[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88764-88765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26125]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0312; FRL-7887-05-OAR]
Release of Planning Update 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 November 8, 2024, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is making available to the public an update on two aspects
of the approach for the quantitative human exposure and health risk
analyses, Update on Two Aspects of the Analytical Approach (Update).
This Update provides additional detail regarding aspects of the
analysis plans described in 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 human exposure and
health risk analyses.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 9, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments on this document, 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 document
described here will be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/lead-pb-air-quality-standards. The document will be
accessible under ``Planning Documents'' 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, Research
Triangle Park, 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
[[Page 88765]]
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.
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 document announced in this notice has been developed as
a follow-up to Volume 3 of the IRP. Like the IRP, this Update 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 Pb
NAAQS review.
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\1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on
July 7, 2020 (85 FR 40641) and the Integrated Science Assessment for
Lead was released on January 31, 2024 (89 FR 8425, February 7,
2024).
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The IRP for the current review of the lead NAAQS is comprised of
three volumes. Volume 3 is the planning document for quantitative
analyses to be considered in the policy assessment (PA), including
exposure and risk analyses. Volume 3 was the subject of a consultation
with the CASAC Lead Panel on June 14, 2023, and is available on the
EPA's website.\2\ The Update provides additional updated detail on two
aspects of the approach planned for quantitative human exposure and
health risk analyses being performed in this NAAQS review. Comments on
the Update should be submitted to the docket, as described above, by
December 9, 2024. A separate Federal Register notice provided details
about the CASAC Lead Panel consultation meeting and the process for
participation in the consultation meeting on this document (89 FR
86801, October 31, 2024). The EPA will consider the consultation
comments from the CASAC Lead Panel and public comments on this Update
in its preparation of quantitative exposure and risk analyses for the
PA. This document does not represent and should not be construed to
represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination.
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\2\ Volume 3 of the IRP is already available on the EPA website,
along volumes 1 and 2. Volume 1 of the IRP provides background or
contextual and historical material for this NAAQS review. All three
volumes are available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/lead-pb-air-quality-standards, accessible under ``Planning Documents'' for the
current review.
Erika N. Sasser,
Director, Health and Environmental Impacts Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-26125 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
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