Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0297-0473
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Drinking Water: Perchlorate Supplemental Request for Comments; Reopening of Public Comment Period
Posted Date: 2009-09-23T04:00Z

[Federal Register: September 23, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 183)]
[Notices]               
[Page 48541-48542]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23se09-53]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0297; FRL-8961-8]
RIN 2040-AF08

 
Drinking Water: Perchlorate Supplemental Request for Comments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: In an August 19, 2009, Federal Register notice, EPA announced 
that it was seeking comments on additional approaches to analyzing data 
related to the Agency's preliminary regulatory determination for 
perchlorate. The additional comments are sought in an effort to ensure 
consideration of all the potential options for evaluating whether there 
is a meaningful opportunity for human health risk reduction of 
perchlorate through a national primary drinking water rule. In response 
to requests from several stakeholders, this action reopens the public 
comment period for an additional 15 days.

DATES: EPA must receive your comments on or before October 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2009-0297, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: Water Docket, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) 
EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2009-
0297. 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://www.regulations.gov, 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 http://
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, 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 http://www.regulations.gov your e-mail 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 comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Burneson, Office of Ground Water 
and Drinking Water, Standards and Risk Management Division, at (202) 
564-5250 or e-mail burneson.eric@epa.gov. For general information 
contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 or e-
mail: hotline-sdwa@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The statutory and regulatory background is described in detail in 
the October 10, 2008, Federal Register notice of a preliminary 
regulatory determination for perchlorate (73 FR 60262) and summarized 
in the August 19, 2009, Federal Register notice of supplemental request 
for comments (74 FR 41883). Briefly, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) 
section 1412, as amended in 1996, requires EPA to make a determination 
whether to regulate at least 5 contaminants from its contaminant 
candidate list (CCL) every 5 years. To regulate a contaminant in 
drinking water, EPA must determine that it meets three criteria: (1) 
The contaminant may have an adverse effect on human health, (2) the 
contaminant is known to occur or there is a substantial likelihood that 
the contaminant will occur in public water systems with a frequency and 
at levels of public health concern, and (3) regulation of such 
contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction 
for persons served by public water systems.
    On October 10, 2008, EPA published a preliminary regulatory 
determination for perchlorate, requesting public comment on its 
determination that perchlorate did not meet the second and third 
criteria for regulation. On November 12, 2008, EPA published a Federal 
Register Notice (73 FR 66895) reopening the comment period for the 
preliminary regulatory determination for an additional 15 days. The 
Agency received 32,795 comment letters on the preliminary regulatory 
determination for perchlorate. These comments and other supporting 
materials for the October 10, 2008, notice are available electronically 
at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0692).
    On August 19, 2009, EPA published a Federal Register notice of 
supplemental request for comment on a broader range of alternatives for 
interpreting the available data on: the level of health concern, the 
frequency of occurrence of perchlorate in drinking water, and the 
opportunity for health risk reduction through a national primary 
drinking water standard. These alternative interpretations may impact 
the Agency's final regulatory determination for perchlorate. The 
supporting materials for the August 19, 2009, supplemental notice are 
available electronically at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0297).

Next Steps

    Several stakeholders have requested an extension to the September 
18, 2009, comment deadline specified in the August 19, 2009, 
supplemental notice in order to evaluate EPA's alternative analyses and 
prepare comments. This action reopens the comment period for an 
additional 15 days.
    The Agency will consider the information and comments submitted in 
response to the August 19, 2009, supplemental notice until October 8, 
2009. EPA will also consider the comments received on the previous

[[Page 48542]]

Federal Register Notices pertaining to the perchlorate regulatory 
determination and all peer review comments before issuing a final 
regulatory determination for perchlorate. EPA intends to issue a 
regulatory determination as expeditiously as possible following 
consideration of the comments and information received by the Agency.

    Dated: September 17, 2009.
Michael H. Shapiro,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. E9-22927 Filed 9-22-09; 8:45 am]

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