Document ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-0645-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Availability of External Peer Review Draft: Using Probabilistic Methods to Enhance the Role of Risk Analysis in Decision-Making With Case Study Examples
Posted Date: 2009-08-18T04:00Z

[Federal Register: August 18, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 158)]
[Notices]
[Page 41695-41696]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18au09-40]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-NNNN; FRL-8943-2]

Availability of the External Peer Review Draft of Using
Probabilistic Methods To Enhance the Role of Risk Analysis in Decision-
Making With Case Study Examples

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of document availability for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a
15-day public comment period for the external peer review draft of
``Using Probabilistic Methods to Enhance the Role of Risk Analysis in
Decision-Making With Case Study Examples,'' a white paper, and the
``Manager's Summary'' of the same document. All comments received by
the closing date of September 1, 2009 will be shared with the external
peer review panel for their consideration. Comments received after the
close of the comment period may be considered by EPA when it finalizes
the document. These draft interim papers do not represent and should
not be construed to represent any EPA policy, viewpoint, or
determination. Members of the public may obtain the draft documents
from http://www.regulations.gov; or http://www.epa.gov/raf/
prawhitepaper; or from Gary Bangs via the contact information below.
    EPA will convene a panel of invited experts to review the draft
document. The external expert peer review will be conducted by letter
and closed teleconference in the May 2009 time frame. The panel may
consider public comments received in the official public docket for
this activity under docket ID number EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-NNNN. The draft
documents and peer-review charge are available at http://www.epa.gov/
raf/prawhitepaper. In preparing a final document, EPA will consider the
public comments submitted to EPA's docket during the public comment
period as well as the comments and recommendations from the external
peer-reviewers.
    EPA is releasing these draft documents solely for the purpose of
pre-dissemination peer review under applicable information quality
guidelines. These documents have not been formally disseminated by the
EPA. They do not represent and should not be construed to represent any
Agency policy or determination.

DATES: All comments received by September 1, 2009 will be shared with
the external peer review panel for their consideration. Comments
received beyond that time may be considered by EPA when it finalizes
the documents.

ADDRESSES: The draft documents are available electronically through the
EPA Office of the Science Advisor's Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/
raf/prawhitepaper.
    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-
NNNN, by one of the following methods:
     Online at: http://www.regulations.gov; Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
     Mail: ORD Docket, Environmental Protection Agency,
Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Room 3334, EPA
West Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460,
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-2009-NNNN. Deliveries are only
accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.

[[Page 41696]]

    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-ORD-
2009-NNNN. 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 by statute 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
    Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD
Docket, EPA/DC, EPAWest, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone
number for the ORD Docket is (202) 566-1752.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Bangs, Risk Assessment Forum,
Mail Code 8105R, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-6667;
fax number: (202) 564-2070, E-mail: bangs.gary@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Various stakeholders, inside and outside the
Agency, have called for a more comprehensive characterization of risks,
including uncertainties, in protecting more sensitive or vulnerable
populations and life stages. Therefore, the Office of the Science
Advisor of the EPA, together with EPA's Science Policy Council and
members of EPA's Risk Assessment Forum (RAF), identified a need to
examine the use of probabilistic approaches in Agency risk assessment
and risk management. An RAF Technical Panel developed this paper and
the manager's summary to provide a general overview of the value of
probabilistic analyses and similar or related methods, and some
examples of current applications across the Agency. The purpose of
these papers is not only to describe potential and actual uses of these
tools in the risk decision process, but also to encourage their further
implementation in human, ecological and environmental risk analysis and
related decision making. The enhanced use of probabilistic analyses to
characterize uncertainty in assessments would not only reflect external
scientific advice on how to further advance EPA risk assessment
science, but will also help to address specific challenges faced by
managers and improve confidence in Agency decisions. The draft document
was prepared by the Probabilistic Risk Analysis Technical Panel of
EPA's Risk Assessment Forum and has undergone internal peer review.

    Dated: August 4, 2009.
Kevin Teichman,
Acting EPA Science Advisor.
[FR Doc. E9-19755 Filed 8-17-09; 8:45 am]

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