[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26878-26879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08024]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0254; FRL-9347-06-OCSPP]


Asbestos Part 2 Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and 
Associated Disposals; Draft Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances 
Control Act; Notice of Availability, Webinar and Request for Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is 
announcing the availability of and seeking public comment on a draft 
document titled ``Draft Risk Evaluation for Asbestos Part 2: 
Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals 
of Asbestos'' and is announcing a webinar on May 13, 2024. EPA is 
evaluating legacy uses and associated disposals of asbestos including 
chrysotile asbestos, five additional fiber types, asbestos-containing 
talc, and Libby asbestos. EPA has used the best available science to 
preliminarily determine that asbestos poses unreasonable risk to human 
health.

DATES: 
    Webinar: May 13, 2024, 3-4 p.m. EST. To receive the webcast meeting 
link and audio teleconference information before the meeting, you must 
register by 12 p.m. on April 25, 2024. To allow EPA time to process 
your request for special accommodations before the webinar, please 
submit your request to EPA by 5 p.m. EST on May 6, 2024.
    Written comments: Submit your comments on or before June 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: 
    Webinar: Register online at https://usepa.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItf-mgrjotGpHKg8v4EMI8cejAiOoZWbI.
    Special accommodations: Please contact the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Written comments: Submit your comments, identified by docket 
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0254, online at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 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. Additional instructions on 
commenting or visiting the docket, along with more information about 
dockets generally, is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    For webinar information: Chloe Durand, Project Management and 
Operations Division (7407M), Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency, 1201 Constitution Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20004; telephone number: (202) 564-8820; email address: 
[email protected].
    For technical information: Peter Gimlin, Existing Chemical Risk 
Management Division (7404M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, 
DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 566-0515; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the public in general and may be of 
particular interest to those involved in the manufacture, processing, 
distribution, use, and disposal of asbestos,-containing materials 
(ACMs) including construction professionals and individuals completing 
do-it-yourself (DIY) activities in buildings with ACMs, related 
industry trade organizations, non-governmental organizations with an 
interest in human and environmental health, state and local 
governments, Tribal Nations, and/or those interested in the assessment 
of risks involving chemical substances and mixtures regulated under 
TSCA. As such, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the 
specific entities that this action might apply to. If you need help 
determining applicability, consult the technical contact listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    The draft risk evaluation is issued pursuant to TSCA section 6, 15 
U.S.C. 2605, which requires that EPA conduct risk evaluations on 
chemical substances and identifies the minimum components EPA must 
include in all chemical substance risk evaluations. Each risk 
evaluation must be conducted consistent with the best available 
science, be based on the weight of the scientific evidence, and 
consider reasonably available information. 15 U.S.C. 2625(h), (i), and 
(k).

C. What action is the Agency taking?

    The Agency is announcing the availability of and soliciting comment 
on the document titled ``Draft Risk Evaluation for Asbestos Part 2: 
Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals 
of Asbestos,'' which is available in the docket. EPA is also announcing 
a stakeholder engagement opportunity through a webinar where EPA will 
give an informational presentation on the document.
    For more information about the TSCA risk evaluation process, which 
is the second phase of the EPA three phase process for ensuring the 
safety of existing chemicals, go to https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/how-epa-evaluates-safety-existing-chemicals.

D. What should I consider as I prepare my comments?

1. Submitting CBI
    Do not submit CBI to EPA through https://www.regulations.gov or 
email. If you wish to include CBI in your comment, please follow the 
applicable instructions at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets#rules and clearly mark the information that you claim to be 
CBI. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in

[[Page 26879]]

accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR parts 2 and 703, as 
applicable.
2. Tips for preparing your comments
    When preparing and submitting your comments, see the commenting 
tips at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. Background

