Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 96 / Wednesday, May 17, 2000 / Notices 31309

Dated: May 10, 2000.

Oscar Morales,

Director, Collection Strategies Division.

[FR Doc. 00–12393 Filed 5–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–U

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–6700–5]

Integrated Risk Information System

(IRIS): Announcement of 2000

Program—Addendum; Request for

Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice; addendum to

announcement of IRIS 2000 program

and request for scientific information on

health effects that may result from

chronic exposure to chemical

substances.

SUMMARY: The Integrated Risk

Information System (IRIS) is an

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

data base that contains EPA scientific

consensus positions on human health

effects that may result from chronic

exposure to chemical substances in the

environment. On January 12, 2000, EPA

announced the 2000 IRIS agenda and

solicited scientific information from the

public for consideration in assessing

health effects from specific chemical

substances. This notice adds the

chemical substances hexachlorobenzene

and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-triazine

(‘‘RDX’’) to the IRIS agenda, and solicits

scientific data and evaluations for

consideration in EPA’s assessments.

DATES: Please submit information in

response to this notice by July 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Please send relevant

scientific information to the IRIS

Submission Desk in accordance with the

instructions provided under

‘‘Submission of Information’’ in this

notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

information on the IRIS program,

contact Amy Mills, National Center for

Environmental Assessment (mail code

8601D), U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Washington, DC 20460, or call

(202) 564–3204, or send electronic mail

inquiries to mills.amy@epa.gov. For

general questions about access to IRIS,

or the content of IRIS, please call the

Risk Information Hotline at (513) 569–

7254.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

IRIS is an EPA data base containing

Agency consensus scientific positions

on potential adverse human health

effects that may result from chronic (or

lifetime) exposure to chemical

substances found in the environment.

IRIS currently provides health effects

information on over 500 specific

chemical substances.

IRIS contains chemical-specific

summaries of qualitative and

quantitative health information in

support of the first two steps of the risk

assessment process, i.e., hazard

identification and dose-response

evaluation. IRIS information includes

the reference dose for noncancer health

effects resulting from oral exposure, the

reference concentration for noncancer

health effects resulting from inhalation

exposure, and the carcinogen

assessment for both oral and inhalation

exposure. Combined with specific

situational exposure assessment

information, the summary health hazard

information in IRIS may be used as a

source in evaluating potential public

health risks from environmental

contaminants.

The IRIS Program

EPA’s process for developing IRIS

consists of: (1) An annual Federal

Register announcement of EPA’s IRIS

agenda and call for scientific

information from the public on the

selected chemical substances, (2) a

search of the current literature, (3)

development of health assessments and

draft IRIS summaries, (4) peer review

within EPA, (5) peer review outside

EPA, (6) EPA consensus review and

management approval, (7) preparation

of final IRIS summaries and supporting

documents, and (8) entry of summaries

and supporting documents into the IRIS

data base.

Purpose of This Notice

EPA is adding the chemical

substances hexachlorobenzene (CAS No.

118–74–1) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitrotriazine or ‘‘RDX,’’ (CAS No.121–82–4)

to its assessment agenda for fiscal year

2000. EPA is hereby requesting

scientific information from the public

for consideration in these two

assessments.

As described in the January 12, 2000,

Federal Register document (63 FR 1863)

announcing the IRIS agenda for fiscal

year 2000, EPA is testing ways to

cooperate with external parties,

including other government agencies, in

the development of supporting

documentation for IRIS. The Agency is

initiating these two assessments to build

upon a common interest with other

federal agencies. EPA’s Superfund

program has identified a strong need to

update the existing IRIS entry for

hexachlorobenzene. This substance is

frequently found at Superfund sites and

is critical to a number of human health

risk assessments. Concurrently, the

Agency for Toxic Substances and

Disease Registry (ATSDR) has identified

hexachlorobenzene as a priority

substance for developing a revised

Toxicological Profile. EPA and ATSDR

will therefore coordinate their efforts in

developing the IRIS Toxicological

Review and the revised ATSDR

Toxicological Profile for

Hexachlorobenzene. Similarly, the U.S.

Army has identified a strong need to

update the existing IRIS entry for RDX,

which frequently occurs at federal

facilities operated by the U.S. Army and

is critical to a number of human health

risk assessments. EPA and the U.S.

Army will coordinate their efforts in

developing a Toxicological Review for

RDX. New scientific information is

available to evaluate and reassess the

potential health effects of both

substances.

These joint efforts with other federal

agencies is a pilot effort to utilize

federal resources more effectively and

provide more consistent information to

the public. Completion of the

hexachlorobenzene and RDX

assessments and addition to the IRIS

data base is expected by fiscal year

2002.

Submission of Information

As in previous Federal Register

documents announcing the annual IRIS

agenda, EPA is soliciting public

information on hexachlorobenzene and

RDX. While EPA conducts a thorough

literature search for each chemical

substance, there may be other articles or

unpublished studies we are not aware

of. We would greatly appreciate

receiving scientific information from the

public during the information gathering.

Interested persons should provide

scientific comments, analyses, studies,

and other pertinent scientific

information. The most useful

documents for EPA are unpublished

studies or other primary technical

sources that we may not otherwise

obtain through open literature searches.

Also note that if you have submitted

certain information previously, there is

no need to resubmit that information.

Information from the public is being

solicited for 60 days via this notice.

