Science Advisory Board; Notice of Public Teleconferences

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5698-9]

Science Advisory Board; Notice of Public Teleconferences

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463,

notice is hereby given that two Committees of the Science Advisory

Board (SAB) will conduct public teleconference meetings on the dates

noted below. The meetings are all open to the public. All times noted

are Eastern Time.

1. Executive Committee

The Science Advisory Board's (SAB) Executive Committee, will

conduct a public teleconference meeting on Monday, March 17, 1997,

between the hours of 12:00 and 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting will

be coordinated through a conference call connection in Room 2103 of the

Mall at the Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW.,

Washington, DC 20460. The public is welcome to attend the meeting

physically or through a telephonic link. Additional instructions about

how to participate in the conference call can be obtained by calling

Ms. Priscilla Tillery-Gadsen at 202-260-4126 by March 12.

In this meeting the Executive Committee plans to review the report

from its Integrated Human Exposure Committee--Review of the Agency's

Exposure Factors Handbook. If time permits, the Committee may discuss

other issues.

Any member of the public wishing further information concerning the

meeting or who wishes to submit comments should contact Dr. Donald G.

Barnes, Designated Federal Official for the Executive Committee,

Science Advisory Board (1400), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Washington DC 20460; telephone (202) 260-4126; FAX (202) 260-9232; or

via the INTERNET at [email protected]. Copies of the review

document are available from the same source.

2. Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis

The Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (ACCACA, or

the ``Council'') of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) plans to hold four

public teleconferences on the dates and times described below. All

meetings are open to the public, however, the number of available phone

lines is limited. For further information concerning the specific

meetings described in this notice, please contact the individuals

listed below. Documents that are the subject of SAB reviews are

normally available from the originating EPA office and are not

available from the SAB Office. These teleconferences are a follow-up to

earlier Council discussions held on November 7 and 8, 1996 concerning

the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 812 Retrospective and Prospective

Studies (See 61 FR, 54196, Thursday, October 17, 1996).

The Council has allocated four dates for public teleconferences to

deal with both the Retrospective and the Prospective Studies. The

dates, times, and anticipated topical issues to be discussed are listed

as follows:

(a) Friday, March 14, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.): Prospective

Study and Retrospective Study: The major topic planned for this

teleconference is review of the Prospective Study emissions modeling

assumptions, methodology, results and documentation. The Council will

provide advice to the Agency on the validity and utility of the

emissions modeling data within the purposes of the current Prospective

Study. It is also planned that logistical and scheduling aspects of

both the Prospective and Retrospective Studies will be briefly

discussed during this public teleconference. Some discussion may occur

on select Retrospective Study issues at this teleconference. However,

the preferred plan is to keep these topics separate, with this

teleconference being reserved primarily to deal with the Prospective

Study.

(b) Wednesday, March 19, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.):

Prospective Study and Retrospective Study: The major topics for this

teleconference are to complete review of the Prospective Study

emissions modeling assumptions, methodology, results and documentation

(if more time is needed after the discussions of March 14), and to

begin closure review on the Retrospective Study issues. The timing of

which specific issues are to be discussed at each teleconference will

be planned at this or the previous (March 14, 1997) teleconference, and

will be driven by the schedule of availability of the Lead Discussants

and other Council participants. The Council identified a number of

Retrospective Study issue areas, some of which are listed here as

follows: valuation of bronchitis and heart disease; presentation of

baseline (``but for'' issues, that is, but for the presence of the 1990

Clean Air Act), choice of study for estimating PM-related mortality

(includes physical effects); costs (operations and maintenance costs,

cost-of-clean, etc.); ecological effects; valuing changes in

intelligence quotient (IQ) issues; presentation of life years lost

calculations (life years remaining issue); methodological effects;

morbidity effects by age; and research needs. Other related issues are

planned to be discussed as time permits.

(c) Friday, March 21, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.): Retrospective

Study: The major topic of this teleconference is to continue closure

review on the Retrospective Study issue areas identified above.

Specific issue areas will be scheduled to match the availability of the

Lead Discussants and other interested Council participants.

(d) Wednesday, March 26, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.):

Retrospective Study: The major topic of this teleconference is to

continue closure review on the Retrospective Study issue areas

identified above. If all the issue areas have been discussed in the

earlier teleconferences, the Council members may elect to cancel this

session. However, this time is being reserved for the Council just in

case they need additional discussions to facilitate closure on the

Retrospective Study.

After the teleconference sessions are complete, the Agency plans to

revise the Retrospective Study Report to Congress and re-issue it to

the entire Council and the public for one final closure review prior to

submitting the document for Executive Branch review and subsequent

submission to Congress.

Please contact the SAB staff (see below) to determine the logistics

and details of the individual public teleconference meetings, or if the

later planned meetings will be necessary.

Purpose of the Teleconferences

The specific topic of the Prospective Study review is the draft

emissions modeling assumptions, methodology,

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results and documentation for this study. The Council is being asked by

the Agency to review the emissions modeling data (including input,

model configurations, and output data) to be used for the first CAA

Section 812 prospective analysis and make recommendations to the

Administrator on the validity and utility of the emissions modeling

data within this analytical context. Specific questions include the

following:

(1) Are the regulatory assumptions and other design features of the

Pre-Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and Post-CAAA scenarios reasonable

and appropriate, given the purposes of the present study?

(2) Are the input data used to configure the emissions models

sufficiently valid and reliable for the intended analytical purpose?

