
[Federal Register: November 2, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 210)]
[Notices]               
[Page 56611-56612]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02no09-43]                         

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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8974-1; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0664]

 
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of 
Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS 
assessments; request for information.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 
the availability of literature searches for three IRIS assessments that 
were or may be started in 2009 and requesting scientific information on 
health effects that may result from exposure to these chemical 
substances. The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an EPA 
database that contains information on human health effects that may 
result from exposure to chemical substances in the environment.

DATES: EPA will accept information related to the specific substances 
included herein as well as any other compounds being assessed by the 
IRIS Program. Please submit any information in accordance with the 
instructions provided below.

ADDRESSES: Please submit relevant scientific information identified by 
docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0664, online at http://
www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method); by e-mail to 
ord.docket@epa.gov; mailed to Office of Environmental Information (OEI) 
Docket (Mail Code: 2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; or by hand delivery 
or courier to EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Information on a disk or CD-
ROM should be formatted in Word or as an ASCII file, avoiding the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption, and may be mailed to 
the mailing address above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the IRIS program, 
contact Dr. Abdel-Razak Kadry, IRIS Program Director, National Center 
for Environmental Assessment, (mail code: 8601D), Office of Research 
and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 
20460; telephone: (703) 347-8545, facsimile: (703) 347-8689; or e-mail: 
kadry.abdel@epa.gov.
    For general questions about access to IRIS, or the content of IRIS, 
please call the IRIS Hotline at (202) 566-1676 or send electronic mail 
inquiries to hotline.iris@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    IRIS is a database of human health effects that may result from 
exposure to various chemical substances found in the environment. (EPA 
notes that information in the IRIS database has no preclusive effect 
and does not predetermine the outcome of any rulemaking. When EPA uses 
such information to support a rulemaking, the scientific basis for, and 
the application of, that information are subject to comment.) IRIS 
currently provides information on health effects associated with more 
than 500 chemical substances.
    The database includes chemical-specific summaries of qualitative 
and quantitative health information in support of the first two steps 
of the risk assessment process, i.e., hazard identification and dose-
response evaluation. Combined with specific situational exposure 
assessment information, the information in IRIS is an important source 
in evaluating potential public health risks from environmental 
contaminants.

The IRIS Annual Agenda

    The 2008 IRIS agenda was announced in a Federal Register Notice 
(FRN) of December 21, 2007 (72 FR 72715), which can be found on the 
IRIS Web site at http://www.epa.gov/iris. With the December 21, 2007, 
IRIS agenda announcement, EPA started a new process to actively solicit 
information from the public at the beginning of assessment development. 
As literature searches are completed, the results will be posted on the 
IRIS Web site (http://www.epa.gov/iris). The public is invited to 
review the literature search results and submit additional information 
to EPA. EPA posted literature searches for 11 chemicals and stated that 
the availability of additional literature searches would be announced 
in subsequent FRNs.

Request for Public Involvement in IRIS Assessments

    EPA is soliciting public involvement in assessments on the IRIS 
agenda, including new assessments starting in 2009. While EPA conducts 
a thorough literature search for each chemical substance, there may be 
unpublished studies or other primary technical sources that are not 
available through the open literature. EPA would appreciate receiving 
scientific information from the public during the information gathering 
stage for the assessments listed in this notice or any other 
assessments on the IRIS agenda. Interested persons should provide 
scientific analyses, studies, and other pertinent scientific 
information. While EPA is primarily soliciting information on new 
assessments starting in 2009 and beyond, the public may submit 
information on any chemical substance at any time.
    This notice provides (1) a list of new IRIS assessments for which 
literature searches have recently become available; and (2) 
instructions to the public for submitting scientific information to EPA 
pertinent to the development of assessments.

[[Page 56612]]

    EPA is announcing the availability of additional literature 
searches on the IRIS Web site (http://www.epa.gov/iris). The public is 
invited to review the literature search results and submit additional 
information to EPA. Literature searches are now available for chromium 
VI (hexavalent chromium) (CAS 18540-29-9), ammonia (7664-41-7), and 10 
alkylates--2-methylpentane (107-83-5), 2-methylbutane (78-78-4), 3-
methylpentane (96-14-0), 2,2,5-trimethylhexane (3522-94-9), 2,3,3-
trimethylpentane (560-21-4), 2,3,5-trimethylpentane (565-75-3), 
cyclohexane (110-82-7), methylcyclohexane (108-87-2), n-heptane (142-
82-5), and n-octane (111-65-9) at http://www.epa.gov/iris under 
``Annual IRIS Agenda.'' Literature search results were provided on 
December 21, 2007, and April 25, 2008, at http://www.epa.gov/iris for 
tert-amyl methyl ether, biphenyl, n-butanol, tert-butanol, carbonyl 
sulfide, diethyl phthalate, diisopropyl ether, hexabromocyclodecane, 
manganese, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, tungsten, 
urea, and weathered toxaphene. Additional literature searches will be 
posted as they are completed. Availability will be announced in the 
Federal Register. Instructions on how to submit information are 
provided below under General Information.

General Information

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-
0664 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, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center's 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 information 
by mail or hand delivery, please submit one unbound original with pages 
numbered consecutively, and three copies of the comments. For 
attachments, provide an index, number pages consecutively with the main 
text, and submit an unbound original and three copies.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2007-0664. 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: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be 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: October 20, 2009.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E9-26335 Filed 10-30-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
