
[Federal Register: March 12, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 47)]
[Notices]               
[Page 10734-10735]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12mr09-53]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL8779-4; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2007-0925]

 
Draft Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 
the availability of a document titled, ``First External Review Draft 
Integrated Science Assessment for Carbon Monoxide'' (EPA/600/R-09/019). 
This draft document was prepared by the National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and 
Development as part of the review of the national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for carbon monoxide.
    EPA is releasing this draft document to seek review by the Clean 
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and the public. The draft 
document does not represent and should not be construed to represent 
any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or determination. EPA will consider 
any timely public comments submitted in response to this notice when 
revising the document.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science 
Assessment for Carbon Monoxide'' will be available primarily via the 
Internet on the National Center for Environmental Assessment's home 
page under the Recent Additions and Publications menus at http://
www.epa.gov/ncea. A limited number of CD-ROM or paper copies will be 
available. Contact Ms. Debbie Wales by phone (919-541-4731), fax (919-
541-5078), or e-mail (wales.deborah@epa.gov) to request either of 
these, and please provide your name, your mailing address, and the 
document title, ``First External Review Draft Integrated Science 
Assessment for Carbon Monoxide'' (EPA/600/R-09/019) to facilitate 
processing of your request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information, contact Dr. 
Thomas C. Long, NCEA; telephone: 919-541-1880; facsimile: 919-541-2985; 
or e-mail: long.tom@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Document

    Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the EPA Administrator 
to identify certain pollutants that ``cause or contribute to air 
pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health 
or welfare'' 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 to establish national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for each pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. 
Section 109(d) of the Act 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 
or welfare. EPA is also to revise the NAAQS, if appropriate, based on 
the revised air quality criteria.
    Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of six ``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). 
The ISA and supplementary annexes, in conjunction with additional 
technical and policy assessments, provide the scientific basis for EPA 
decisions on the adequacy of the current NAAQS and the appropriateness 
of possible alternative standards. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory 
Committee (CASAC), an independent science advisory committee whose 
review and advisory functions are mandated by Section 109(d)(2) of the 
Clean Air Act, is charged (among other things) with independent 
scientific review of EPA's air quality criteria.
    On September 13, 2007 (72 FR 52369), EPA formally initiated its 
current review of the air quality criteria for CO, requesting the 
submission of recent scientific information on specified topics. A 
workshop was held on January 28-29, 2008 (73 FR 2490) to discuss 
policy-relevant science to inform EPA's planning for the CO NAAQS 
review. Following the workshop, a draft of EPA's ``Plan for Review of 
the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Carbon Monoxide'' (EPA-
452/D-08-001) was made available in March 2008 for public comment and 
was discussed by the CASAC via a publicly accessible teleconference 
consultation on April 8, 2008 (73 FR 12998). EPA finalized the plan and 
made it available in August 2008 (EPA/452/R-08/005; http://www.epa.gov/
ttn/naaqs/standards/co/s_co_cr_pd.html). In November 2008, EPA held 
an authors' teleconference to discuss, with invited scientific experts, 
preliminary draft materials prepared during the ongoing development of 
the CO ISA and its supplementary annexes.
    After the end of the comment period on the First External Review 
Draft ISA for CO, the CASAC review panel will review the draft at a 
public meeting. Timely public comments received will be provided to the 
CASAC review panel. A future Federal Register notice will inform the 
public of the exact date and time of that meeting.

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.,

[[Page 10735]]

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 an 
original and 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 through http://
www.regulations.gov or e-mail that you consider to be CBI or otherwise 
protected. 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 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Publicly available docket 
materials are generally available either electronically in http://
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center; however, certain materials, such as 
copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy.

    Dated: March 3, 2009.
Rebecca Clark,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
 [FR Doc. E9-5201 Filed 3-11-09; 8:45 am]

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