[Federal Register: August 10, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 155)]
[Notices]
[Page 42217-42218]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10au01-67]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7029-7]
Technical Workshop on the Draft Framework for Cumulative Risk
Assessment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a
meeting, organized and convened by Versar, Inc., a contractor to EPA's
Risk Assessment Forum, for external scientific peer consultation on the
draft Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment. The meeting is being
held to discuss technical issues associated with cumulative risk
assessment and how to capture these issues in a broad, flexible
framework that will inform future guidance development efforts in this
area. Meeting participants, invited by Versar, Inc., will be drawn from
academia, industry, consulting, environmental and community groups and
will provide expertise in areas such as aggregate and cumulative
exposure, chemical mixtures, socioeconomic vulnerability, as well as
public health assessment and uncertainty analysis.
DATES: The meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday,
August 22, 2001, and from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 23,
2001. Members of the public may attend as observers, and there will be
a limited time for comments from the public. Comments should be in
writing and must be postmarked by September 10, 2001.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Marriott Crystal Gateway
Hotel, Arlington, VA. Versar, Inc., an EPA contractor, will convene and
facilitate the workshop. To register to attend the workshop as an
observer, visit www.versar.com/epa/cumriskmtg.htm, or contact Ann
Cyrus, Versar, Inc.; telephone: (703) 750-3000 extension 274;
facsimile: 703-642-6954; email cyrusann@versar.com by 5 p.m. eastern
daylight time, August 17, 2001. Space is limited, and reservations will
be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be a
limited time for comments from the public during the workshop. Please
let Versar know if you wish to make comments, and provide Versar with
one written copy of comments prior to the start of the meeting.
The draft Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment is available
primarily via the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/raf/rafpub.htm. A
limited number of paper copies are available from the Technical
Information Staff (8623D), NCEA-W; telephone: 202-564-3261; facsimile:
202-565-0050. If you are requesting a paper copy, please provide your
name, mailing address, and the document title, draft Framework for
Cumulative Risk Assessment. Copies are not available from Versar.
Comments may be mailed to the Technical Information Staff (8623D),
NCEA-W, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20460, or delivered to the Technical Information
Staff at 808 17th Street, NW., 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20006;
telephone: 202-564-3261; facsimile: 202-565-0050. Comments should be in
writing and please submit one unbound original with pages numbered
consecutively, and two copies of the comments. For attachments, provide
an index, number pages consecutively with the comments, and submit an
unbound original and three copies. Electronic comments may be emailed
to: nceadc.comment@ epa.gov.
Please note that all technical comments received in response to
this notice will be public information. For that reason, commentors
should not submit personal information (such as medical data or home
address), Confidential Business Information, or information protected
by copyright. Due to limited resources, acknowledgments will not be
sent.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning the
technical workshop please contact Ann Cyrus, Versar, Inc.; telephone:
(703) 750-3000 extension 274; facsimile: 703-642-6954; email
cyrusann@versar.com. For technical inquiries concerning the draft
Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment, please contact Steven Knott,
U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Risk Assessment Forum
(8601-D), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone
(202) 564-3359; facsimile (202) 565-0062; email knott.steven@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Several reports have highlighted the
importance of understanding the accumulation of risks from multiple
environmental stressors. These include the National Research Council's
(NRC) 1994 report Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment and the 1997
report by the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment
and Risk Management entitled Risk Assessment and Risk Management in
Regulatory Decision-Making. In addition, legislation such as the Food
Quality Protection Act of 1996 (FQPA), has directed the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to move beyond single chemical assessments and
to focus, in part, on the cumulative effects of chemical exposures
occurring simultaneously. Further emphasizing the need for EPA to focus
on cumulative risks are cases filed under Title VI of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act. These cases have necessitated a population-based approach
to assessing human health risks from environmental contaminants.
In response to the increasing focus on cumulative risk, several EPA
programs have begun to explore cumulative approaches to risk
assessment. In 1997, The EPA Science Policy Council issued a guidance
on planning and scoping for cumulative risk assessments (http://
www.epa.gov/ord/spc/2cumrisk.htm). More recently, the Office of
Pesticide Programs has developed draft cumulative risk assessment
guidance focused on implementing certain provisions of FQPA. The Office
of Air Quality Planning and Standards has applied cumulative exposure
models in its analyses for the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment
(NATA). In addition, community-specific cumulative risk assessment has
been explored through the Agency's Cumulative Exposure Project.
The EPA Science Policy Council has asked the Risk Assessment Forum
(RAF) to begin developing Agency-wide cumulative risk assessment
guidance that builds from these activities. As a first step, a
technical panel convened under the RAF has been working to develop a
Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment. Building from the Agency's
growing experiences, this Framework is intended to identify the basic
elements of the cumulative risk assessment process. It should provide a
flexible structure for the technical issues
[[Page 42218]]
and define key terms associated with cumulative risk assessment.
The workshop announced in this notice has two primary purposes.
First, it will provide interested stakeholders with an opportunity to
see an early draft of the Framework document. Second, it affords an
early opportunity to hear input from these stakeholders which will
assist with further development of the draft Framework. Versar will
focus the workshop discussion on the technical issues associated with
the current draft of the Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment.
Dated: August 3, 2001.
Art Payne,
Acting Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 01-20128 Filed 8-9-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P