Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 242 / Monday, December 18, 1995 / Proposed Rules 65207

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 136 and 141

[FRL–5346–3]

A Public Meeting on Method Flexibility

and Streamlining Approval of

Analytical Methods

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The Office of Science and

Technology within EPA’s Office of

Water is conducting two public

meetings on approaches to method

flexibility and streamlining the proposal

and promulgation of analytical methods

at 40 CFR Part 136 under Section 304(h)

of the Clean Water Act and 40 CFR Part

141 of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

These 304(h) streamlining public

meetings will be held in conjunction

with the Trace Metals Workshops

announced concurrently in the Federal

Register.

These two public meetings follow the

first public meeting on this topic held

on September 28, 1995, in Seattle,

Washington. The Seattle meeting was

announced in an FR notice titled, ‘‘A

Public Meeting and Availability of

Documents on Streamlining Approval of

Analytical Methods at 40 CFR Part 136

and flexibility in Existing Test

Methods’’ [FRL–5294–6]. This FR notice

provided extensive supplementary

information regarding the 304(h)

streamlining effort and made available

several supporting documents. The

supporting documents and a summary

of the Seattle meeting can be obtained

through the address given in this notice.

DATES: EPA will conduct the public

meetings on 304(h) streamlining on

Thursday, January 25, 1996, in Boston,

Massachusetts and on Wednesday,

February 14, 1996, in Chicago, Illinois.

Registration for each meeting will begin

at 8:00 AM. Each meeting will be held

from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

ADDRESSES: The meeting on January 25,

1996, will be held in the O’Neill

Auditorium, Thomas P. O’Neill Jr.

Federal Building, 10 Causeway Street,

Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting on

February 14, 1996, will be held in the

Morrison Room, Metcalfe Building, 77

West Jackson, Chicago, Illinois.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions concerning this notice can be

directed to Marion Thompson by phone

at (202) 260–7117 or by facsimile at

(202) 260–7185.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Meeting

arrangements are being coordinated by

DynCorp, Inc. For information on

registration, contact Cindy Simbanin,

300 N. Lee Street, Suite 500, Alexandria,

VA 22314. Phone: (703) 519–1386.

Facsimile number: (703) 684–0610.

Space is limited and reservations are

being taken on a first come, first served

basis. No fees will be charged to attend.

Hotel reservations for Massachusetts

may be made by contacting the Holiday

Inn-Government Center in Boston at

(617) 742–7630. Guest rates are $101

single and $121 double occupancy,

including tax. Reservations must be

made by January 5, 1996. When making

reservations, you must specify that you

are affiliated with USEPA/TM to qualify

for the quoted rate.

For the Chicago meeting, hotel

reservations may be made by contacting

Marriott Reservations at (800) 228–9290.

Guest rates are $91 single and double

occupancy. These rates are subject to

applicable state and local taxes.

Reservations must be made by January

20, 1996, and you must reference the

event as the EPA TM Meeting and

request the Chicago Marriott-Downtown

in order to qualify for the group rate.

Accommodations are limited at each

location, so please make your

reservations early. The hotels are

located within walking distance of the

meeting facilities.

Background

Under Section 304(h) of the Clean

Water Act, EPA is responsible for

promulgating analytical methods at 40

CFR Part 136 for use in monitoring

pollutant discharges. EPA uses these

methods to support development of

effluent guidelines promulgated at 40

CFR Parts 400–499, and both EPA and

the regulated community use the

methods for establishing compliance

with National Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System (NPDES) permits

and other monitoring purposes. The

methods approved for use at 40 CFR

Part 136 have been developed by EPA,

by industrial associations such as the

American Society for Testing Materials,

and by other governmental agencies

such as the U.S. Geological Survey. In

the past, the methods proposal and

promulgation process has been

cumbersome, and has not provided the

flexibility to take advantage of new

analytical technologies in a timely

manner. In response to the

Administration’s Environmental

Technology Initiative, EPA is proposing

a comprehensive Section 304(h)

streamlining initiative to increase

method flexibility to allow use of

emerging technologies and to expedite

the method approval process, to

encourage development of new methods

and technologies by organizations

outside of EPA.

Agenda Topics

The purpose of the public meetings

on 304(h) streamlining is to outline

plans for method flexibility and for

streamlining proposal and promulgation

of new methods at 40 CFR Part 136

under Section 304(h) of the Clean Water

Act, and to elicit stakeholder views

regarding these plans. The following

topics will be addressed at the public

meetings:

• Increasing method flexibility to

allow use of new technologies and to

identify modifications that are

acceptable within the scope of existing

methods and do not require proposal of

an alternate method—

—Interpretation of flexibility in existing

40 CFR part 136 methods

—Advantages and disadvantages of

method flexibility (no flexibility,

limited flexibility, and unlimited

flexibility)

—Proposal to allow nearly unlimited

‘‘front-end’’ method modifications as

long as the determinative technique is

not changed and method performance

is demonstrated to be equivalent

• Establishing standardized quality

control (QC) and QC acceptance criteria

to support determination of method

equivalency

• Streamlining the method proposal

process to take advantage of emerging

analytical technologies in a timely

manner—

—Standardized format for preparing

new methods

—Three-tiered method validation

process based on method use

—OST coordination of method

submission and approval

• Harmonization of 40 CFR Part 136

methods with other EPA methods to

allow standardization of methods across

EPA programs

• Other streamlining issues—

—Standardized data elements for

reporting, to allow access to Agency

databases in a standardized data

format

—Withdrawal of 40 CFR Part 136

methods that contain outdated

technologies

—Incorporating new methods into the

Federal Register by reference and

making them available through other

suitable venues, to reduce publication

expense

The Office of Ground Water and

Drinking Water, which is within EPA’s

Office of Water, is also developing

approaches to increasing method

flexibility and streamlining the approval

of analytical methods at 40 CFR Part 141
65208 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 242 / Monday, December 18, 1995 / Proposed Rules

under sections 1401 and 1445 of the

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). To

better coordinate these efforts within the

Office of Water, EPA will discuss

flexibility and streamlining approaches

for 304(h) and drinking water methods

at these two public meetings. EPA

believes the public will benefit from a

joint meeting, because the flexibility

and method approval issues, the

regulated contaminants and the

methods currently approved at Parts 136

and 141 are very similar. EPA notes,

however, that the supporting documents

that are available with this notice were

developed only for 304(h) methods and

within the requirements of the CWA.

The approaches and specifically

allowing unlimited ‘‘front-end’’

modifications might not be appropriate

for methods approved under the SDWA.

In contrast to the 304(h) documentation,

less front end flexibility in sample

collection and work-up procedures and

more flexibility in the determinative

measurement steps may be appropriate

for SDWA compliance methods. Despite

these potential differences in method

flexibility approaches between 304(h)

and SDWA methods, EPA believes there

is a significant benefit in conducting

public meetings on the perspectives of

both programs.

Tudor T. Davies,

Director, Office of Science and Technology.

[FR Doc. 95–30555 Filed 12–15–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P