Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee
(CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel

The U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development has requested that the Science Advisory Board review the Agency's draft documents concerned with the Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

• EPA-CASAC-LTR-06-003    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Recommendations Concerning the Final National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter [PDF, 3 pp., 41 KB, About PDF Files]

• Agency Response to the CASAC Recommendations Concerning the Proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (EPA-CASAC-LTR-06-002) [PDF, 1 pp., 61 KB, About PDF Files]

• EPA-CASAC-LTR-06-002    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Recommendations Concerning the Proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter
  [PDF, 13 pp., 96 KB, About PDF Files]

• Agenda for the U.S. EPA, CASAC Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Teleconference, Friday, February 3, 2006. [PDF, 2 pp., 90 KB, About PDF Files]

• Public Statements for Consideration by the CASAC Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel at the February 3, 2006 Public Teleconference:
  Letter from Philip Johnson Regarding NESCAUM Statement on CASAC PM Review Panel to Consider Providing the Agency with Additional Advice and Recommendations Concerning EPA's Proposed Revisions to the PM National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). [PDF, 3 pp., 75 KB, About PDF Files]

  Dr. John Balbus, and Dr. Jana Milford Letter Regarding Consideration of Environmental Defense Comments on EPA's PM NAAQS Proposal. [PDF, 9 pp., 164 KB, About PDF Files]

  Dr. Bart Ostro Presentation of the EPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Comments on EPA's PM NAAQS Proposal. [PDF, 5 pp., 122 KB, About PDF Files]

  Slide Presentation from CASAC Member Rich Poirot on Photographic Illustrations of PM Effects on Visibility. [PDF, 3 pp., 1.99 MB, About PDF Files]

  Remarks of Deborah Shprentz of the American Lung Association before the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Particulate Matter Review Panel on February 3, 2005. [PDF, 3 pp., 124 KB, About PDF Files]

  EPA CASAC PM Review Panel Remarks by Wig Zamore on Friday, February 3, 2006, On Behalf of Two All Volunteer Local Community Groups in Massachusetts Mystic View Task Force (MVTF) and Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP). [PDF, 2 pp., 63 KB, About PDF Files]

  Remarks by Dr. William Rom on Behalf of the American Thoracic Society Environmental Health Policy Committee on February 3, 2006. [PDF, 1 pp., 49 KB, About PDF Files]

  Comments by Gaye Knight of the City of Phoenix to the CASAC PM Review Panel on February 3, 2006. [PDF, 1 pp., 42 KB, About PDF Files]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of a Public Advisory Committee Teleconference Meeting on February 3, 2006 (January 18, 2006)

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-05-012    Review of the EPA Staff Recommendations Concerning a Potential Thoracic Coarse PM Standard in the Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter: Policy Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information (Final PM OAQPS Staff Paper, EPA-452/R-05-005, June 2005 [PDF, 51 pp., 293 KB, About PDF Files]

• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting on April 6-7, 2005 [PDF, 60 pp., 711 KB]

• Agenda for the U.S. EPA, CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Teleconference on Thursday, August 11, 2005. [PDF, 1 pp., 72 KB]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of Public Advisory Committee Meeting of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel (July 25, 2005)

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-05-007    EPA's Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (Second Draft PM Staff Paper, January 2005); A Review by the Particulate Matter Review Panel of the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee [PDF, 119 pp., 1.46 MB]

• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA, CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Teleconference on Wednesday, May 18, 2005. [PDF, 1 pp., 94 KB]

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-05-XXX    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel's Peer Review of the Agency's Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter: Policy Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information (Second Draft PM Staff Paper, January 2005); and Particulate Matter Health Risk Assessment for Selected Urban Areas: Second Draft Report (Second Draft PM Risk Assessment, January 2005) (May 11, 2005 Draft) [PDF, 103 pp., 1.46 MB]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of Public Advisory Committee Meeting of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel (May 3, 2005)

• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA, CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Meeting and Teleconference, Wednesday, April 6, 2005; and Thursday, April 7, 2005.. [PDF, 2 pp., 119 KB]

• Background and Charge Questions for CASAC Review of Second Draft Particulate Matter Staff Paper (January 31, 2005) for the April 6-7, 2005, Public Meeting and Teleconference [PDF, 8 pp., 218 KB]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of Advisory Committee Meeting of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel (March 15, 2005)

• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Teleconference on September 20, 2004 [PDF, 16 pp., 181 KB]

• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting on July 20-21, 2004 [PDF, 41 pp., 475 KB]

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-05-001    EPA's Fourth External Review Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter, A Peer Review by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Particulate Matter Review Panel [PDF, 48 pp., 536 KB]

• Agency Response to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel's Ongoing Peer Review of the Agency's Fourth External Review Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (June 2003) (EPA-SAB-CASAC-04-008). [PDF, 1 pp., 19 KB]

• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Teleconference (By Telephone Only), Monday, September 20, 2004, 11:00am-3:00pm (Eastern Time). [PDF, 1 pp., 24 KB]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of Advisory Committee Meeting of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Teleconference (By Telephone Only), Monday, September 20, 2004, 11:00am-3:00pm (Eastern Time).

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-04-008    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel's Ongoing Peer Review of the Agency's Fourth External Review Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (June 2003) [PDF, 125 pp., 787 KB]

• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA, Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting and Teleconference, Tuesday, July 20, 2004, 8:30am - 5:30pm (Eastern Time); and Wednesday, July 21, 2004, 8:30am - 3:00pm, Embassy Suites Hotel, Raleigh-Durham-Research Triangle East, 201 Harrison Oaks Boulevard, Cary, NC. [PDF, 2 pp., 99 KB]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Meeting, on Tuesday, July 20, 2004, 8:30am - 5:30pm (Eastern Time), and Wednesday, July 21, 2004, 8:30am - 12:00pm, Embassy Suites Hotel, Raleigh-Durham-Research Triangle East, 201 Harrison Oaks Boulevard, Cary, North Carolina.

• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Teleconference on February 3, 2004 [184KB ADOBE PDF]

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-04-005    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel's Ongoing Peer Review of the Agency's Fourth External Review Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (June 2003) [361KB ADOBE PDF]

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-04-004    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel's Ongoing Peer Review of the Agency's Fourth External Review Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (June 2003); and Peer Review of the Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter: Policy Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information (OAQPS Staff Paper - First Draft) (August 2003) and a Related Draft Technical Report, Particulate Matter Health Risk Assessment for Selected Urban Areas (Draft Report) (August 2003) [1,037KB ADOBE PDF]

• CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel FY 2004 Member Biosketches [158KB ADOBE PDF]

• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting on August 25-26, 2003 [225KB ADOBE PDF]

• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting on November 12-13, 2003 (Attachments are available upon request) [220KB ADOBE PDF]
  To request a copy of the attachments, please contact Mr. Fred Butterfield. Mr. Butterfield can be contacted via telephone/voice mail: (202) 564-4562, fax: (202) 501-0582, or e-mail: butterfield.fred@epa.gov.

• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Teleconference (By Telephone Only), Wednesday, February 3, 2004, 11:00am-2:00pm (Eastern Time). [72KB ADOBE PDF]

• Federal Register Notice - Notification of CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel Public Teleconference (By Telephone Only), Wednesday, February 3, 2004, 11:00am-2:00pm (Eastern Time).

• EPA-SAB-CASAC-LTR-04-002    Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel's Review of the Agency's Fourth External Review Draft of Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (June 2003) [2,380KB ADOBE PDF]
• U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and CASAC Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel, Summary Minutes of Public Teleconference on October 3, 2003 [1,334KB ADOBE PDF]
• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting on November 12, 2003 (8:30am - 5:30pm Eastern Time); and on November 13, 2003 (8:30am - 12:30pm) [86KB ADOBE PDF]
• Federal Register Notice - Notification of Advisory Committee Meeting of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel on November 12, 2003, 8:30am - 5:30pm (Eastern Time), and November 13, 2003 (8:30am - 12:30pm)
• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and CASAC Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Teleconference (By Telephone Only) on October 3, 2003 (2:00pm - 5:00pm Eastern Time) [77KB ADOBE PDF]
• CASAC Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Members: In preparation for next Friday's (10/3) 2:00 to 5:00 pm Eastern Time teleconference for both CASAC and the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel, the following message is forwarded from Dr. Les Grant, Director, EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA/RTP), which includes the Proposed Framework for Restructuring of Chapter 9 (Integrative Synthesis) in the 4th External Review Draft of the AQCD for PM, attached as a .pdf file, in the body of this message, as follows:

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Proposed Framework for Restructuring of Chapter 9 (Integrative Synthesis) of EPA's 2003 Draft Air Quality Criteria Document for Particulate Matter

Presented in the attachment below [in Adobe PDF file format] is a draft framework for structuring a revamped version of Chapter 9 of EPA's PM Air Quality Criteria Document, the Fourth External Review Draft of which was released June, 2003 and reviewed by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee CASAC) in August 2003. It was recommended by CASAC that the Integrative Synthesis (Chapter 9) of that draft document be restructured so as to provide improved integration of key information from the other more detailed chapters of that draft document, so as to better inform policy decision-making concerning key elements of the PM standards.

