82 FR 31592 - Scopes of the Risk Evaluations To Be Conducted for the First Ten Chemical Substances Under the Toxic Substances Control Act; Notice of Availability

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 129 (July 7, 2017)

As required by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which was amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act in June 2016, EPA is announcing the availability of the scope documents for the risk evaluations to be conducted for the first ten (10) chemical substances. Each scope includes the hazards, exposures, conditions of use, and the potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations the EPA expects to consider in conducting the risk evaluation. EPA is also re-opening existing dockets for the first 10 chemicals to allow for the public to provide additional data or information that could be useful to the Agency in conducting problem formulation, the next step in the process of conducting the risk evaluations for these chemicals.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 129 (Friday, July 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31592-31593]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14321]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0327; FRL-9963-57]


Scopes of the Risk Evaluations To Be Conducted for the First Ten 
Chemical Substances Under the Toxic Substances Control Act; Notice of 
Availability

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which 
was amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 
Century Act in June 2016, EPA is announcing the availability of the 
scope documents for the risk evaluations to be conducted for the first 
ten (10) chemical substances. Each scope includes the hazards, 
exposures, conditions of use, and the potentially exposed or 
susceptible subpopulations the EPA expects to consider in conducting 
the risk evaluation. EPA is also re-opening existing dockets for the 
first 10 chemicals to allow for the public to provide additional data 
or information that could be useful to the Agency in conducting problem 
formulation, the next step in the process of conducting the risk 
evaluations for these chemicals.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    For technical information contact: Christina Motilall, Risk 
Assessment Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-1287; email 
address: [email protected].
    For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 
422 South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14620; telephone number: (202) 
554-1404; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 31593]]

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    You may be potentially affected by this action if you manufacture 
(defined under TSCA to include import), process, distribute in 
commerce, use or dispose of any of the ten chemical substances 
identified in this document for risk evaluation. This action may be of 
particular interest to entities that are regulated under TSCA (e.g., 
entities identified under North American Industrial Classification 
System (NAICS) codes 325 and 324110, among others). Since other 
entities may also be interested, the Agency has not attempted to 
describe all the specific entities and corresponding NAICS codes for 
entities that may be interested in or affected by this action.

B. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

    The docket for this action, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0327, is available at http://www.regulations.gov or at the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics 
Docket (OPPT Docket), Environmental Protection Agency Docket Center 
(EPA/DC), West William Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The 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, and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket is (202) 566-
0280. Please review the visitor instructions and additional information 
about the docket available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.

C. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    This action directly implements TSCA section 6(b)(4)(D).

II. Background

    EPA published a notice in the Federal Register of December 19, 2016 
(81 FR 91927) (FRL-9956-47) of EPA's designation of 10 chemical 
substances for initial risk evaluations under TSCA. EPA's designation 
of the first ten chemical substances constituted the initiation of the 
risk evaluation process for each of these chemical substances, pursuant 
to the requirements of TSCA section 6(b)(4).

III. What action is the Agency taking?

    In fulfillment of the requirements in TSCA section 6(b)(4)(D), EPA 
is publishing the scopes of the risk evaluations for the first 10 
chemical substances designated to undergo risk evaluation to determine 
whether the chemical substances present an unreasonable risk of injury 
to human health or the environment under TSCA section 6(b)(4). The 10 
chemical substances for which EPA is publishing the scopes of the risk 
evaluations are:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Chemical name                             Docket ID No.                        Agency contact
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asbestos............................  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0736                         Robert Courtnage,
                                                                                     [email protected],
                                                                                     202-566-1081.
1-Bromopropane......................  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0741                         Ana Corado,
                                                                                     [email protected], 202-564-
                                                                                     0140.
1,4-Dioxane.........................  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0723                         Cindy Wheeler,
                                                                                     [email protected], 202-
                                                                                     566-0484.
Carbon Tetrachloride................  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0733                         Stephanie Jarmul,
                                                                                     [email protected],
                                                                                     202-564-6130.
Cyclic Aliphatic Bromide Cluster      EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0735                         Sue Slotnick,
 (HBCD).                                                                             [email protected], 202-
                                                                                     566-1973.
Methylene Chloride..................  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0742                         Ana Corado,
                                                                                     [email protected], 202-564-
                                                                                     0140.
N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP)...........  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0743                         Ana Corado,
                                                                                     [email protected], 202-564-
                                                                                     0140.
Pigment Violet 29 (Anthra[2,1,9-      EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0725                         Hannah Braun,
 def:6,5,10-d'e'f'] diisoquinoline-                                                  [email protected], 202-
 1,3,8,10(2H,9H)-tetrone).                                                           564-5614.
Tetrachloroethylene (also known as    EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0732                         Tyler Lloyd,
 perchloroethylene).                                                                 [email protected], 202-
                                                                                     564-4016.
Trichloroethylene (TCE).............  EPA-HQ-OPPT-2016-0737                         Toni Krasnic,
                                                                                     [email protected], 202-
                                                                                     564-0984.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The scope of the risk evaluation for each of these 10 chemical 
substances includes the hazards, exposures, conditions of use, and the 
potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations the EPA expects to 
consider. To the extent possible, EPA has aligned these scope documents 
with the approach set forth in the risk evaluation process. The 
timeframe for development of these scope documents has been very 
compressed. The first 10 chemical substances were not subject to 
prioritization, the process through which EPA expects to collect and 
screen much of the relevant information about chemical substances that 
will be subject to the risk evaluation process. As a result, EPA had 
limited ability to process all the information gathered during scoping 
for the first 10 chemicals within the time provided in the statute for 
publication of the scopes after initiation of the risk evaluation 
process.
    Hence, the scope documents for the first 10 chemicals are not as 
refined or specific as future scope documents are anticipated to be. In 
addition, there was insufficient time for EPA to provide an opportunity 
for comment on drafts of these scope documents, as it intends to do for 
future scope documents. For these reasons, EPA will publish and take 
public comment on a Problem Formulation document which will refine the 
current scope, as an additional interim step, prior to publication of 
the draft risk evaluations for the first 10 chemicals. The problem 
formulation documents are expected to be released within approximately 
6 months of publication of the scope document. EPA invites the public 
to provide additional data or information that would be useful in 
conducting the problem formulation to the existing public docket for 
each of these chemicals.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.

    Dated: June 22, 2017.
E. Scott Pruitt,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-14321 Filed 7-6-17; 8:45 am]
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