[Federal Register: July 1, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 126)]
[Notices]
[Page 39926-39927]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01jy04-81]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7780-8]
Fifth Meeting of the World Trade Center Expert Technical Review
Panel To Continue Evaluation on Issues Relating to Impacts of the
Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
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SUMMARY: The World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel will hold
its fifth meeting intended to provide for greater input from
individuals on ongoing efforts to monitor the situation for New York
residents and workers impacted by the collapse of the World Trade
Center. The panel members will help guide the EPA's use of the
available exposure and health surveillance databases and registries to
characterize any remaining exposures and risks, identify unmet public
health needs, and recommend any steps to further minimize the risks
associated with the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. The
panel will meet several times over the course of approximately two
years. These panel meetings will be open to the public, except where
the public interest requires otherwise. Information on the panel
meeting agendas, documents (except where the public interest requires
otherwise), and public registration to attend the meetings will be
available from an Internet Web site. EPA has established an official
public docket for this action under Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003.
DATES: The fifth meeting of this panel will be held on July 26, 2004
from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., eastern daylight savings time. On-site
registration will begin at 9:00 a.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at St. John's University, Saval
Auditorium, 101 Murray Street (between Greenwich Street and West Side
Highway), New York City (Manhattan). The auditorium is located on the
second floor of the building and is handicap accessible. A government-
issued identification (e.g., driver's license) is required for entry.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For meeting information, registration
and logistics, please see the Web site http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel or
contact ERG at (781) 674-7374. The meeting agenda and logistical
information will be posted on the Web site and will also be available
in hard copy. For further information regarding the technical panel,
contact Ms. Lisa Matthews, EPA Office of the Science Advisor, telephone
(202) 564-6669 or e-mail: matthews.lisa@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Meeting Information
Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG), an EPA contractor, will
coordinate the meeting. To attend the meeting as an observer, please
register by visiting the Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel. You
may also register for the meeting by calling ERG's conference
registration line between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. e.d.s.t. at
(781) 674-7374 or toll free at 1-800-803-2833, or by faxing a
registration request to (781) 674-2906 (include full address and
contact information). Pre-registration is strongly recommended as space
is limited, and registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-
served basis. The deadline for pre-registration is July 21, 2004.
Registrations will continue to be accepted after this date, including
on-site registration, if space allows. There will be a limited time at
the meeting for oral comments from the public. Oral comments will be
limited to five (5) minutes each. If you wish to make a statement
during the observer comment period, please check the appropriate box
when you register at the Web site. Please bring a copy of your comments
to the meeting for the record or submit them electronically via e-mail
to meetings@erg.com, subject line: WTC.
II. Background Information
Immediately following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on
New York City's World Trade Center, many federal agencies, including
the EPA, were called upon to focus their technical and scientific
expertise on the national emergency. EPA, other federal agencies, New
York City, and New York State public health and environmental
authorities focused on numerous cleanup, dust collection and ambient
air monitoring activities to ameliorate and better understand the human
health impacts of the disaster. Detailed information concerning the
environmental monitoring activities that were conducted as part of this
response is available at the EPA Response to 9-11 Web site at http://www.epa.gov/wtc/
.
In addition to environmental monitoring, EPA efforts also included
toxicity testing of the dust, as well as the development of a human
exposure and health risk assessment. This risk assessment document,
Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne Pollution from the
World Trade Center Disaster, is available on the Web at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/wtc.htm
). Numerous additional studies by other Federal and State
agencies, universities, and other organizations have documented impacts
to both the outdoor and indoor environments, and to human health.
While these monitoring and assessment activities were ongoing, and
the cleanup at Ground Zero itself was occurring, EPA began planning for
a program to clean and monitor residential apartments. From June 2002
until December 2002, residents impacted by World Trade Center dust and
debris in an area of about 1 mile by 1 mile south of Canal Street were
eligible to request either federally-funded cleaning and monitoring for
airborne asbestos or monitoring of their residences. The cleanup
continued into the summer of 2003, by which time the EPA had cleaned
and monitored 3,400 apartments and monitored 800 apartments. Detailed
information on this portion of the EPA response is also available at
http://www.epa.gov/wtc/.
A critical component of understanding long-term human health
impacts is the establishment of health registries. The World Trade
Center Health Registry is a comprehensive and confidential health
survey of those most directly exposed to the contamination resulting
from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. It is intended to
give health professionals a better picture of the health consequences
of 9/11. It was established by the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene (NYCDHMH) in cooperation with a number of academic
institutions,
[[Page 39927]]
public agencies and community groups. Detailed information about the
registry can be obtained from the registry Web site at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wtc/index.html
.
In order to obtain individual advice on the effectiveness of these
programs, unmet needs and data gaps, the EPA has convened a technical
panel of experts who have been involved with World Trade Center
assessment activities. Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA Science Advisor, serves as
Chair of the panel, and Dr. Paul Lioy, Professor of Environmental and
Community Medicine at the Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences Institute of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-UMDNJ and
Rutgers University, serves as Vice Chair. A full list of the panel
members, a charge statement and operating principles for the panel are
available from the panel Web site listed above. Panel meetings
typically will be one-or two-day meetings, and they will occur over the
course of approximately a two-year period. Panel members will provide
individual advice on issues the panel addresses. These meetings will
occur in New York City and nearby locations. All of the meetings will
be announced on the Web site and by a Federal Register Notice, and they
will be open to the public for attendance and brief oral comments. The
focus of the fifth meeting is to review concepts for a sampling and
testing program to determine the geographic extent of World Trade
Center contamination, to review plans for a World Trade Center
signature validation study, and also to begin briefing the panel
members on current public health studies related to World Trade Center
impacts. Further information on panel meetings can be found at the Web
site identified earlier: http://www.epa.gov/wtc/panel.
III. How to Get Information on E-DOCKET
EPA has established an official public docket for this action under
Docket ID No. ORD-2004-0003. The official public docket consists of the
documents specifically referenced in this action, any public comments
received, and other information related to this action. Although a part
of the official docket, the public docket does not include Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. The official public docket is the collection of
materials that is available for public viewing at the Office of
Environmental Information (OEI) Docket in the Headquarters EPA Docket
Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West Building, Room B102, 1301 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading
Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OEI Docket is
(202) 566-1752; facsimile: (202) 566-1753; or e-mail:
ORD.Docket@epa.gov.
An electronic version of the public docket is available through
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view public
comments, access the index listing of the contents of the official
public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that
are available electronically. Once in the system, select ``search,''
then key in the appropriate docket identification number.
Dated: June 25, 2004.
Paul Gilman,
EPA Science Advisor and Assistant Administrator for Research and
Development.
[FR Doc. 04-14996 Filed 6-30-04; 8:45 am]
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