Security and Prosperity Partnership; Notice of Public Meeting, 20921-20923 [E8-8329]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
sroberts on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 75 / Thursday, April 17, 2008 / Notices
The affected entities of this ICR are
major sources of polyvinyl chloride and
copolymers production; brick and
structural clay products manufacturing;
clay ceramics manufacturing; and
industrial, commercial, and institutional
boilers and process heaters. Previous
MACT standards for these source
categories have been vacated by the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit. Sources previously
subject or would have been subject to
those MACT standards would be those
entities affected by this ICR.
Owners and operators of affected
sources must submit title V permit
applications or amendments to establish
case-by-case MACT terms and
conditions. We anticipate that this ICR
will cover any activities involving
preparing, submitting, and reviewing
the Parts 1 and 2 permit applications
and applicability determinations,
developing the title V permit terms and
conditions, and the permit review and
approval process.
Burden Statement: The annual public
reporting and recordkeeping burden for
this collection of information is
estimated to average 92.6 hours per
response. Burden means the total time,
effort, or financial resources expended
by persons to generate, maintain, retain,
or disclose or provide information to or
for a Federal agency. This includes the
time needed to review instructions;
develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purposes
of collecting, validating, and verifying
information, processing and
maintaining information, and disclosing
and providing information; adjust the
existing ways to comply with any
previously applicable instructions and
requirements which have subsequently
changed; train personnel to be able to
respond to a collection of information;
search data sources; complete and
review the collection of information;
and transmit or otherwise disclose the
information.
Respondents/Affected Entities:
Respondents include owners/operators
of major sources of hazardous air
pollutants (HAPs) in the following
source categories: polyvinyl chloride
and copolymers production, brick and
structural clay products manufacturing,
clay ceramics manufacturing, and
industrial, commercial, and institutional
boilers and process heaters.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
2,573.
Frequency of Response: Once.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:
151,730.
Estimated Total Annual Cost:
$9,995,666.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:08 Apr 16, 2008
Jkt 214001
Changes in the Estimates: There is a
decrease of 20,470 hours in the total
estimated burden previously identified
in the expired ICR in the OMB
Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens.
The ICR 1648.04 spanned the period
in which the section 112(j) rule would
have applied to any of the 59 source
categories covered by the 2000 MACT
standards (the 10-year bin). This ICR
would affect only the 4 source
categories covered by the MACT
standards that have been vacated by the
United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit. Unlike ICR
No. 1648.04, which estimated the
burden from the Part 1 application only
(because all the MACT standards were
promulgated before Part 2 applied), this
ICR estimates burden for preparing,
submitting, and reviewing the Parts 1
and 2 permit applications and
applicability determinations,
developing the title V permit terms and
conditions, and the permit review and
approval process.
This ICR also estimates the number of
responses on a facility basis instead of
an individual boiler basis as the
previous ICR did, because each facility
will submit one application for the
facility, not each boiler.
Finally, EPA has updated the labor
rates for respondents, State, Local, and
Tribal agencies, and the EPA. These
adjustments were made to more
accurately reflect the true cost of an
hour of labor for the respondents, State,
Local, and Tribal agencies, and the EPA.
The unloaded hourly rates are different
because they are based on the latest
available rates from the BLS and the
OPM.
In summary, the difference in the
burden estimate is due to the
adjustments discussed above, including
number of respondents, submittal of
permit applications, development of the
permit, and updated labor rates.
Dated: April 11, 2008.
Sara Hisel-McCoy,
Director, Collection Strategies Division.
[FR Doc. E8–8330 Filed 4–16–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2008–0317; FRL–8361–7]
Security and Prosperity Partnership;
Notice of Public Meeting
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: EPA will be holding a public
meeting to encourage input from
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
20921
stakeholders regarding approaches to
ensuring success in meeting 2012
Security and Prosperity Partnership
(SPP) goals to assess and initiate action,
if necessary, on thousands of high (HPV)
and moderate production volume (MPV)
chemicals, to engage stakeholders on the
concept of developing and
implementing a HPV Challenge-type
program for ‘‘inorganic’’ HPV chemicals,
and on options for means to potentially
reset the Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA) Inventory. Additional
information on these Chemical
Assessment and Management Program
(ChAMP) efforts can be found on the
Office of Pollution Prevention and
Toxics homepage, https://www.epa.gov/
oppt, and on the new ChAMP website,
https://www.epa.gov/champ. The
purpose of this public meeting will be
to further discussion and development
of these initiatives.
