[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 14, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11275-11276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03038]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0747; FRL-11744-01-ORD]


Availability of the Protocol for the Uranium Integrated Risk 
Information System (IRIS) Assessment (Oral)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 30-
day public comment period associated with release of the document 
Protocol for the Uranium IRIS Assessment (Oral). This document 
communicates the rationale for conducting the human health assessment 
of natural and/or depleted uranium via oral exposure, describes 
screening criteria to identify relevant literature, outlines the 
approach for evaluating study quality, and describes the methods for 
dose-response analysis.

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins February 14, 2024 and 
ends March 15, 2024. Comments must be received on or before March 15, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: The Protocol for the Uranium IRIS Assessment (Oral) will be 
available via the internet on the IRIS website at https://www.epa.gov/iris and in the public docket at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: 
EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0747.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the docket, contact 
the ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket Center; email: 
[email protected].
    For technical information on the protocol, contact Avanti Shirke 
and Dahnish Shams, EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) 
Center for Public Health & Environmental Assessment (CPHEA); email: 
[email protected] and [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background Information on the IRIS Program and Systematic Review 
Protocols

    EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program is a human 
health assessment program that evaluates quantitative and qualitative

[[Page 11276]]

information on effects that may result from exposure to chemicals found 
in the environment. Through the IRIS Program, EPA provides high quality 
science-based human health assessments to support the Agency's 
regulatory activities and decisions to protect public health.
    As part of developing a draft IRIS assessment, EPA presents a 
methods document, referred to as the protocol, for conducting a 
chemical-specific systematic review of the available scientific 
literature. EPA is seeking public comment on components of the protocol 
including the described strategies for literature searches, criteria 
for study inclusion or exclusion, considerations for evaluating study 
methods, information management for extracting data, approaches for 
synthesis within and across lines of evidence, and methods for 
derivation of toxicity values. The protocol serves to inform the 
subsequent development of the draft assessment and is made available to 
the public. EPA may update the protocol based on the evaluation of the 
literature, and any updates will be posted to the docket and on the 
IRIS website.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at https://www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-
0747 for uranium, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-9744.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center (ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-566-1752.
    For information on visiting the EPA Docket Center Public Reading 
Room, visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets. The telephone number for the 
Public Reading Room is 202-566-1744. The public can submit comments via 
www.regulations.gov or email.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to docket number EPA-HQ-ORD-
2017-0747 for the uranium IRIS assessment. Please ensure that your 
comments are submitted within the specified comment period. Comments 
received after the closing date will be marked ``late,'' and may only 
be considered if time permits. It is EPA's policy to include all 
comments it receives in the public docket without change and to make 
the comments available online at https://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal information provided, unless a comment includes 
information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or 
other information for which disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not 
submit information through https://www.regulations.gov or email that 
you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected. The https://www.regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment 
directly to EPA without going through https://www.regulations.gov, your 
email address will be automatically captured and included as part of 
the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on 
the internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that 
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in https://www.regulations.gov or as a hard copy at the ORD Docket in 
the EPA Headquarters Docket Center.

Wayne Cascio,
Director, Center for Public Health & Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2024-03038 Filed 2-13-24; 8:45 am]
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