5442 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 2, 2005 / Notices 

established by the new law. Tolerances 

are considered reassessed once the 

safety finding has been made or a 

revocation occurs. EPA has reviewed 

and made the requisite safety finding for 

the methyl eugenol tolerances included 

in this notice.

EPA is applying the principles of 

public participation to all pesticides 

undergoing reregistration and tolerance 

reassessment. The Agency’s Pesticide 

Tolerance Reassessment and 

Reregistration; Public Participation 

Process, published in the Federal 

Register on May 14, 2004, (69 FR 26819) 

(FRL-7357-9) explains that in 

conducting these programs, the Agency 

is tailoring its public participation 

process to be commensurate with the 

level of risk, extent of use, complexity 

of issues, and degree of public concern 

associated with each pesticide. EPA can 

expeditiously reach decisions for 

pesticides like methyl eugenol, which 

pose no risk concerns, have low use, 

affect few if any stakeholders, and 

require no risk mitigation. Once EPA 

assesses uses and risks for such 

pesticides, the Agency may go directly 

to a decision and prepare a document 

summarizing its findings. The Agency 

therefore is issuing the low-risk methyl 

eugenol TRED, risk assessments, and 

related documents simultaneously for 

public comment.

The tolerance reassessment program 

is being conducted under 

Congressionally mandated time frames, 

and EPA recognizes the need both to 

make timely decisions and to involve 

the public in finding ways to effectively 

mitigate pesticide risks. Methyl eugenol, 

however, poses no risks that require 

mitigation. The Agency therefore is 

issuing the methyl eugenol TRED, its 

risk assessments, and related support 

documents simultaneously for public 

comment. The comment period is 

intended to provide an opportunity for 

public input and a mechanism for 

initiating any necessary amendments to 

the TRED. All comments should be 

submitted using the methods in Unit I. 

of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, and 

must be received by EPA on or before 

the closing date. These comments will 

become part of the Agency Docket for 

Methyl Eugenol. Comments received 

after the close of the comment period 

will be marked ‘‘late.’’ EPA is not 

required to consider these late 

comments.

EPA will carefully consider all 

comments received by the closing date 

and will provide a response to 

comments memorandum in the Docket 

and electronic EDOCKET. If any 

comment significantly affects the 

document, EPA also will publish an 

amendment to the TRED in the Federal 

Register. In the absence of substantive 

comments requiring changes, the 

decisions reflected in the TRED will be 

implemented as presented.

B. What is the Agency’s Authority for 

Taking this Action?

Section 408(q) of the FFDCA, 21 

U.S.C. 346a(q), requires EPA to review 

tolerances and exemptions for pesticide 

residues in effect as of August 2, 1996, 

to determine whether the tolerance or 

exemption meets the requirements of 

section 408(b)(2) or (c)(2) of FFDCA. 

This review is to be completed by 

August 3, 2006.

List of Subjects

Environmental protection, Pesticides 

and pests.

Dated: January 4, 2005.

Debra Edwards,

Director, Special Review and Reregistration 

Division, Office of Pesticide Programs.

[FR Doc. 05–1865 Filed 2–1–05; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[OAR–2001–0017; FRL–7866–9] 

Second Draft Staff Paper for 

Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of a draft for public 

review and comment. 

SUMMARY: On or about January 31, 2005, 

the Office of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards (OAQPS) of EPA will make 

available for public review and 

comment a draft document, Review of 

the National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards for Particulate Matter: Policy 

Assessment of Scientific and Technical 

Information (Second Draft Staff Paper). 

The purpose of the Staff Paper is to 

evaluate the policy implications of the 

key scientific and technical information 

contained in a related EPA document, 

Air Quality Criteria for Particulate 

Matter, required under sections 108 and 

109 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for use 

in the periodic review of the national 

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) 

for particulate matter (PM). The OAQPS 

also will make available for public 

review and comment a related draft 

technical support document, Particulate 

Matter Health Risk Assessment for 

Selected Urban Areas (Second Draft 

Risk Assessment).

DATES: Comments on the second draft 

Staff Paper and second draft Risk 

Assessment should be submitted on or 

before March 31, 2005.

ADDRESSEES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. OAR–2001–

0017, by one of the following methods: 

• Agency Web site: EDOCKET, EPA’s 

electronic public docket and comment 

sytem, is EPA’s preferred method for 

receiving comments. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: Comments may be sent by 

electronic mail (e-mail) to a-and-rDocket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID 

No. OAR–2001–0017. 

• Fax: Fax your comments to: 202–

566–1741, Attention Docket ID. No. 

OAR–2001–0017. 

• Mail: Send your comments to: Air 

and Radiation Docket Center, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Mailcode: 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, 

Attention Docket ID No. OAR–2001–

0017. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver 

your comments to: EPA Docket Center, 

1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Room 

B108, Washington, DC 20004. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. OAR–2001–0017. EPA’s 

policy is that all comments received 

will be included in the public docket 

without change and may be made 

available online at http://

docket.epa.gov/edkpub/do/

EDKStaffCollectionDetailView?

objectId=0b0007d48006d9eb, including 

any personal information provided, 

unless the comment includes 

information claimed to be Confidential 

Business Information (CBI) or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Do not submit 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected through 

EDOCKET, regulations.gov, or e-mail. 

The EPA EDOCKET and the Federal 

regulations.gov Web sites are 

‘‘anonymous access’’ systems, 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 e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

EDOCKET or 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

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 21 / Wednesday, February 2, 2005 / Notices 5443

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 

EDOCKET on-line or see the Federal 

Register of May 31, 2002 (67 FR 38102).