    When EPA designated asbestos as one of the first 10 existing 
chemicals to undergo risk evaluation under TSCA, as amended in 2016, 
the risk evaluation focused on chrysotile asbestos, the only type of 
asbestos fiber where manufacture (including import), processing, and 
distribution in commerce for use was known, intended, or reasonably 
foreseen in the U.S. In Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families v. EPA, 943 
F.3d 397 (9th Cir. 2019) the court held that EPA's Risk Evaluation 
Procedural Rule (82 FR 33726, July 20, 2017 (FRL-9964-38)) should not 
have excluded ``legacy uses'' (i.e., uses without ongoing or 
prospective manufacturing, processing, or distribution) and 
``associated disposals'' (i.e., future disposal of legacy uses) from 
the definition of conditions of use. As a result, the risk evaluation 
for asbestos was split into two parts.
    1. Asbestos (Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos). The final risk 
evaluation for Asbestos (Part 1: Chrysotile Asbestos) was released in 
January 2021 (86 FR 89, January 4, 2021; FRL-10017-43), covering all 
intended, known, or reasonably foreseen import, processing, and 
distribution of chrysotile asbestos; uses of chrysotile asbestos that 
have been imported, processed, and distributed; and disposal of such 
chrysotile asbestos uses. The final rule to address the unreasonable 
risk identified in the Asbestos Part 1 risk evaluation was issued in 
March 2024 (89 FR 21970, March 28, 2024; FRL-8332-01-OCSPP).
    2. Asbestos Part 2: Supplemental Evaluation Including Legacy Uses 
and Associated Disposals of Asbestos. Legacy uses and associated 
disposals of chrysotile asbestos, 5 additional fiber types, asbestos-
containing talc, and Libby asbestos are the subject of the ``Draft Risk 
Evaluation for Asbestos Part 2: Supplemental Evaluation Including 
Legacy Uses and Associated Disposals of Asbestos'' (also referred to as 
the Asbestos Part 2 Draft Risk Evaluation), which is scheduled to be 
finalized on or before December 1, 2024, per the consent decree in the 
case Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization et al v. Regan et al, 
4:21- cv-03716 (N.D. Cal.).
    In the Asbestos Part 2 Draft Risk Evaluation, EPA preliminarily 
concludes that asbestos, as a chemical substance and as evaluated in 
part 1 and part 2 of the risk evaluation, presents an unreasonable risk 
of injury to health under its conditions of use. This single 
unreasonable risk determination for asbestos would replace the previous 
unreasonable risk determinations made for asbestos by individual 
conditions of use and supersede the determinations (and withdraw the 
associated order) of no unreasonable risk for the conditions of use 
identified in the TSCA section 6(i)(1) no unreasonable risk order. This 
draft determination does not alter any of the underlying technical or 
scientific information that informs the risk characterization in part 
1, and as such the hazard, exposure, and risk characterization sections 
of part 1 are not changed by this revision.

III. Request for Public Comment

    EPA seeks feedback on the assessment of risk for asbestos as 
presented in the Asbestos Part 2 Draft Risk Evaluation and welcomes 
specific input on each section of the Asbestos Part 2 Draft Risk 
Evaluation. EPA is also seeking input on the take-home exposure 
scenarios, as well as the non-cancer endpoints used to characterize 
risk. EPA also specifically seeks public comment on the draft single 
risk determination for asbestos where the Agency intends to determine 
that asbestos, as a chemical substance, presents an unreasonable risk 
of injury to health when evaluated under its conditions of use. 
However, EPA is not requesting public comment on the hazard, exposure, 
or risk characterization sections of part 1, as those sections remain 
unchanged.
    EPA encourages all potentially interested parties, including 
individuals, governmental and non-governmental organizations, non-
profit organizations, academic institutions, research institutions, and 
private sector entities to comment on the Asbestos Part 2 Draft Risk 
Evaluation.
    To the extent possible, the Agency asks commenters to please cite 
any public data related to or that supports responses, and to the 
extent permissible, describe any supporting data that is not publicly 
available.
    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.

    Dated: April 9, 2024.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-08024 Filed 4-15-24; 8:45 am]
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