Science Advisory Board; Notification of Public Advisory Committee Meeting; Open Meeting

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6348-3]

Science Advisory Board; Notification of Public Advisory Committee

Meeting; Open Meeting

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

notice is hereby given that the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee

(CASAC) of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) will meet on Wednesday and

Thursday, June 9-10, 1999 at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(US EPA), Environmental Research Center, Main Auditorium, Route 54 and

Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. The meeting will

begin at 8:30 am and end no later than 5:30 pm on June 9th and begin at

8:00 am and end no later than 4:00 pm on June 10th. All times noted are

Eastern Daylight Time. The meeting is open to the public. Due to

limited space, seating at the meeting will be on a first-come basis.

For further information concerning various aspects of the meeting,

please contact the individuals listed below. Important Notice:

Documents that are the subject of SAB reviews are normally available

from the originating EPA office and are not available from the SAB

Office--information concerning availability of documents from the

relevant Program Office is included below.

Purpose of the Meeting: Three issues will be discussed at this

meeting:

(a) Review of Carbon Monoxide National Ambient Air Quality

Standards (NAAQS)--The Committee will begin its review of the Carbon

Monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) with a review

of the National Center for Environmental Assessment's (NCEA) draft Air

Quality Criteria for Carbon Monoxide (External Review Draft) 1999, EPA/

600/P-99/001. The Committee will also provide advice and comment to the

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) on its draft

Estimation of Carbon Monoxide Exposures and Associated

Carboxyhemoglobin Levels in Denver Residents Using pNEM/CO (Version

2.0) At this meeting (the first in a series of meetings), EPA is

seeking advice and comment from CASAC with regard to the scientific

soundness of the draft CO Criteria Document for its subsequent use in

providing scientific bases for Agency decisions on retention or the

possible need for revision to the existing CO NAAQS. The CASAC review

will focus on the extent to which the draft document: (1) adequately

identifies and poses pertinent issues that need to be addressed in the

document; (2) accurately and concisely summarizes relevant key findings

from previous CO criteria review(s); (3) accurately and concisely

summarizes and assesses important newly available pertinent information

(or have any important new studies been omitted?); (4) appropriately

interprets and synthesizes the assessed information; and (5) arrives at

sound conclusions and findings, taking into account the newly available

data assessed. For information on obtaining copies of the two Carbon

Monoxide NAAQS documents identified above, or to obtain information

concerning contact individuals, please see 64 FR 13198-13199, March 17,

1999.

(b) Consultation on the Diesel Health Assessment--With two past

CASAC reviews of the draft Diesel Engine Exhaust Health Assessments,

the most recent being on May 5-6, 1998 (see 63 FR 17000, April 7,

1998), NCEA believes that a Consultation with CASAC to review progress

on current work to revise the Assessment is timely. The primary focus

of this Consultation is on the issues raised earlier by CASAC (see

CASAC Report #EPA-SAB-CASAC-99-001, October 7, 1998, available from the

Science Advisory Board on its website (WWW.EPA.GOV/SAB) or at: (202)

260-4126, FAX: (202) 260-1889, please give the title and report number

and your name and address when requesting a copy via phone or fax) and

how NCEA would address these issues. Given the importance of completing

the Assessment and providing it to the Agency's Mobile Sources Program,

a discussion with CASAC, at this juncture, would be useful to both NCEA

and CASAC. The document titled, Discussion Paper for CASAC--Diesel

Exhaust Health Assessment, is available on the NCEA page of the

Internet at HTTP://WWW.EPA.GOV/NCEA under the What's New and

Publications menus. A limited number of paper copies are available from

the Technical Information Staff (8623D), NCEA-W; telephone: (202) 564-

3261; FAX: (202) 565-0050. If you are requesting a paper

[[Page 27785]]

copy, please provide your name, mailing address, and the document

title, Discussion Paper for CASAC--Diesel Exhaust Health Assessment.

For information on Diesel, contact William Pepelko, NCEA-W, telephone:

(202) 564-3309; FAX: (202) 565-0078; or e-mail:

[email protected]>.

(c) Review of the draft Airborne Particulate Matter (PM) Research

Strategy--The Committee last met on November 18 and 19, 1996 to review

and provide advice to EPA on the Particulate Matter Research Program

Strategy. Since then, the Agency has revised the strategy and has asked

that CASAC review the revised document. Interested parties may obtain a

copy of the draft Airborne Particulate Matter Research Strategy and the

charge to CASAC by contacting Dr. John Vandenberg at: (919) 541-4527;

FAX: (919) 541-0642), or e-mail [email protected]>, National

Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), USEPA,

(M-51A), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. Technical questions

regarding this document should also be directed to Dr. Vandenberg.

The tentative agenda planned for this meeting calls for the Carbon

Monoxide issue to be discussed all day on June 9th, the PM Research

Strategy on the morning of June 10th, and the Diesel issue on the

afternoon of June 10th. A draft agenda will be available approximately

two weeks prior to the meeting. See below for information on obtaining

a copy.

For Further Information Concerning the Meeting: Members of the

public desiring additional information about the meeting should contact

Mr. Robert Flaak, Designated Federal Officer, Clean Air Scientific

Advisory Committee, Science Advisory Board (1400), Room 3702G, U.S.

EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone/voice mail at

(202) 260-5133; fax at (202) 260-7118; or via e-mail at

[email protected]>. A copy of the draft agenda will be available

approximately two weeks prior to the meeting on the SAB website

(WWW.EPA.GOV/SAB) or from Ms. Diana Pozun at (202) 260-8432; FAX: (202)

260-7118; or e-mail at: [email protected]>.

Members of the public who wish to make a brief oral presentation to

the Subcommittee must contact Mr. Flaak in writing (by letter or by

fax--see previously stated information) no later than 12 noon Eastern

Time, Tuesday, June 1, 1999 in order to be included on the Agenda.

Public comments will be limited to ten minutes per speaker or

organization. The request should identify the name of the individual

making the presentation, the organization (if any) they will represent,

any requirements for audio visual equipment (e.g., overhead projector,

35mm projector, chalkboard, etc), and at least 35 copies of an outline

of the issues to be addressed or of the presentation itself.

Providing Oral or Written Comments at SAB Meetings: The Science

Advisory Board expects that public statements presented at its meetings

will not be repetitive of previously submitted oral or written

statements. In general, each individual or group making an oral

presentation will be limited to a total time of ten minutes. For

conference call meetings, opportunities for oral comment will be

limited to no more than five 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, may be

mailed to the relevant SAB committee or subcommittee prior to its

meeting; comments received too close to the meeting date will normally

be provided to the committee at its meeting. Written comments may be

provided to the relevant committee or subcommittee up until the time of

the meeting.

Additional information concerning the Science Advisory Board, its

structure, function, and composition, may be found on the SAB Website

(http://www.epa.gov/sab) and in The Annual Report of the Staff Director

which is available from the SAB Publications Staff at (202) 260-4126 or

via fax at (202) 260-1889.

Individuals requiring special accommodation at SAB meetings,

including wheelchair access, should contact Mr. Flaak at least five

business days prior to the meeting so that appropriate arrangements can

be made.

Donald G. Barnes,

Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.

[FR Doc. 99-12940 Filed 5-20-99; 8:45 am]

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