[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 241 (Monday, December 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71891-71893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-27437]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0414; FRL-9345-01-OCSPP]


Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC); Notice of Public 
Meeting and Request for Comments on Draft Toxic Substances Control Act 
(TSCA) Systematic Review Protocol

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: There will be a 3-day peer review virtual public meeting of 
the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) to consider and 
review the draft TSCA Systematic Review Protocol. In addition, EPA is 
announcing the availability of and soliciting public comments on the 
draft protocol. The draft protocol is based on a revised, generic 
approach to systematic review accounting for comments from prior SACC 
reviews of chemical risk evaluations and more recent recommendations 
from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 
(NASEM).

DATES: 
    Peer Review Virtual Public Meeting: Will be held on April 19-21, 
2022, from 10:00 a.m. to approximately 5:00 p.m. (EDT). See the 
additional details and instructions for registration that appear in 
Unit III.
    Written Comments: Submit your written comments on or before 
February 18, 2022. As described in Unit III., you may also register to 
make oral comments during the virtual public meeting.
    Special accommodations: Requests for special accommodations should 
be submitted on or before April 4, 2022, to allow EPA time to process 
these requests.

ADDRESSES: 
    Peer Review Virtual Meeting: You must register online to receive 
the webcast meeting link and audio teleconference information. Please 
follow the registration instructions that will be announced on the SACC 
website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review by early March 2022. 
For additional instructions related to this meeting, see Unit III.
    Written Comments: Submit written comments, identified by docket 
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0414, through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Do not electronically submit any 
information you consider to be

[[Page 71892]]

Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Copyrighted material will not be 
posted without explicit permission of the copyright holder. Members of 
the public should also be aware that their personal contact 
information, if included in any written comments, may be posted on the 
internet at https://www.regulations.gov. Additional information on 
commenting or visiting the docket, along with more information about 
dockets generally, is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA Docket 
Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only. For 
further information on the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) services, docket 
contact information and the current status of the EPA/DC and Reading 
Room, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets. For questions about 
this docket, you may also contact the Designated Federal Official (DFO) 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Special accommodations: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation for a 
disability, please contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Todd Peterson, DFO, Office of 
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (7201M), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8450; 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. This action may 
be of interest to persons who are or may be required to conduct testing 
and those interested in risk evaluations of chemical substances under 
TSCA. Since other entities may also be interested in this action, the 
EPA has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be 
affected by this action.

B. Where can I access information about the SACC and this meeting?

    Information about the SACC and this meeting is available on the 
SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review and in the docket 
for this meeting, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0414, 
at https://www.regulations.gov. You may also subscribe to the following 
listserv for alerts when notices regarding this and other SACC related 
activities are published: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAEPAOPPT/subscriber/new?topic_id=USAEPAOPPT.

C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. If your comments contain any information that 
you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special 
instructions before submitting your comments.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see Tips for Effective Comments at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

II. Background

A. What is the purpose of the SACC?

    The SACC was established by EPA in 2016 and operates in accordance 
with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. Appendix 2 et 
seq. The SACC provides expert independent scientific advice and 
consultation to the EPA on the scientific and technical aspects of risk 
assessments, methodologies, and pollution prevention measures and 
approaches for chemicals regulated under TSCA.
    The SACC is comprised of experts in: Toxicology; Human health and 
environmental risk assessment; Exposure assessment; and Related 
sciences (e.g., synthetic biology, pharmacology, biotechnology, 
nanotechnology, biochemistry, biostatistics, physiologically based 
pharmacokinetic [PBPK] modeling, computational toxicology, 
epidemiology, environmental fate, and environmental engineering and 
sustainability). When needed, the committee members will be assisted in 
their reviews by consultants with specific expertise in the topics 
under consideration.

B. What is the purpose of peer review of the draft TSCA systematic 
review protocol?

    The draft TSCA Systematic Review Protocol includes a revised 
generic approach for TSCA-related approaches accounting for previous 
peer review comments from SACC reviews of risk evaluations on the first 
10 chemical assessments and more recent recommendations from the NASEM 
review of the Application of Systematic Review in TSCA Risk 
Evaluations. In addition to the revised, generic approach, this peer 
review package will include appendices containing chemical specific 
information that is relevant for search strings and screening 
statements and data evaluation criteria for the next chemical risk 
evaluations being conducted by the Office of Pollution Prevention and 
Toxics (OPPT).

C. How can I access the SACC documents?

    EPA's background documents, related supporting materials, and draft 
charge questions to the SACC are available on the SACC website and in 
the docket established for this meeting are available at https://www.regulations.gov; docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0414. In 
addition, EPA will provide additional background documents (e.g., SACC 
members and consultants participating in this meeting and the meeting 
agenda) as the materials become available. You may obtain electronic 
copies of these documents, and certain other related documents that 
might be available, in the docket at https://www.regulations.gov and 
the SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review.
    After the public meeting, the SACC will prepare meeting minutes 
summarizing its recommendations to the EPA. The meeting minutes will be 
posted on the SACC website and in the relevant docket.

III. Public Participation Instructions

    To participate in the peer review virtual public meeting, please 
follow the instructions in this unit.

A. How can I provide comments?

    To ensure proper receipt of comments it is imperative that you 
identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0414 in the subject line on 
the first page of your request.
    1. Written comments. The Agency encourages written comments for the 
peer review public meeting be submitted using the instructions in 
ADDRESSES and Unit I.B. and C, on or before the date set in the DATES 
section. Anyone submitting written comments after this date should 
contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. If you 
submit comments after the date set in the DATES section, those comments 
will be provided to the SACC members.
    2. Oral comments. The Agency encourages each individual or group 
wishing to make brief oral comments to the SACC during the peer review 
virtual public meeting to please follow the registration instructions 
that will be announced on the SACC website by

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early March 2022 (https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review).
    Oral comments before the SACC during the peer review virtual public 
meeting are limited to 5 minutes unless arrangements have been made 
prior to the date set in the DATES section. In addition, each speaker 
should email a copy of his/her comments to the DFO prior to the meeting 
for distribution to the SACC by the DFO.

B. How can I participate in the virtual public meeting?

    This meeting will be virtual and viewed via webcast. For 
information on how to first register and then view the webcast, please 
refer to the SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review. EPA 
intends to announce registration instructions on the SACC website by 
early March 2022.
    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.

    Dated: December 14, 2021.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemicals Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2021-27437 Filed 12-17-21; 8:45 am]
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