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Scientific Workshop To Inform EPA's Response to National Academy of Science Comments on the Health Effects of Dioxin in EPA's 2003 Dioxin Reassessment 

PDF Version (1 pp, 59K, About PDF)

[Federal Register: December 29, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 79483]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29de08-64]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8758-1]

Scientific Workshop To Inform EPA's Response to National Academy
of Science Comments on the Health Effects of Dioxin in EPA's 2003
Dioxin Reassessment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of scientific workshop and poster submissions.

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SUMMARY: The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), a
part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of
Research and Development, is sponsoring a three-day public, scientific
workshop, including a public review of the recent scientific literature
on 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) dose-response, to assist
EPA in responding to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report,
Health Risks from Dioxin and Related Compounds: Evaluation of the EPA
Reassessment (NAS, 2006). (See 73 FR 70999 for information on the
preliminary literature search results for TCDD dose-response. The
literature search was conducted in collaboration with the Department of
Energy's Argonne National Laboratories.) The Track Group, an EPA
contractor, will organize and facilitate the workshop.
    Members of the public may attend the workshop as observers and may
participate in open comment periods. Space is limited and registrations
will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. As part of the
registration process, members of the public may choose to submit a
poster citation and abstract limited to 250 words. Space for displaying
posters is limited, and abstract submissions will be accepted on a
first-come, first-served basis.

DATES: The workshop will be held February 18-20, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 6
p.m. A poster session will be held on February 19, 2009, from 6:30 p.m.
to 8 p.m. During this time, workshop participants will view the
posters, and poster authors should be available to answer questions.
Posters may be installed and displayed between the hours of 8 a.m. and
8 p.m. on February 19, 2009, and must be taken down at the end of that
time. To ensure presentation of a poster, poster abstracts must be
submitted to EPA's contractor, The Track Group, in advance of the
workshop with a deadline of January 23, 2009.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Hilton Cincinnati
Netherland Plaza, 35 West Fifth St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202; telephone:
(513) 421-9100. The Track Group, an EPA contractor, is organizing and
facilitating the workshop. A special conference room rate is available
by mentioning ``the Dioxin Workshop.'' Registration and poster abstract
submission are available online at http://dioxinworkshop.eventbrite.com
or call the conference registration line at (703) 738-4633. To obtain
copies of background information, please see the NCEA Web site: http://
www.epa.gov/ncea/; copies are not available from The Track Group.
    Special Accomodations: EPA welcomes the attendance of the public at
this workshop and will make every effort to accommodate persons with
disabilities. If you require special accommodations due to a
disability, please contact The Track Group, 85 S. Bragg Street, Suite
301, Alexandria, VA 22312; telephone: (703) 738-4633, facsimile: (703)
997-0760, at least 7 days before the workshop.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For workshop information,
registration, and logistics, contact The Track Group, 85 S. Bragg
Street, Suite 301, Alexandria, VA 22312; telephone: (703) 738-4633;
facsimile: (703) 997-0760.
    For technical information, contact Glenn E. Rice, National Center
for Environmental Assessment, (Mail Code: MS A-110), Office of Research
and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH
45268; telephone: (513) 569-7813; facsimile: (513) 487-2539; or e-mail:
rice.glenn@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This workshop is designed to inform EPA's
response to the NAS report, Health Risks from Dioxin and Related
Compounds: Evaluation of the EPA Reassessment (NAS, 2006), by enlisting
expert scientist and public comment and input. The main objectives of
the workshop are to (1) identify the key significant comments offered
by the NAS in their evaluation of the TCDD dose-response assessment in
the EPA Reassessment (EPA, 2003), (2) discuss approaches for addressing
these comments, and (3) identify the key published literature needed to
support the EPA response.
    The three key findings of the NAS (2006) were for EPA to address:
``(1) Justification of approaches to dose-response modeling for cancer
and noncancer endpoints, (2) transparency and clarity in selection of
key data sets for analysis, and (3) transparency, thoroughness and
clarity in quantitative uncertainty analysis.'' EPA's goal for this
open, public workshop is to ensure that its technical response focuses
on the key issues and considers the most meaningful science to inform
its understanding of these issues, while maintaining transparency
throughout the process and providing opportunity for outside comment
and input.
    Participants in the workshop will consist of a wide range of
invited scientific experts and EPA scientific staff, representing a
variety of areas of expertise related to TCDD. Public participation
opportunities include designated open comment periods and an evening
scientific poster session. The purpose of the poster session is to
provide a forum for scientists to present recent studies relevant to
TCDD dose-response assessment. Scientists with significant expertise
and experience with TCDD or dioxin-related compound biology will be
invited to serve on expert panels for discussions throughout the
workshop. These expert panels will be asked to highlight significant
and emerging TCDD research and make recommendations to EPA regarding
the design and scope of the dose-response analyses for TCDD, including
recommendations for evaluating associated uncertainties. Open comment
periods will be included in the agenda following each expert panel
discussion.
    Preliminary information on the program agenda is available on the
NCEA Web page at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/. Recommendations from the
expert panels will be made available on the NCEA Web page after the
workshop.

    Dated: December 17, 2008.
Peter W. Preuss,
Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E8-30811 Filed 12-24-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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