The basic approach to developing the proposed framework for restructuring of Chapter 9 was first to go back to the 1996 PM Criteria Document to identify and summarize a set of key findings and conclusions that were most essential in helping to inform considerations underlying the proposal and, ultimately, promulgation of the 1997 PM NAAQS decisions (including decisions on key elements (i.e., the indicators, averaging times, levels, etc.) of the NAAQS set then. Much of this information on key findings and conclusions was provided in the "Integrative Synthesis" Chapter (Chapter 13) of the 1996 PM Document, especially in relation to integration of atmospheric science, exposure, dosimetry and health effects information. However, much of the other pertinent information related to welfare effects was drawn from the Executive Summary of the 1996 Document, given that welfare effects were not addressed in Chapter 13 of that document.

The proposed framework for the new version of Chapter 9 was next defined so as to be structured around: (a) the posing of brief question(s) regarding how the newly-available scientific information in the current, updated 2003 draft PM Criteria Document may bear on those key findings or conclusions for each of several topics; and then (b) the characterization of key conclusion(s) from the prior 1996 Document regarding a given one of those topics; followed by (c) discussion/integration of key new information from the current document bearing on the topic and the formulating of pertinent new key conclusions addressing the question(s) for that topic. Some illustrative examples are provided for types of information to be covered in the brief discussion/integration of new information bearing on each topic, except for the categories of welfare effects. In the case of the latter, it is much less clear as to what, from among the very limited prior or newly-available information, should most appropriately be highlighted so as to inform relevant policy decisions. Consultative advice from the CASAC on what information should be highlighted for welfare effects would be of much value.

The proposed approach outlined above and illustrated in the attached draft framework offers the advantage of building, in an iterative fashion, on the prior 1996 assessment of then-available PM-related scientific information. This approach would involve: (a) first highlighting of what was important from the prior review; and then (b) that being integrated with the most important new information derived from the newer studies; in order (c) to arrive at newly emergent conclusions as inputs to proposed policy formulations regarding key elements of the PM NAAQS to be discussed in the PM Staff Paper prepared by the relevant EPA policy office (i.e., Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards/Office of Air and Radiation) for consideration by the EPA Administrator.

Attachment -- Draft Framework for Structuring a Revamped Version of Chapter 9 of EPA's PM Air Quality Criteria Document, the Fourth External Review Draft of which was released June, 2003 and reviewed by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee CASAC) in August 2003 [110KB ADOBE PDF]

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• EPA-SAB-CASAC-LTR-03-XXX   Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Review of the Agency's National Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy (September 22, 2003 Draft) for review at the October 3, 2003 Meeting
[179KB ADOBE ACROBAT]
• Federal Register Notice - Notification of Public Advisory Committee Teleconference (By Telephone Only) Meeting on October 3, 2003 (2:00pm - 5:00pm Eastern Time)
• Final Agenda for the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Meeting on August 25-26, 2003 [91KB ADOBE PDF]
• Federal Register Notice for the August 25-26, 2003 Public Meeting
• Summary Minutes of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel Public Teleconference on May 1, 2003 [1,046KB ADOBE PDF]

• Agenda for May 1, 2003 Teleconference, 10:00am-12:00pm [69KB ADOBE PDF]
• Federal Register Notice for the May 1, 2003 Teleconference (By Telephone Only) Consultation Meeting
• Discussion Materials for August 28, 2002 Meeting [33KB ADOBE PDF]
• Agenda for August 28, 2002 Meeting [61KB ADOBE PDF]
• Federal Register Notice, August 28, 2002 Meeting
• Transcript for Day 2, July 19, 2002 [344KB ADOBE PDF]
• Transcript for Day 1, July 18, 2002 [475KB ADOBE PDF]
• Agenda for July 18-19, 2002 Meeting [113KB ADOBE PDF]
• Federal Register Notice, July 18-19, 2002 Meeting
• Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter (Third External Review Draft)
• Advance Notification of Meetings Federal Register Notice