

[Federal Register: January 15, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 10)]
[Notices]               
[Page 2490-2491]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ja08-61]                         

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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0015; FRL-8516-2]

 
Workshop To Discuss Policy-Relevant Science To Inform EPA's 
Integrated Plan for the Review of the Primary Carbon Monoxide National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Workshop.

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

SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing that a workshop entitled ``Workshop to 
Discuss Policy-Relevant Science to Inform EPA's Integrated Plan for the 
Review of the Primary Carbon Monoxide National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards'' is being organized by EPA's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA), Office of Research and Development and 
EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), Office of 
Air and Radiation. The workshop will be held on January 28-29, 2008 in 
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The workshop will be open to 
attendance by interested public observers on a first-come, first-served 
basis up to the limits of available space.

DATES: The workshop will be held on January 28 and 29, 2008.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at U.S. EPA, 109 T.W. Alexander 
Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. An EPA contractor, E.H. 
Pechan & Associates, Inc., is providing logistical support for the 
workshop. For further information on the workshops, contact Ms. Barbara 
Bauer, E.H. Pechan Conference Coordinator, 3622 Lyckan Parkway, Durham, 
NC 27707, telephone: 919-493-3144 ext. 188; facsimile: 919-493-3182; e-
mail: barbara.bauer@pechan.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding information, 
registration, and logistics for the workshop should be directed to the 
E.H. Pechan conference coordinator listed in ADDRESSES above or from 
the following

[[Page 2491]]

Web site: http://projects.pechan.com/epa/coreview/.

    Additional questions regarding the workshop should be directed to 
Ms. Chris Trent, U.S. EPA, OAQPS, telephone: 919-541-5337; facsimile: 
919-541-0237; e-mail: trent.chris@epa.gov or Dr. Tom Long, U.S. EPA, 
NCEA, telephone: 919-541-1880; facsimile: 919-541-2985; e-mail: 
long.tom@epa.gov.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Workshop

    The Agency's last review of the carbon monoxide (CO) national 
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) was completed on August 1, 1994 
with a final determination that no revision of the CO standard was 
appropriate (59 FR 38906). This review of the CO NAAQS is consistent 
with the Clean Air Act's requirement that the Agency periodically 
review the latest scientific information and the standards. In 
completing this review, the Agency will apply the Agency's new NAAQS 
review process.\1\ This workshop is a key step in this new process. The 
workshop will provide an opportunity for internal and external experts 
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 standard to ensure that it 
addresses key policy-relevant issues and considers the new science 
relevant to informing our understanding of these issues.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ For more information on the NAAQS review process, please see 
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/.

    \2\ This workshop will not address a secondary welfare-based 
standard as the CO NAAQS includes only a primary standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We intend that workshop discussions will build upon three prior 
publications or events:
    1. National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Carbon Monoxide: 
Final Rule (59 FR 38906, August 1, 1994). The preamble to the final 
rule included detailed discussions of policy-relevant issues central to 
the last review.
    2. Air Quality Criteria for Carbon Monoxide (EPA 600/P-99/001F, 
June 2000).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Please see http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_index.html
 to obtain a copy of the 2000 Air Quality Criteria 

Document, the notice of final rulemaking from 1994, and other 
related documents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    3. December 2006 workshop sponsored by NCEA, entitled 
``Interpretation of Epidemiologic Studies of Multi-pollutant Exposure 
and Health Effects.'' The workshop dealt with important issues relevant 
to this review, such as the interpretation and understanding of 
criteria air pollutant health effects analyses in population-level 
epidemiologic studies, with a focus on multi-pollutant exposures (71 FR 
67566, November 22, 2006).
    Workshop participants are encouraged to review each of these 
documents and/or supporting materials thoroughly before the meeting 
begins, as they provide important insights into new scientific advances 
and key policy-relevant questions.
    Based in large part on the input received during this workshop, EPA 
will develop a draft integrated CO NAAQS review plan that will outline 
the schedule, process, and approaches for evaluating the relevant 
scientific information and addressing the key policy-relevant issues to 
be considered in this review. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory 
Committee (CASAC) will be asked to conduct a consultation with the 
Agency on the draft integrated plan later this year, and the public 
will have the opportunity to comment on it as well. The final 
integrated plan will be used to frame each of the major elements of the 
CO review under the new NAAQS process: an integrated science assessment 
document, a risk/exposure assessment report, and a policy assessment to 
be published as an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR).

II. Workshop Information

    Members of the public may attend the workshop as observers. Space 
is limited, and reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-
served basis.

    Dated: January 8, 2008.
Jenny N. Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. E8-543 Filed 1-14-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
