renovations, paint testing, interim controls, or 
abatements under the Toxics Substance Control Act or the Lead-Based 
Paint Poisoning Prevention Act. This workshop may be of specific 
interest to federal, state, local, and tribal regulators, LBP 
activities and Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) experts and 
professionals, paint manufacturers, x-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology 
developers and manufacturers, lead test kit developers and users, lead 
testing laboratories, childhood lead exposure medical and health 
experts, environmental and community organizations, and academic 
researchers. Since other entities may also be interested in this 
notice, the EPA has not attempted to describe all the specific entities 
that may be interested in this subject.

B. Why are EPA and HUD having this workshop?

    As part of EPA's and HUD's joint effort to revisit the definition 
of LBP, this virtual workshop will gather critical input on innovative 
methods to address lead in paint and reduce lead exposure from lead in 
paint across the United States. The workshop will focus on current and 
emerging measurement technologies used to quantify lead in paint 
relevant to EPA's Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) program, 
EPA's Lead-Based Paint Activities (LBPA) program, HUD's Lead Safe 
Housing Rule (LSHR), and both agencies' joint Lead Disclosure Rule, and 
how those technologies could be applied for low levels of lead in 
residential paint. Through the workshop, EPA and HUD also seek to 
obtain new information on LBP characteristics (e.g., density and 
components) and any medical evidence related to adverse impacts to 
humans as a result of exposure to low levels of lead in paint to help 
with EPA and HUD's reevaluation of the definition of LBP.
    EPA and HUD define LBP as paint with lead levels that equal or 
exceed one milligram per square centimeter (mg/cm\2\), or equal or 
exceed 0.5 percent by weight. Although LBP was banned for residential 
use in 1978, many homes built before 1978 still contain LBP, a major 
source of childhood lead exposure. EPA and HUD have prioritized 
addressing the dangers of childhood lead exposure through EPA's 2022 
Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities, 
HUD's 2022-2026 Strategic Plan Focus Areas, and the 2018 Federal Lead 
Action Plan, all of which commit to reducing exposure to lead in homes 
with LBP.

C. What topics will be covered at the workshop?

    EPA and HUD are seeking presenters possessing specific expertise 
for this workshop. If you are interested in being a presenter, please 
submit an abstract of your presentation by the deadline presented in 
DATES to allow EPA and HUD to review an determine appropriateness for 
the workshop and sequencing for the agenda. In addition to the topics 
mentioned previously, EPA and HUD are also interested in presentations 
on the following topics:
     Empirical information and/or the identification of 
modeling tools that characterize the relationship between levels of 
lead in paint <0.5% and <1 mg/cm\2\ and levels of lead in dust, 
considering paint condition, maintenance, age, and other factors;

[[Page 44299]]

     Information on input, data sources and parameters for the 
exposure scenarios for considering LBP regulations, including: the 
frequency and characteristics of renovations, maintenance activities, 
paint flaking and deterioration, and other scenarios that result in the 
generation of dust-lead from lead in paint below 0.5% and 1 mg/cm\2\; 
uncertainty due to other sources of dust lead aside from lead in paint; 
and data for characterizing the direct ingestion pathway from lead in 
paint below 0.5% and 1 mg/cm\2\, including quantitative measures of 
ingestion and exposure (duration, frequency, paint chip 
characteristics);
     Empirical data that provides paint density for different 
mass fractions of LBP, and other information to assist in the possible 
development of a conversion equation between the two units used to 
define LBP (one definition being in milligrams per square centimeter, 
and the other a percentage by weight), as well as information on 
confounding considerations that might make such a conversion 
unsupported;
     Consideration of LBP metrics under varied field conditions 
such as the following: lead detection/measurement technologies used in 
the laboratory and in the field; technical insights and limitations to 
extending XRF ``thresholds'' (analogous to reporting limits) to or 
below 0.5 mg/cm\2\, if any; performance of XRFs on layers of differing 
concentrations of lead in paint, measuring through encapsulants, and on 
a single layer of new paint; implications of material underlying paint 
(e.g., old paint layers, plaster, metal, and concrete) on the 
reliability of lead detection estimates; and capabilities and 
limitations of alternative lead detection technologies;
     Considerations for comparing rhodizonate-based and other 
lead test kit results to other technology results, especially for lower 
levels of lead in paint;
     Consideration of how the distribution of lead in paint in 
U.S. housing affects the programmatic implications and estimates of 
health benefits of a lower LBP definition; and
     Consideration of any medical evidence that quantitatively 
supports the imposition of a lower level of lead in defining LBP.

D. How are EPA and HUD seeking public input?

    Through this Federal Register document, EPA and HUD are announcing 
the intention to have a virtual public workshop on October 17 and 18, 
2023, to hear stakeholder perspectives on specific topics related to 
detection of and exposure to potential lead hazards from existing 
residential paint using lower levels of lead than in the current 
definition of LBP. In addition to the presentations discussed 
previously, the workshop will include several audience question and 
answer segments as another means of hearing stakeholder perspectives. 
In addition, EPA and HUD are seeking abstracts from potential 
presenters.

E. How can I access information about the meeting or submit an abstract 
for consideration?

    Information about this meeting is available at https://www.epa.gov/lead/2023-lead-based-paint-technical-workshop and in the docket for 
this meeting, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0351, at 
https://www.regulations.gov.
    The agenda and instructions for registration and for submitting 
abstracts for this meeting will be added to the EPA website and public 
docket established for this meeting at https://www.regulations.gov; 
docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0351.
    After the virtual public meeting, EPA will prepare meeting minutes 
summarizing the meeting. The meeting minutes will be posted on the EPA 
website and in the docket.

II. Public Participation Instructions

    To participate in the virtual public meeting, please follow the 
instructions in this unit.

A. How can I provide comments?

    To ensure proper receipt of comments it is imperative that you 
identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0351 in the subject line on 
the first page of your request.
    1. Written comments. Comments should be submitted using the 
instructions in ADDRESSES and in Units I.B. and C, on or before the 
date set in the DATES section. Anyone submitting written comments after 
this date should contact the individual listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.
    2. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through 
https://www.regulations.gov or email. If your comments contain any 
information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected, please 
contact the individual listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to 
obtain special instructions before submitting your comments.
    3. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see Tips for Effective Comments at https://www.epa.gov/dockets. Please note that once submitted, comments cannot be edited or 
removed from the docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to 
its public docket.

B. How can I participate in the virtual public meeting?

    This meeting will be virtual and will be viewable via webcast. EPA 
intends to announce registration instructions, as well as abstract 
submission instructions, on the EPA website and in the public docket.
    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.

    Dated: July 5, 2023.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemicals Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2023-14682 Filed 7-11-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P