[Federal Register: September 17, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 180)]
[Notices]               
[Page 48056-48057]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17se01-74]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[OPPTS-00323; FRL-6800-1]

 
Characterizing and Presenting Summary Chemical Exposure 
Assessment Results; Notice of a Workshop

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA will convene a workshop to obtain the individual opinions 
of technical experts and interested stakeholders on suggested summaries 
for presenting exposure assessment results. The workshop will be of 
interest to companies and consortia who have signed up for the 
Voluntary Children's Chemical Evaluation Program (VCCEP) as well as to 
those who may want to voluntarily present exposure assessment results. 
A short overview of the VCCEP will be given at the beginning of the 
workshop but the emphasis will be on describing and presenting exposure 
assessment results. There will be a roundtable discussion by invited 
participants followed by an opportunity for public comment. Following 
the workshop, EPA will take the information received into consideration 
in revising the summaries for presenting exposure assessment results 
and make the revised summaries available to the public. EPA is planning 
a subsequent workshop to discuss methodologies for conducting exposure 
assessments.

DATES: The workshop will commence at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 25, 
2001, and end at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, September 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Holiday Inn - National 
Airport, 2650 Jefferson Davis Highway, U.S. Rte. #1, Arlington, VA, 
(703) 684-7200.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical information related to 
the Workshop for Presenting Chemical Exposure Assessment Results 
contact: Patrick Kennedy, Economics, Exposure and Technology Division 
(7406), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone number: (202) 260-3916; e-mail: kennedy.patrick@epa.gov. 
Questions regarding registration and logistics should be directed to 
EPA's contractor, ERG, at (781) 674-7374.
    You may obtain electronic copies of this document and related 
documents from the EPA Internet site at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/
chemrtk. Draft guidance for exposure summaries and examples are also 
available at this EPA internet site. You may access the Federal 
Register documents directly at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

I. Does this Notice Apply to Me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may, 
however, be of interest to those chemical manufacturers, importers, and 
processors who produce or use chemical substances that are covered by 
the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), individuals or groups 
concerned with chemical testing and children's health, and animal 
welfare groups. Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency 
has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be 
affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the 
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the 
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

II. Purpose of the Meeting

    The purpose of this workshop is to obtain the individual opinions 
of technical experts and interested stakeholders on suggested summaries 
for presenting exposure assessment results. To facilitate the 
discussion at the workshop, EPA will be introducing suggested summary 
sheets that could be used to present exposure assessment results and 
associated descriptions for the information in the summaries. In 
addition, examples, including those provided by industry, will be made 
available and discussed at the workshop to illustrate the principles of 
consistency, transparency, completeness, and quality in presenting 
exposure assessment results. The draft summaries and examples will be 
made available via the EPA Internet Site at http://www.epa.gov/
opptintr/chemrtk.
    To enable the discussion, EPA has invited technical experts from 
industry, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies, 
including EPA, to discuss the exposure assessment summary documents in 
a roundtable format. The invited participants were selected to provide 
a balanced

[[Page 48057]]

representation of stakeholder interests. Presentation of the suggested 
summaries and examples for presenting exposure assessment results will 
be made by EPA and other invited participants and roundtable discussion 
by invited participants will follow. Opportunity for public comment 
from anyone who wishes to provide oral remarks will be provided at the 
conclusion of the roundtable discussion. Oral comments from the public 
may be limited to 5 minutes per individual to allow all those who wish 
to comment the opportunity to speak. Written comments may also be 
submitted to EPA via fax transmission to ERG at (781) 674-2906 until 
one week prior to the meeting.
    The exposure summaries can be used as a road map or index for 
organizing and presenting exposure information. Information that is 
provided will vary from one chemical to the next. Other considerations, 
including hazard data for a particular chemical, may motivate 
submitters of exposure information to provide additional data elements 
and omit information on elements suggested on the summary sheets. EPA 
is planning a subsequent workshop to discuss methodologies for 
conducting exposure assessment studies. This workshop is planned for 
November or December 2001; details will be posted on the EPA internet 
site at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemrtk. EPA is not asking 
participants in the workshop to reach agreement or provide any 
collective recommendations on the summaries for presenting exposure 
assessment results. EPA's intent is to obtain technical information and 
the individual perspective of invited participants based upon their 
unique backgrounds and experiences. Accordingly, EPA does not intend to 
organize this workshop as an advisory committee as defined in the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App.
    There is no charge for attending this workshop. EPA has contracted 
with Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG), 110 Hartwell Avenue, 
Lexington, Massachusetts, 02421, to provide registration and logistical 
support. To ensure that all interested parties can be accommodated, 
please preregister by calling ERG's conference registration line at 
(781) 674-7374 or fax a registration request to (781) 674-2906. You may 
also send an e-mail registration request to ERG at meetings@erg.com. 
Upon registration, you will be sent an agenda and a logistical fact 
sheet.

List of Subjects

    Environmental protection Pesticides and Toxics.

    Dated: September 4, 2001.
William H. Sanders III,
Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
[FR Doc. 01-23091 Filed 9-14-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S