(3) Are the emissions models, and the methodologies they employ,

sufficiently valid and reliable for the intended analytical purpose?

(4) If the answers to any of the three questions above is negative,

what specific alternative assumptions, data or methodologies does the

Council recommend the Agency consider using for the prospective

analysis?

(5) If the answers to questions (1), (2), and (3) are positive, are

the emissions inventories for the Pre-CAAA and Post-CAAA scenarios

developed by this modeling exercise sufficiently valid and reliable for

the intended purpose?

(6) If the answer to question (5) is negative, what specific

improvements does the Council recommend the Agency consider?

The draft documents that present, compile and document the results

and methodologies used for the Prospective Study emissions modeling, as

well as the Retrospective Study Appendices and select text edits which

are the subject of these reviews are available from the originating EPA

office. The review materials and supporting documentation for the

Prospective Study include the following:

Review Materials

(1) U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, Air Emissions Estimates

from Electric Power Generation for the CAAA Section 812 Prospective

Study, February 1997,

(2) E.H. Pechan & Associates, Inc., Emission Projections for the

Clean Air Act Section 812 Prospective Analysis, January 31, 1997,

Supporting Documents

(3) U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, Analyzing Electric Power

Generation Under the CAAA, July, 1996,

(4) U.S. EPA, Natural Gas Supply Assumptions in the Clean Air Power

Initiative, U.S. EPA White Paper, July 31, 1996,

(5) U.S. EPA, Coal Supply Assumptions in the Clean Air Power

Initiative, U.S. EPA White Paper, July 31, 1996,

(6) ICF Kaiser, Inc., The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and

the Increasing Competitiveness of Powder Run River Basin (PRB) Coals,

Memorandum from Charles Mann and Theodore Breton, ICF Kaiser, Inc. to

Sam Napolitano, U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, October 15,

1996.

In addition to the above review materials and supporting documents,

it is anticipated that briefing slides or bullet point documents will

be circulated to the SAB's Council and made available to the public

approximately ten days prior to the first public review teleconference

on March 14, 1997. The intent behind the distribution of these briefing

materials is to present summaries of the analytical context of the

emissions modeling step, key scenario design features, emissions

modeling methodologies, and emissions modeling results in order to

facilitate the Agency's presentations during the teleconference, and to

help focus the Council's subsequent review discussions.

Once the Agency, considering the advice of the Council, determines

that the emissions inventories are sufficiently valid and reliable, the

Agency will configure and operate the air quality models to translate

differences in emissions under the scenarios into differences in air

quality conditions. On a parallel track, the costs of compliance with

the regulatory programs and standards associated with each of the

scenarios will also be developed. The methodological details and

results of these subsequent analytical steps will be submitted for the

SAB's Council to review at a later date.

To discuss technical aspects or obtain copies of the draft

documents pertaining to the CAA Section 812 Prospective Study emissions

estimates listed above, or the Appendices and select text edits for the

Retrospective Study, as well as the anticipated briefing slides or

bullet point documents, please contact Mr. James DeMocker, Office of

Policy Analysis and Review (OAR) (MC 6103), US Environmental Protection

Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. Tel. (202) 260-8980;

FAX (202) 260-9766, or via the Internet at:

[email protected]. To obtain copies of the latest complete

draft of the Retrospective Study Report to Congress dated October 1996

and entitled ``The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act, 1970 to

1990,'' please contact Ms. Michelle Olawuyi, Secretary, Office of

Economy and Environment (MC 2172), US Environmental Protection Agency,

401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. Tel. (202) 260-5488; FAX (202)

260-5732, or via the Internet at [email protected].

To obtain copies of the teleconference agendas, please contact Mrs.

Diana L. Pozun, Secretary to the Council at Tel. (202) 260-8414; FAX

(202) 260-7118; or via the Internet: [email protected]). To

discuss technical or logistical aspects of the Council's review

process, please contact Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal

Official, Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (the

``Council''), Tel. (202) 260-2560; FAX (202) 260-7118; or via the

Internet: kooyoomjian.jack @epamail.epa.gov). Members of the public who

wish to physically be present at the teleconferences may do so at the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters Building, 401 M

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, Waterside Mall Room Number 2103.

Members of the public who wish to obtain logging-on procedures should

contact Mrs. Diana L. Pozun at least one week prior to the

teleconference(s) of interest.

Public Speaking

To request time for public comments at the Council teleconferences,

please contact Mrs. Diana L. Pozun in writing at the mail, FAX or E-

Mail addresses given above no later than one week prior to each of the

teleconferences.

Providing Oral or Written Comments at SAB Meetings

The Science Advisory Board (SAB) expects that public statements

presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously

submitted oral or written statements. In general, opportunities for

oral comment at teleconference meetings will be usually limited to

three minutes per speaker and no more than fifteen minutes total.

Written comments (at least 35 copies) received in the SAB Staff Office

sufficiently prior to a meeting date (usually one week prior to a

meeting), may be mailed to the Council prior to its meeting; comments

received too close to the meeting date will normally be provided to the

Council at its meeting, except for teleconferences, where brief written

materials may be FAXed to the participants, with more detailed or

lengthy materials received too close to

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the teleconference to be mailed to the Council or its appropriate

subcommittee participants shortly after the teleconference. Written

comments may be provided up until the time of the meeting.

Dated: February 24, 1997.

Donald G. Barnes,

Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.

[FR Doc. 97-5309 Filed 3-4-97; 8:45 am]

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