Procedures for Submission

As described in the January 12, 2000,

Federal Register document,

submissions will be handled in a threestep process:

1. Submission Inventory: First, you

should simply provide a list within 60

31310 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 96 / Wednesday, May 17, 2000 / Notices

days of this notice briefly identifying all

the information (reports, papers,

articles, etc.) you wish to submit. The

list should specify by name and CASRN

(Chemical Abstract Service Registry

Number) the chemical substance(s) to

which the information pertains, state

the type of assessment that is being

addressed (e.g., carcinogenicity), and

describe briefly the information to be

submitted for consideration. Where

possible, documents should be listed in

scientific citation format, that is,

author(s), title, journal, and date. Your

cover letter should: state that the

correspondence is an IRIS submission,

describe in general terms the purpose of

the submission, and include names,

addresses, and telephone numbers of

persons to contact for additional

information. Mail two copies of the

submission to the IRIS Submission

Desk, c/o Courtney R. Johnson, National

Center for Environmental Assessment

(8601D), U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Washington, DC 20460.

Alternatively, you may submit the

submission inventory and cover letter

electronically to IRIS.desk@epa.gov.

Electronic information must be

submitted in WordPerfect or as an ASCII

file. Information will also be accepted

on 3.5’’ disks. All information in

electronic form must be identified as an

IRIS submission.

2. EPA Replies to Submission

Inventory: In the second step, EPA will

compare the submission inventory to

existing files and identify the

information that should be submitted.

This step will help prevent an influx of

duplicative information. You will

receive notification requesting full

submission of the selected material.

3. Full Submission of Selected

Material: In the third step, you should

send in the information indicated by

EPA within 30 days of EPA’s reply.

Prompt response to EPA will ensure that

your material can be considered in the

assessment in a timely fashion.

Submittals should include a cover letter

addressing all of the points in item 1

above. In addition, when you submit

results of new health effects studies

concerning existing substances on IRIS,

you should include a specific

explanation of how and why the study

results could change the information in

IRIS.

Please send two copies, at least one of

which should be unbound, to the IRIS

Submission Desk, as described in Step

1. The IRIS Submission Desk will

acknowledge receipt of your

information.

Confidential Business Information

(CBI) should not be submitted to the

IRIS Submission Desk. CBI must be

submitted to the appropriate EPA office

via established procedures for

submission of CBI (see 40 CFR, part 2,

subpart B). If you believe that a CBI

submission contains information with

implications for IRIS, please note that in

the cover letter accompanying the

submission to the appropriate office.

You may also request to augment your

submission with a scientific briefing to

EPA staff. Such requests should be

made directly to Amy Mills, IRIS

Program Manager (see FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT).

Dated: May 4, 2000.

William H. Farland,

Director, National Center for Environmental

Assessment.

[FR Doc. 00–12394 Filed 5–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[OPP–00660; FRL–6559–6]

FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel;

Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: There will be a 2–day meeting

of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,

and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and Food

Quality Protection Act (FQPA)

Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) to

review the following set of scientific

issues being considered by the Agency

pertaining to Consultation: National

Drinking Water Survey Design for

Assessing Chronic Exposure and

Mammalian Toxicity Assessment

Guidelines for Protein Plant-Pesticides.

The meeting is open to the public.

Seating at the meeting will be on a firstcome basis. Individuals requiring

special accommodations at this meeting,

including wheelchair access, should

contact Larry Dorsey or Paul Lewis at

the address listed under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT at least 5 business

days prior to the meeting so that

appropriate arrangements can be made.

DATES: The meeting will be held on

Tuesday, June 6 and Wednesday, June 7,

2000, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, 1800

Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.

The telephone number for the Sheraton

hotel is: (703) 486–1111.

Requests to participate may be

submitted by mail, electronically, or in

person. Please follow the detailed

instructions for each method as

provided in Unit III. of the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. To ensure

proper receipt by EPA, your request

must identify docket control number

OPP–00660 in the subject line on the

first page of your response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Larry Dorsey or Paul Lewis, Designated

Federal Officials, FIFRA SAP (7101C),

Office of Science Coordination and

Policy, Environmental Protection

Agency, Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington,

DC 20460; telephone number: (703)

305–5369; fax number: (703) 605–0656;

e-mail address: dorsey.larry or

lewis.paul@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Does this Action Apply to Me?

This action is directed to the public

in general. This action may, however, be

of interest to those persons who are or

may be required to conduct testing of

chemical substances under the Food

Quality Protection Act (FQPA) or the

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Since other

entities may also be interested, the

Agency has not attempted to describe all

the specific entities that may be affected

by this action. If you have any questions

regarding the applicability of this action

to a particular entity, consult the person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. This 2-day meeting concerns

several scientific issues undergoing

consideration within the EPA Office of

Pesticide Programs (OPP). The topics to

be discussed are the following:

Session 1—Under the FQPA, drinking

water is considered in aggregate

exposure asssesements for pesticide

tolerance reassessments. Since targeted

monitoring data are needed for refined

exposure assessments, OPP has

proposed a design framework for

assessing annual average pesticide

concentrations in surface waters used as

drinking water. Details of survey design

issues and options will be presented on

OPP’s proposed design framework and

on an independently proposed design

framework.

Session 2—For this session, the

Agency is soliciting guidance from the

Panel on the assessment of the potential

mammalian toxicity of proteins

expressed as plant-pesticides. Questions

will be presented on the use of animo

acid homology with known toxins, invitro digestibility, dietary exposure,

mechanisms of toxicity and other topics

regarding the assessment of introduced

proteins for potential mammalian

toxicity.