[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 78 (Monday, April 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20085-20086]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10062]



[[Page 20085]]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[ECAO-CD-0671; FRL-5195-5]


External Review Draft of the Revised Air Quality Criteria for 
Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability of external review draft.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of an external review 
draft of a document, Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, 
prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of 
Research and Development (ORD), and invites comment from the public on 
the draft document. As discussed below, there will be only one 
opportunity for public written comment on the draft document.

DATES: The Agency plans to complete the external review draft and place 
copies in the EPA Air Docket (ECAO-CD-0671) and in the EPA Library by 
April 30, 1995. After duplication, bound copies will be available on or 
about May 8, 1995 from ORD's Publication Center. Comments on the draft 
document must be submitted in writing and be postmarked by August 1, 
1995.

ADDRESSES: To obtain bound copies of all volumes of the external review 
draft document, interested parties should contact the ORD Publications 
Center, CERI-FRN, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 West Martin 
Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268; telephone (513) 569-7562; FAX 
(513) 569-7566; and request the external review draft of Air Quality 
Criteria for Particulate Matter (PM). Please provide your name and 
address, and the EPA document number, EPA 600/AP-95/001a-d.
    The document will also be available electronically on the Agency's 
OAQPS TTN Bulletin Board. The telephone number of the bulletin board is 
(919) 541-5742. To access the TTN Bulletin Board, a modem and 
communications software will be necessary. The following parameters on 
the communications software are required: Data Bits--8; Parity--N; and 
Stop Bits--1. The document will be located under the Clean Air Act 
Amendments section of the menu. If assistance is needed in accessing 
the system, call the help desk at (919) 541-5384 in Research Triangle 
Park, NC. Copies of figures for some chapters (e.g., Chapter 6) may not 
be available by this electronic bulletin board, but can be obtained 
from the individual listed below under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    The draft document will also be available starting on May 1, 1995 
for public inspection in the EPA Air Docket (ECAO-CD-0671) and at the 
EPA Library, both in EPA Headquarters, Waterside Mall, 401 M Street 
SW., Washington, DC. EPA Air Docket hours in Room M1500 of Waterside 
Mall are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
holidays. EPA Library hours are 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding holidays.
    In addition to the Washington, DC locations previously mentioned, 
copies of the document will be available for public inspection at each 
of the 10 EPA Regional Libraries. The addresses of each of the EPA 
Regional Libraries are as listed at the end of this notice.
    Comments on the draft should be sent to the Project Manager for the 
Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, Environmental Criteria and 
Assessment Office (MD-52), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Diane Ray, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office (MD-52), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, 
telephone (919) 541-3637.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As discussed in a previous call for 
information (59 FR 17375, April 12, 1994), EPA is undertaking to review 
and, where appropriate, update and revise the 1982 document, Air 
Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter and Sulfur Oxides and its 1986 
addendum (EPA 600/8-82/029aF-cF; EPA 600/8-86/020F). As part of the 
process employed in preparing the revised particulate matter criteria 
document, initial drafts of chapters to be included in the document 
underwent preliminary peer review by non-EPA experts. This included 
peer review of several key chapters at a series of workshops in 
January, 1995 which were open to the public as announced in the Federal 
Register (60 FR 453, January 4, 1995) on January 4, 1995. Having 
incorporated revisions taking into account peer review comments on the 
initial draft chapters, EPA is making available for public review an 
external review draft of the revised document. Members of the public 
have the opportunity to submit written review comments during the 
comment period. EPA will consider all comments received within that 
period in preparing the final document.
    The external review draft is being prepared under section 109(d) of 
the Clean Air Act, which requires periodic review and, as appropriate, 
revision of air quality criteria and national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for certain air pollutants. As announced at a public 
meeting of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) in 
December 1994, a court order entered in American Lung Association v. 
Browner, No 93-643 (D. Ariz., Oct. 6, 1994), imposes a highly 
accelerated schedule for completion of EPA's current review of the air 
quality criteria and NAAQS for particulate matter. That schedule 
requires substantial departures from procedures followed in previous 
reviews of air quality criteria and NAAQS. Regarding revision of the 
criteria document in particular, there will be only one external review 
draft of the revised document, and there will be no extension of the 
deadline for public written comments on the draft. Accordingly, EPA 
urges interested parties to respond promptly to this opportunity for 
comment.
    The draft document will also undergo peer review by CASAC at a 
public meeting to be held in Research Triangle Park, NC in August, 
1995. Specific details on the site and dates of the meeting will be 
announced in a later Federal Register notice. Members of the public 
will also be afforded an opportunity to present brief oral comments on 
the draft document at the meeting.

EPA Regional Library Addresses

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 1, John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Boston, 
MA 02203
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 2, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 402, New York, NY 
10278
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 3, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA 
19107
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 4 (G6), 345 Courtland Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 
30365
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-
3507
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, 12th Floor, Suite 1200, 
Dallas, TX 75202-2733
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 7, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 8, 8PM-IML, 999 18th St., Suite 500, Denver, 
CO 80202-2405
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 9, MS: P-5-3, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94105
Library, U.S. EPA, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue (MD-108), Seattle, WA 
98101

    [[Page 20086]] Dated: April 13, 1995.
Joseph K. Alexander,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 95-10062 Filed 4-21-95; 8:45 am]
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