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Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: September 13, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 177)] [Notices] [Page 52369-52371] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr13se07-37] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-8467-9; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0925] Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice; call for information. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development's National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) is preparing an Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) as part of the review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Carbon Monoxide (CO). This is intended to update and revise, where appropriate, the scientific assessment presented in the Air Quality Criteria for Carbon Monoxide (EPA 600/P-99/001F), published in June 2000. Interested parties are invited to assist the EPA in developing and refining the scientific information base for the review of the CO NAAQS by submitting research studies that have been published, accepted for publication, or presented at a public scientific meeting. DATES: All communications and information should be received by EPA by December 14, 2007. ADDRESSES: Information may be submitted electronically, by mail, by [[Page 52370]] facsimile, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed instructions as provided in the section of this notice entitled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For details on the period for submission of research information from the public, contact the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket; telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-1753; or e-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov. For technical information, contact Paul Reinhart, PhD, NCEA, telephone, 919-541-1456; facsimile: 919-541-1818 or e-mail: reinhart.paul@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Information About the Project Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to identify certain pollutants, emissions of which ``may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare'' and whose presence ``in the ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary sources,'' and to issue air quality criteria for them. These 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 * * *.'' Under section 109 of the Act, EPA is then to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. Section 109 (d) of the Act subsequently requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria to reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the pollutant on public health and welfare. EPA is also to revise the NAAQS, if appropriate, based on the revised air quality criteria. Carbon monoxide is one of six principal (or ``criteria'') pollutants for which EPA has established NAAQS. Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific basis for these standards by preparing an Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), formerly called an Air Quality Criteria Document (AQCD). The ISA and supplementary annexes are the scientific basis for the additional technical and policy assessments that form the basis for EPA decisions on the adequacy of a current NAAQS and the appropriateness of new or revised standards. Early steps in this process include announcing the beginning of this periodic NAAQS review and the development of the ISA, and NCEA requesting that the public submit scientific literature that they want to bring to the attention of the Agency as it begins this process. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), an independent science advisory committee mandated by the Clean Air Act and part of the EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB), is charged with independent expert scientific review of EPA's draft ISAs. As the process proceeds, the public will have opportunities to review and comment on draft CO ISAs. These opportunities will also be announced in the Federal Register. The Agency is interested in obtaining additional new information, particularly concerning toxicological studies of effects of controlled exposure to CO on laboratory animals, humans and in vitro systems as well as epidemiologic (observational) studies of health effects associated with ambient exposures of human populations to CO. EPA also seeks recent information in other areas of CO research such as chemistry and physics, sources and emissions, analytical methodology, transport and transformation in the environment, ambient concentrations and effects on public welfare or the environment. This and other selected literature relevant to a review of the NAAQS for CO will be assessed in the forthcoming CO ISA. As part of this review of the CO NAAQS, EPA intends to sponsor a workshop in January 2008 to highlight significant new and emerging CO research, and to make recommendations to the Agency regarding the design and scope of the review for the primary (health-based) CO standards to ensure that it addresses key policy-relevant issues and considers the new science that is relevant to informing our understanding of these issues. In addition, other opportunities for submission of new peer-reviewed, published (or in- press) papers will be possible as part of public comment on the additional draft documents that will be reviewed by CASAC. II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at http://www.regulations.gov Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD 2007- 0925, by one of the following methods: • http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments. • E-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov. • Fax: 202-566-1753. • Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket (Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-566-1752. • Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA Headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334 EPA West Building, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is 202-566-1744. Such deliveries are only accepted during the docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. If you provide comments by mail or hand delivery, please submit three copies of the comments. For attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively with the comments, and submit an unbound original and three copies. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD- 2007-0925. 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 http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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 http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some [[Page 52371]] 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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA Headquarters Docket Center. Dated: September 6, 2007. Peter W. Preuss, Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment. [FR Doc. E7-18100 Filed 9-12-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P