[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8338-8339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3723]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9117-7]


EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office Notification of a Meeting 
of the Ecological Effects Subcommittee of the Advisory Council on Clean 
Air Compliance Analysis (Council)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a 
public meeting of the Ecological Effects Subcommittee (EES) of the 
Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (Council). The EES, 
supplemented with additional members from the Science Advisory Board 
and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, will review draft 
documents regarding ecological effects of modeled air quality scenarios 
developed to support the Second Section 812 Benefit-Cost Analysis of 
the Clean Air Act. The assessment of ecological effects has been 
developed in support of the Office of Air and Radiation's Second 
Section 812 Prospective Analysis of the benefits and costs of the Clean 
Air Act.

DATES: The EES augmented with additional experts will meet on Tuesday, 
March 9, 2010 and Wednesday, March 10, 2010, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and 
ending no later than 5 p.m. (Eastern Time), each day.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the SAB Conference Center 
at 1025 F Street, NW., Suite 3700, Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information about this meeting may contact Ms. Stephanie 
Sanzone, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board 
Staff Office (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; by telephone/voice 
mail: (202) 343-9697 or at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#89fae8e7f3e6e7eca7fafdecf9e1e8e7e0ecc9ecf9e8a7eee6ff"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="deadbfb0a4b1b0bbf0adaabbaeb6bfb0b7bb9ebbaebff0b9b1a8">[email protected]</span></a>. General 
information about the Council may be found on the Council Web site at: 
http://www.epa.gov/advisorycouncilcaa.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, 5 U.S.C., App. 2 (FACA), notice is hereby given that the 
Ecological Effects Subcommittee (EES) of the Advisory Council on Clean 
Air Compliance Analysis (Council), augmented with additional experts, 
will hold a public meeting to evaluate draft documents regarding 
ecological effects of modeled air quality scenarios developed to 
support the Second Section 812 Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Clean Air 
Act. The Council was established in 1991 pursuant to the Clean Air Act 
(CAA) Amendments of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 7612) to provide advice, 
information and recommendations on technical and economic aspects of 
analyses and reports EPA prepares on the impacts of the CAA on the 
public health, economy, and environment of the United States. The 
Council is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under FACA. The EES 
will provide advice through the Council and will comply with the 
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    Pursuant to Section 812 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments 
(CAAA), EPA conducts periodic studies to assess benefits and costs of 
the EPA's regulatory actions under the Clean Air Act. The Council has 
provided advice on an EPA retrospective study published in 1997 and an 
EPA prospective study completed in 1999. EPA initiated a second 
prospective study to evaluate the benefits and costs of EPA Clean Air 
programs for years 1990-2020. The Council has previously provided 
advice on the analytical blueprint for this study. EPA's Office of Air 
and Radiation (OAR) is now nearing completion of the analytical work 
for the second prospective study.
    At the March 9 and 10, 2010 meeting, the EES will review draft 
technical documents pertaining to ecological effects associated with 
air quality scenarios developed using the Community Multiscale Air 
Quality (CMAQ) model for seven emissions scenarios: a 1990 baseline 
simulation; and simulations for 2000, 2010 and 2020 with and without 
the CAAA. The draft documents compare simulated pollutant exposures 
with the distribution of sensitive ecosystems in the United States to 
assess ecosystems at risk from acidic deposition, total nitrogen 
deposition, and tropospheric ozone concentrations. In addition, the 
draft documents present case studies on benefits of the CAAA for 
recreation fishing and the timber industry in the Adirondack Region of 
New York State. Chapter 4 of the draft Benefits Analyses to Support the 
Second Section 812 Benefit-Cost Analysis describes the estimation of 
the physical effects of the air quality scenarios for ozone on 
agriculture and commercial forestry.
    OAR is requesting that the EES review the data choices, 
methodological choices for analyzing the data, and the overall validity 
and utility of the estimated changes in ecological effects from air 
pollution between the with-CAAA90 and without-CAAA90 scenarios. The 
following documents are provided to the EES: (1) Effects of Air 
Pollutants on Ecological Resources: Literature Review and Case Studies. 
Draft Report, February 2010. Prepared by Industrial Economics, Inc., 
for James DeMocker, EPA Office of Policy Analysis and Review; and (2) 
Benefits Analyses to Support the Second Section 812 Benefit-Cost 
Analysis of the Clean Air Act, Draft. Chapter 4: Agricultural and 
Forest Productivity Benefits. Draft Report, February 2010. Prepared by 
Industrial Economics, Inc., for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation.
    Technical Contacts: The Office of Air and Radiation technical 
contact for the Second Section 812 Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Clean 
Air Act is Mr. Jim DeMocker at (202) 564-1673 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cbafaea6a4a8a0aeb9e5a1a2a68baebbaae5aca4bd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4c282921232f27293e622625210c293c2d622b233a">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: EPA draft documents provided to 
the EES are available at http://www.epa.gov/oar/sect812/prospective2.html.
    The meeting agenda for March 9 and 10, 2010 and any background 
materials will be posted on the Council Web site http://www.epa.gov/advisorycouncilcaa prior to the meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written information on the group conducting 
the activity or written or oral information for the EES to consider on 
the topics of this advisory activity. Oral Statements: In general, 
individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a public 
meeting will be limited to five minutes per speaker, with no more than 
one hour for all speakers. Interested parties should contact Ms. 
Sanzone at the contact information provided above by March 2, 2010, to 
be placed on the public speaker list for the March 9 and

[[Page 8339]]

10, 2010 meeting. Written Statements: Written statements should be 
received in the SAB Staff Office by March 2, 2010, so that the 
information may be made available to the EES for their consideration 
prior to the meeting. Written statements should be supplied to Ms. 
Sanzone in the following formats: one hard copy with original signature 
and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format: Adobe 
Acrobat PDF, MS Word, WordPerfect, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files). 
Submitters are asked to provide electronic versions of each document 
submitted with and without signatures, because the SAB Staff Office 
does not publish documents with signatures on its Web sites.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Ms. Sanzone at (202) 343-
9697, or via e-mail at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#592a38372336373c772a2d3c29313837303c193c2938773e362f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="463527283c29282368353223362e27282f230623362768212930">[email protected]</span></a>, preferably at least 
ten (10) days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as 
possible to process your request.

    Dated: February 18, 2010.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-3723 Filed 2-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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