82 FR 43539 - Availability of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Assessment Plans for Nitrate/Nitrite, Chloroform, and Ethylbenzene

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 179 (September 18, 2017)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 30- day public comment period associated with the draft IRIS Assessment Plans for Nitrate/Nitrite, Chloroform, and Ethylbenzene. These documents communicate information on the scoping needs identified by EPA program and regional offices and the IRIS Program's initial problem formulation activities. Specifically, the assessment plans outline the objectives for each assessment and the type of evidence considered most pertinent to address the scoping needs. EPA is releasing these draft IRIS Assessment Plans for public comment. These assessment plans will also be discussed during the September 27-28 Science Advisory Board (SAB) Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) peer consultation meeting. These documents were prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD).

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 179 (Monday, September 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43539-43540]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19707]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9967-48-ORD; Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0496, ORD-2017-0497, 
ORD-2014-0526]


Availability of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) 
Assessment Plans for Nitrate/Nitrite, Chloroform, and Ethylbenzene

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 30-
day public comment period associated with the draft IRIS Assessment 
Plans for Nitrate/Nitrite, Chloroform, and Ethylbenzene. These 
documents communicate information on the scoping needs identified by 
EPA program and regional offices and the IRIS Program's initial problem 
formulation activities. Specifically, the assessment plans outline the 
objectives for each assessment and the type of evidence considered most 
pertinent to address the scoping needs.
    EPA is releasing these draft IRIS Assessment Plans for public 
comment. These assessment plans will also be discussed during the 
September 27-28 Science Advisory Board (SAB) Chemical Assessment 
Advisory Committee (CAAC) peer consultation meeting. These documents 
were prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment 
(NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD).

DATES: The 30-day public comment period begins September 18, 2017, and 
ends October 18, 2017. Comments must be received on or before October 
18, 2017.

ADDRESSES: The IRIS Assessment Plan for Nitrate/Nitrite, will be 
available via the Internet on IRIS' Recent Additions at http://www.epa.gov/iris/iris-recent-additions and in the public docket at 
http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0496.
    The IRIS Assessment Plan for Chloroform will be available via the 
Internet on IRIS' Recent Additions at http://www.epa.gov/iris/iris-recent-additions and in the public docket at

[[Page 43540]]

http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0497.
    The IRIS Assessment Plan for Ethylbenzene will be available via the 
Internet on IRIS' Recent Additions at http://www.epa.gov/iris/iris-recent-additions and in the public docket at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2014-0526.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public comment 
period, contact the ORD Docket at the EPA Headquarters Docket Center; 
telephone: 202-566-1752; facsimile: 202-566-9744; or email: 
[email protected].
    For technical information on the IRIS Assessment Plans, contact Dr. 
James Avery, NCEA; telephone: 703-347-8668; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background Information on IRIS Assessment Plans

    EPA's IRIS Program is a human health assessment program that 
evaluates quantitative and qualitative risk information on effects that 
may result from exposure to chemicals found in the environment. Through 
the IRIS Program, EPA provides the highest quality science-based human 
health assessments to support the Agency's regulatory activities and 
decisions to protect public health. As part of scoping and initial 
problem formulation activities prior to the development of a draft 
assessment, the IRIS Program carries out a broad, preliminary 
literature survey to assist in identifying health effects that have 
been studied in relation to the chemical or substance of interest as 
well as science issues that may need to be considered when evaluating 
its toxicity. This information, in conjunction with scoping needs 
identified by EPA program and regional offices, are used to inform the 
development of an IRIS Assessment Plan (IAP).
    The IAP communicates to the public the plan for reviewing each 
individual chemical assessment and includes summary information on the 
IRIS Program's scoping and initial problem formulation, objectives and 
specific aims for the assessment, and a PECO (Population, Exposure, 
Comparators, and Outcomes) framework for the systematic review. The 
PECO provides the framework for developing literature search strategies 
and inclusion/exclusion criteria, particularly with respect to evidence 
stream (i.e., human, animal, mechanistic), exposure measures and 
outcome measures. The IAP serves to inform the subsequent development 
of chemical specific systematic review protocols, which will be made 
publicly available. For more information, visit EPA's IRIS Program Web 
site at https://www.epa.gov/iris.

II. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at 
www.regulations.gov

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-
0496 for Nitrate/Nitrite, EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0497 for Chloroform, and EPA-
HQ-ORD-2014-0526 for Ethylbenzene, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 202-566-9744.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center (ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is 202-566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The ORD Docket is located in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Avenue 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. 
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 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 EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0496 for 
Nitrate/Nitrite, EPA-HQ-ORD-2017-0497 for Chloroform, and EPA-HQ-ORD-
2014-0526 for Ethylbenzene. 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 www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless a comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information for which 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information through 
www.regulations.gov or email that you consider to be CBI or otherwise 
protected. The 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 email comment directly to EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email 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 www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the 
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 materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: August 30, 2017.
Mary Ross,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2017-19707 Filed 9-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P