Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0415-0011
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC); Notice of Public Meeting and Request for Comments on Draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Screening Level Approach for Assessing Ambient Air and Water Exposures to Fenceline Communities
Posted Date: 2022-01-21T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 14 (Friday, January 21, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3294-3296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01185]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0415; FRL-9392-01-OCSPP]

Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC); Notice of Public 
Meeting and Request for Comments on Draft Toxic Substances Control Act 
(TSCA) Screening Level Approach for Assessing Ambient Air and Water 
Exposures to Fenceline Communities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: There will be a 3-day public peer review virtual meeting of 
the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) to consider and 
review the draft EPA TSCA Screening Level Approach for Assessing 
Ambient Air and Water Exposures to Fenceline Communities Version 1.0. 
In addition, EPA is announcing the availability of and soliciting 
public comments on the draft approach, which will be presented as a 
screening level methodology for assessing potential air and water 
chemical exposures to fenceline communities.

DATES: 
    Virtual Public Meeting: Will be held March 15-17, 2022, from 10:00 
a.m. to approximately 5:00 p.m. (EDT). See additional details and 
instructions for registration that appear in Unit III.
    Written Comments: Submit your written comments on or before 
February 22, 2022. As described in Unit III.
    Special accommodations: Request special accommodations on or before 
February 20, 2022, to allow EPA time to process these requests.

ADDRESSES: 
    Virtual Meeting: As described in Unit III., you must register 
online to receive the webcast meeting link and audio teleconference 
information. Please follow the registration instructions that will be 
announced on the SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review 
by early February 2022.
    Written Comments: Submit written comments, identified by docket 
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0415, through the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Do not electronically submit any 
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Copyrighted material will not be posted without explicit permission of 
the copyright holder. Members of the public should also be aware that 
personal information included in any written comments may be posted on 
the internet at https://www.regulations.gov. Additional information on 
commenting or visiting the docket, along with more information about 
dockets generally, is available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA Docket 
Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only. For 
further information on the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) services, docket 
contact information and the current status of the EPA/DC and Reading 
Room, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets. For questions about 
this docket, you may also contact the Designated Federal Official (DFO) 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Special accommodations: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation for a 
disability, please contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Alaa Kamel, DFO, Office of 
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (7201M), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460-
0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8450; email address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Summary

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may 
be of interest to persons who are or may be required to conduct testing 
and those interested in risk evaluations of chemical substances under 
TSCA. Since other entities may also be interested in this action, the 
EPA has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be 
affected by this action.

B. Where can I access information about the SACC and this meeting?

    Information about the SACC and this meeting is available on the 
SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review and in the docket 
for this meeting, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0415, 
at https://www.regulations.gov. You may also subscribe to the following 
listserv for alerts when notices regarding this and other SACC related 
activities are published at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAEPAOPPT/subscriber/new?topic_id=USAEPAOPPT.

C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. If your comments contain any information that 
you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special 
instructions before submitting your comments.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see Tips for Effective Comments at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

II. Background

A. What is the purpose of the SACC?

    The SACC was established by EPA in 2016 and operates in accordance 
with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. Appendix 2 et 
seq. The SACC provides expert independent scientific advice and 
consultation to the EPA on the scientific and technical aspects of risk 
assessments, methodologies, and pollution prevention measures and 
approaches for chemicals regulated under TSCA.
    The SACC is comprised of experts in: Toxicology; Human health and 
environmental risk assessment; Exposure assessment; and related 
sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, pharmacology, biotechnology, 
nanotechnology, biochemistry, biostatistics, physiologically based 
pharmacokinetic modelling (PBPK) modeling, computational toxicology, 
epidemiology, environmental fate, and environmental engineering and 
sustainability). When needed, the committee members will be assisted in 
their reviews by consultants with specific expertise in the topics 
under consideration.

B. What is the purpose of this virtual public meeting?

    The purpose of this virtual public meeting of the SACC is to 
consider and review the draft document entitled ``EPA TSCA Screening 
Level Approach for Assessing Ambient Air and Water Exposures to 
Fenceline Communities Version 1.0,'' which will be presented as a 
screening level methodology for assessing potential air and water 
chemical exposures to fenceline communities.
    EPA published ten final risk evaluations between 2020 and 2021 
under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) as amended by the Frank 
R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act in June 2016. 
During the course of finalizing many of these first 10 risk 
evaluations, a policy decision was made by the previous Administration 
that EPA not assess air and water exposure pathways that fall under the 
jurisdiction of other EPA-administered laws. This policy decision was 
reversed in June 2021. EPA is presenting Version 1.0 of a screening 
level methodology for assessing potential air and water pathway 
chemical exposures to fenceline communities. Along with presenting this 
methodology, EPA will also present results of applying the screening 
methodology (case studies) to 1-Brompropane or 1-BP (air pathway), n-
methylpyrrolidone or NMP (water

[[Page 3296]]

pathway), and Methylene Chloride or MC (air and water pathway).

C. How can I access the documents submitted for review to the SACC?

    EPA's background documents, related supporting materials, and draft 
charge questions to the SACC are available in the docket established 
for this meeting at https://www.regulations.gov; docket ID number EPA-
HQ-OPPT-2021-0415 and on the SACC website. In addition, EPA will 
provide additional background documents (e.g., SACC members and 
consultants participating in this meeting and the meeting agenda) as 
the materials become available. You may obtain electronic copies of 
these documents, and certain other related documents that might be 
available, in the docket at https://www.regulations.gov and the SACC 
website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review.
    After the public meeting, the SACC will prepare meeting minutes 
summarizing its recommendations to the EPA. The meeting minutes will be 
posted on the SACC website and in the docket.

III. Public Participation Instructions

    To participate in the Exposures to Fenceline Communities virtual 
public meeting, please follow the instructions in this unit.

A. How can I provide comments for the SACC's consideration?

    To ensure proper receipt of comments it is imperative that you 
identify docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0415 in the subject line on the 
first page of your comments.
    1. Written comments. The Agency encourages written comments for 
this meeting be submitted by the date set in the DATES section of this 
document and using the additional instructions in ADDRESSES and Unit 
I.B. and C. and Unit III, of this document. Anyone submitting written 
comments after this date, should contact the DFO listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. If you submit comments after the date set 
in the DATES section, those comments will be provided to the SACC 
members, but you should recognize that the SACC members may not have 
adequate time to consider your written comments prior to their 
discussion.
    2. Oral comments. The Agency encourages each individual or group 
wishing to make brief oral comments to the SACC during the peer review 
virtual meeting to please follow the registration instructions that 
will be announced on the SACC website (https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review) by early February 2022.
    Oral comments before the SACC during the peer review virtual 
meeting are limited to 5 minutes unless arrangements have been made 
prior to the date set in the DATES section. In addition, each speaker 
should email a copy of his/her comments to the DFO prior to the meeting 
for distribution to the SACC.

B. How can I participate in the virtual public meeting?

    This meeting is virtual and viewed via webcast. For information on 
how to first register and then view the webcast, please refer to the 
SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review. EPA intends to 
announce registration instructions on the SACC website by early 
February 2022.
    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.

    Dated: January 18, 2022.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemicals Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2022-01185 Filed 1-20-22; 8:45 am]
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