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the EDOCKET index at the 

web address provided under 

‘‘Instructions’’ above. Although listed in 

the index, some information is not 

publicly available, i.e., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in EDOCKET or in hard 

copy at the Air Docket in the EPA 

Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, 

Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., 

NW., Washington, DC. This Docket 

Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 

legal holidays. The Docket telephone 

number is (202) 566–1744; fax (202) 

566–1741. 

Availability of Related Information:

Documents referred to in this notice are 

available from the following sources: 

• Public Docket. The EPA has 

established an official public docket for 

this action under Docket ID No. OAR–

2001–0017. The official public docket 

consists of the documents specifically 

referenced in this action, any public 

comments received, and other 

information related to the PM NAAQS 

review. Although a part of the official 

docket, the public docket does not 

include Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

The official public docket is the 

collection of materials that is available 

for public viewing at the Air Docket in 

the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA 

West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Docket 

telephone number is (202) 566–1744; 

fax (202) 566–1741. 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. A reasonable fee may be 

charged for copying. 

• Electronic Access. An electronic 

version of the public docket is available 

through EPA’s electronic public docket 

and comment system, EPA Dockets. You 

may use EPA Dockets at http://

www.epa.gov/edocket/ to access the 

documents specifically referenced in 

this action. These documents are also 

available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/

naaqs/standards/pm/s_pm_index.html;

the draft Staff Paper is available under 

‘‘Staff Papers’’ and the draft Risk 

Assessment technical support document 

is available under ‘‘Technical 

Documents.’’ If assistance is needed in 

accessing the system, call the help desk 

at (919) 541–5384 in Research Triangle 

Park, NC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Mary Ross, Office of Air Quality 

Planning and Standards (mail code 

C539–01), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Research Triangle 

Park, NC 27711; e-mail: 

ross.mary@epa.gov; telephone: (919) 

541–5170; fax: (919) 541–0237.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the 

Administrator to identify certain 

pollutants which ‘‘may reasonably be 

anticipated to endanger public health 

and welfare’’ and to issue air quality 

criteria for them. These air quality 

criteria are to ‘‘accurately reflect the 

latest scientific knowledge useful in 

indicating the kind and extent of all 

identifiable effects on public health or 

welfare which may be expected from the 

presence of [a] pollutant in the ambient 

air. * * *’’ Under section 109 of the 

Act, EPA is then to establish National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards 

(NAAQS) for each pollutant for which 

EPA has issued criteria. Section 109(d) 

of the Act subsequently requires 

periodic review and, if appropriate, 

revision of existing air quality criteria to 

reflect advances in scientific knowledge 

on the effects of the pollutant on public 

health and welfare. EPA is also to revise 

the NAAQS, if appropriate, based on the 

revised criteria.

Particulate matter is one of six 

‘‘criteria’’ pollutants for which EPA has 

established air quality criteria and 

NAAQS. EPA is presently reviewing the 

criteria and NAAQS for PM. This review 

includes preparation of two key 

documents, the Air Quality Criteria for 

particulate matter (‘‘Criteria Document’’) 

and a related ‘‘Staff Paper’’. EPA 

completed its Criteria Document for PM 

in October 2004 (69 FR 63111, October 

29, 2004). 

The purpose of the Staff Paper is to 

evaluate the policy implications of the 

key scientific and technical information 

contained in the Air Quality Criteria 

document and identify critical elements 

that EPA staff believe should be 

considered in reviewing the NAAQS. 

The Staff Paper is intended to ‘‘bridge 

the gap’’ between the scientific review 

contained in the Air Quality Criteria 

document and the public health and 

welfare policy judgments required of the 

Administrator in reviewing the NAAQS. 

In August 2003, a first draft of this 

Staff Paper was released by EPA for 

public review and comment and for 

review by the Clean Air Scientific 

Advisory Committee (CASAC) of EPA’s 

Science Advisory Board (68 FR 51774, 

August 28, 2003) at a public meeting 

held in November 2003. Comments 

received from review of the first draft 

document have been considered in 

preparing this second draft Staff Paper. 

Based on the information contained in 

the Air Quality Criteria document, this 

second draft Staff Paper includes 

assessments and analyses related to: (1) 

Air quality characterization; (2) 

integration and evaluation of health 

information; (3) health risk assessment; 

and (4) evaluation of information on 

visibility impairment and other welfare 

effects. The second draft Staff Paper also 

includes staff conclusions and 

recommendations on potential revision 

or retention of the 1997 PM NAAQS. 

Staff recommendations include 

consideration of revising both the 

primary (health-based) and secondary 

(welfare-based) PM NAAQS. 

The second draft Risk Assessment 

technical support document describes 

and presents the results from an 

updated PM health risk assessment. A 

scoping plan, methodology documents, 

and the first draft Risk Assessment 

technical support document were 

previously reviewed by CASAC and the 

public. Comments received have been 

considered in developing the second 

draft Risk Assessment technical support 

document being released at this time. 

The risk assessment methodology and 

results are also discussed in the second 

draft Staff Paper. 

The second draft Staff Paper and 

second draft Risk Assessment technical 

support document will be reviewed at 

an upcoming public meeting of the 

CASAC. A future Federal Register

notice will inform the public of the date 

and location of that meeting. Following 

the CASAC meeting, EPA will consider 

comments received from CASAC and 

the public in completing the Staff Paper 

and Risk Assessment technical support 

document.

Dated: January 26, 2005. 

Gregory A. Green, 

Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards.

[FR Doc. 05–1933 Filed 2–1–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P