External Review Draft of the Revised Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter

SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of an external review

draft of a document, Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter,

prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of

Research and Development (ORD), and invites comment from the public on

the draft document. As discussed below, there will be only one

opportunity for public written comment on the draft document.

DATES: The Agency plans to complete the external review draft and place

copies in the EPA Air Docket (ECAO-CD-0671) and in the EPA Library by

April 30, 1995. After duplication, bound copies will be available on or

about May 8, 1995 from ORD's Publication Center. Comments on the draft

document must be submitted in writing and be postmarked by August 1,

1995.

ADDRESSES: To obtain bound copies of all volumes of the external review

draft document, interested parties should contact the ORD Publications

Center, CERI-FRN, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 West Martin

Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268; telephone (513) 569-7562; FAX

(513) 569-7566; and request the external review draft of Air Quality

Criteria for Particulate Matter (PM). Please provide your name and

address, and the EPA document number, EPA 600/AP-95/001a-d.

The document will also be available electronically on the Agency's

OAQPS TTN Bulletin Board. The telephone number of the bulletin board is

(919) 541-5742. To access the TTN Bulletin Board, a modem and

communications software will be necessary. The following parameters on

the communications software are required: Data Bits--8; Parity--N; and

Stop Bits--1. The document will be located under the Clean Air Act

Amendments section of the menu. If assistance is needed in accessing

the system, call the help desk at (919) 541-5384 in Research Triangle

Park, NC. Copies of figures for some chapters (e.g., Chapter 6) may not

be available by this electronic bulletin board, but can be obtained

from the individual listed below under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

The draft document will also be available starting on May 1, 1995

for public inspection in the EPA Air Docket (ECAO-CD-0671) and at the

EPA Library, both in EPA Headquarters, Waterside Mall, 401 M Street

SW., Washington, DC. EPA Air Docket hours in Room M1500 of Waterside

Mall are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding

holidays. EPA Library hours are 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., Monday through

Friday, excluding holidays.

In addition to the Washington, DC locations previously mentioned,

copies of the document will be available for public inspection at each

of the 10 EPA Regional Libraries. The addresses of each of the EPA

Regional Libraries are as listed at the end of this notice.

Comments on the draft should be sent to the Project Manager for the

Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, Environmental Criteria and

Assessment Office (MD-52), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Diane Ray, Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office (MD-52), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711,

telephone (919) 541-3637.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As discussed in a previous call for

information (59 FR 17375, April 12, 1994), EPA is undertaking to review

and, where appropriate, update and revise the 1982 document, Air

Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter and Sulfur Oxides and its 1986

addendum (EPA 600/8-82/029aF-cF; EPA 600/8-86/020F). As part of the

process employed in preparing the revised particulate matter criteria

document, initial drafts of chapters to be included in the document

underwent preliminary peer review by non-EPA experts. This included

peer review of several key chapters at a series of workshops in

January, 1995 which were open to the public as announced in the Federal

Register (60 FR 453, January 4, 1995) on January 4, 1995. Having

incorporated revisions taking into account peer review comments on the

initial draft chapters, EPA is making available for public review an

external review draft of the revised document. Members of the public

have the opportunity to submit written review comments during the

comment period. EPA will consider all comments received within that

period in preparing the final document.

The external review draft is being prepared under section 109(d) of

the Clean Air Act, which requires periodic review and, as appropriate,

revision of air quality criteria and national ambient air quality

standards (NAAQS) for certain air pollutants. As announced at a public

meeting of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) in

December 1994, a court order entered in American Lung Association v.

Browner, No 93-643 (D. Ariz., Oct. 6, 1994), imposes a highly

accelerated schedule for completion of EPA's current review of the air

quality criteria and NAAQS for particulate matter. That schedule

requires substantial departures from procedures followed in previous

reviews of air quality criteria and NAAQS. Regarding revision of the

criteria document in particular, there will be only one external review

draft of the revised document, and there will be no extension of the

deadline for public written comments on the draft. Accordingly, EPA

urges interested parties to respond promptly to this opportunity for

comment.

The draft document will also undergo peer review by CASAC at a

public meeting to be held in Research Triangle Park, NC in August,

1995. Specific details on the site and dates of the meeting will be

announced in a later Federal Register notice. Members of the public

will also be afforded an opportunity to present brief oral comments on

the draft document at the meeting.

EPA Regional Library Addresses

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 1, John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Boston,

MA 02203

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 2, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 402, New York, NY

10278

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 3, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA

19107

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 4 (G6), 345 Courtland Street, NE, Atlanta, GA

30365

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-

3507

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, 12th Floor, Suite 1200,

Dallas, TX 75202-2733

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 7, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 8, 8PM-IML, 999 18th St., Suite 500, Denver,

CO 80202-2405

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 9, MS: P-5-3, 75 Hawthorne Street, San

Francisco, CA 94105

Library, U.S. EPA, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue (MD-108), Seattle, WA

98101

[[Page 20086]] Dated: April 13, 1995.

Joseph K. Alexander,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development.

[FR Doc. 95-10062 Filed 4-21-95; 8:45 am]

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