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Summary Minutes of the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC)

Lead Review Panel

Public Teleconference

April 1, 2013

Date and Time: Monday, April 1, 2013, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Location: By telephone only

Purpose: The purpose of the meeting was to review two draft reports entitled “CASAC Review of 

the EPA’s Integrated Science Assessment for Lead (Third External Review Draft –

November 2012)” and “CASAC Review of the EPA’s Policy Assessment for the Review 

of the Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards (External Review Draft – January 

2013)”

Participants: Lead Review Panel (for full panel, see roster1)

Dr. H. Christopher Frey, CASAC Chair

Mr. George Allen

Dr. Herbert Allen

Dr. Richard Canfield

Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta

Dr. Philip Goodrum

Dr. Philip Hopke

Dr. Chris Johnson

Dr. Susan Korrick

Dr. Michael Kosnett

Dr. Roman Lanno

Mr. Richard Poirot

Dr. Joel Pounds

Dr. Michael Rabinowitz

Dr. William Stubblefield

Dr. Ian von Lindern

Dr. Gail Wasserman

Dr. Michael Weitzman

Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Office (DFO)

Dr. John Vandenberg, EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA)

Ms. Lydia Wegman, EPA Office of Air Quality and Planning Standards (OAQPS) 

Other Attendees (See Attachment A)
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Opening Remarks

Mr. Aaron Yeow, DFO, opened the meeting. He noted that as required under the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (FACA), the Panel’s deliberations are held in public with advanced notice given in the 

Federal Register2, and the meeting minutes will be made publicly available after the meeting. He noted 

that the Panel received one written public comment from EPA OAQPS and that EPA NCEA and EPA 

OAQPS requested to make oral statements. He stated that the SAB Staff Office reviewed information 

provided by the panel and determined that there were no issues with conflict-of-interest nor any issues 

with an appearance of a lack of impartiality for any of the panel members. He then turned the meeting 

over to Dr. Christopher Frey, Chair of the CASAC.

Dr. Frey welcomed everyone and gave an overview of the Agenda3. 

Public Comments on the Draft ISA Report

There were no public comments so the panel proceeded to the next item on the agenda.

EPA Comments on the Draft ISA Report

Dr. John Vandenberg, EPA NCEA, thanked the panel members for their advice and for the hard work 

put into drafting the report. He wanted to assure the panel that all their comments, in the letter to the 

Administrator, in the consensus responses, as well as in their individual comments are taken very 

seriously and given much consideration. He asked that the panel consider clarifying the strength of the 

recommendations throughout the report to ensure that they accurately reflect the intention of the panel.

Discussion on the Draft ISA Report

Discussion of Consensus Responses

The panel agreed to strengthen the recommendation for EPA to continue developing a new Pb air 

sampler (page 10, line 31). A panel member agreed to provide the citation to the study indicating 

elevated Pb levels in honeybees nearing general aviation airports (page 11, line 28). A panel member 

agreed to provide revisions to the last paragraph of the Chapter 4 consensus response to more 

specifically incorporate the individual comments pertaining to the challenge of estimating the air Pb to 

blood Pb ratio at low Pb exposures (p. 12, lines 14-15). The panel had some discussion regarding the 

causal association between low Pb exposure levels and renal dysfunction. They agreed to strengthen 

their recommendation for EPA to change the causal designation from “likely to be a causal relationship” 

to “suggestive of a causal relationship.” The panel agreed to soften the recommendation for the need for 

causal determination graphs for ecological effects (p. 19, lines 33-35). 

Discussion of Letter to the Administrator

The panel agreed to clarify the comments and recommendations on lines 30-35 of the first page of the 

letter. The panel also agreed to revise the letter to make it consistent with the revisions discussed for the 

consensus responses.

Public Comments on the Draft PA Report

There were no public comments so the panel proceeded to the next item on the agenda.
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EPA Comments on the Draft PA Report

Ms. Lydia Wegman, EPA OAQPS, indicated that they had provided written comments4to the panel and 

she provided an overview of those comments which centered on the panel’s comments and 

recommendations on the cause and impact of the export of Pb to other countries.

Dr. Frey proposed revisions to the letter (lines 26-42, page 2; lines 1-5, page 3) to make it clear that it 

was a separate policy issue and that the panel did not consider that issue in providing comments on the 

current NAAQS review documents. The panel agreed to the revisions.

Discussion on the Draft PA Report

Discussion of Consensus Responses

The panel agreed to revisions to the consensus response to Chapter 1 (lines 11-14, 27-32, page 9), 

consistent with the proposed revisions to the letter the panel had just previously discussed. The panel 

agreed to various other editorial changes throughout the consensus responses to make the report more 

clear.

Discussion of Letter to the Administrator

In addition to the revisions to the letter previously discussed by the panel, the panel also agreed to 

revisions to clarify the comments and recommendations on the secondary standard (lines 15-17, page 2).

Dr. Frey indicated that the Draft Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) 

report5 was sent to the panel members and he read the main conclusions and recommendations from the 

report. The panel agreed with the recommendations.

Dr. Frey discussed the remaining schedule for the review, including the Chartered CASAC quality 

review on May 8, 2013 to discuss the draft reports. 

Mr. Yeow noted that this was the last time the panel would be gathered together and thanked the panel 

for their past three years of service. He then adjourned the meeting at 4:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted: Certified as Accurate:

/Signed/ /Signed/

Mr. Aaron Yeow Dr. H. Christopher Frey

Designated Federal Officer Chair

EPA SAB Staff Office CASAC

NOTE AND DISCLAIMER: The minutes of this public meeting reflect diverse ideas and suggestions 

offered by Panel members during the course of deliberations within the meeting. Such ideas, suggestions and 

deliberations do not necessarily reflect consensus advice from the Panel members. The reader is cautioned to 

not rely on the minutes to represent final, approved, consensus advice and recommendations offered to the 

Agency. Such advice and recommendations may be found in the final advisories, commentaries, letters or 

reports prepared and transmitted to the EPA Administrator following the public meetings.
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Materials Cited

The following meeting materials are available on the CASAC website: http://www.epa.gov/casac, at the 

April 1, 2013 CASAC Lead Review Panel Meeting page:

 

1 Roster

2

Federal Register Notice Announcing the Meeting

3 Agenda for April 1, 2013 Public Meeting

4 EPA OAQPS Comments on the Draft PA Report

5 Reference to the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Draft Report
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ATTACHMENT A – Other Attendees

CASAC Lead Review Panel Public Meeting

Monday, April 1, 2013

Name Affiliation

Hannon, John USEPA

Hines, Erin USEPA

Kirrane, Ellen USEPA

Knight, Chris Clean Air Report

Kotchmar, Dennis USEPA

Lassiter, Meredith USEPA

Martin, Karen USEPA

Meacham, Connie USEPA

Miksad, Roger Wiley Rein LLP

Murphy, Deirdre USEPA

Orlin, David USEPA

Owens, Elizabeth USEPA

Patel, Molini USEPA

Putzrath, Resha Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center

Ross, Mary USEPA

Svendsgaard, David USEPA

Tennant, Ginger USEPA

Wilson, Linda New York State Office of the Attorney General