The meeting will be held on May
2, 2008, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Requests to participate in the meeting
must be received on or before April 28,
2008.
To request accommodation of a
disability, please contact the technical
person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATON CONTACT, preferably at least
10 days prior to the meeting, to give
EPA as much time as possible to process
your request.
DATES:
The meeting will be held in
the EPA East, Conference Room 1153,
1201 Constitution Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC.
Requests to participate in the meeting
and requests for accommodation of a
disability, identified by docket
identification (ID) number EPA–HQ–
OPPT–2008–0317, may be submitted to
the technical person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
general information contact: Colby
Lintner, Environmental Assistance
Division (7408M), Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460–
0001; telephone number: (202) 554–
1404; e-mail address: TSCAHotline@epa.gov.
For technical information contact:
Pam Buster, Environmental Assistance
Division (7408M), Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460–
0001; telephone number: (202) 564–
8817; e-mail address:
buster.pamela@epa.gov.
ADDRESSES:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
E:\FR\FM\17APN1.SGM
17APN1
20922
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 75 / Thursday, April 17, 2008 / Notices
I. General Information
II. Background
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
A. What are SPP and ChAMP?
SPP unites the efforts of Canada,
Mexico, and the United States in an
initiative that is committed to
accelerating and strengthening the
national and regional risk-based
assessment and management of
chemicals. This effort is pursuant to a
commitment made by President Bush,
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper, and Mexican President Felipe
Calderon in Montebello, Quebec, in
August 2007. SPP builds on current
work underway in the United States and
Canada and will complement North
American efforts under the Commission
on Environmental Cooperation’s Sound
Management of Chemicals project.
The SPP initiative includes a number
of regional and national commitments.
The partners will share scientific
information, technical understanding,
best practices, and risk management
approaches, and will better coordinate
research on new approaches to chemical
testing and assessment. When EPA
announced the SPP commitment, it
stated its intention to obtain stakeholder
input and the public meeting meets that
goal in part. ChAMP is the name given
by EPA to its efforts to meet the SPP
commitment to complete initial
assessments and take action, if
necessary, on thousands of chemicals
produced above 25,000 lbs/year. This
commitment includes both HPV and
MPV chemicals, builds on the U.S. HPV
Challenge Program and Canada’s work
on chemical categorization and may also
include two new initiatives discussed
below.
You may be potentially affected by
this action if you manufacture, import,
process, or use chemical substances
subject to TSCA. Potentially affected
entities may include, but are not limited
to chemical manufacturers, e.g., persons
manufacturing, importing, processing,
or using chemicals for commercial
purposes. Since other entities may also
be interested, the Agency has not
attempted to describe all the specific
entities that may have an interest in this
matter. 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.
sroberts on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
B. How Can I Get Copies of this
Document and Other Related
Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a
docket for this action under docket ID
number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2008–0317.
All documents in the docket are listed
in the docket’s index available at https://
www.regulations.gov. Although listed in
the index, some information is not
publicly available, e.g., Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Certain other
material, such as copyrighted material,
will be publicly available only in hard
copy. Publicly available docket
materials are available electronically at
https://www.regulations.gov, or, if only
available in hard copy, at the OPPT
Docket. The OPPT Docket is located in
the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) at Rm.
3334, EPA West Bldg., 1301
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington,
DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room
hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
Federal holidays. The telephone number
of the EPA/DC Public Reading Room is
(202) 566–1744, and the telephone
number for the OPPT Docket is (202)
566–0280. Docket visitors are required
to show photographic identification,
pass through a metal detector, and sign
the EPA visitor log. All visitor bags are
processed through an X-ray machine
and subject to search. Visitors will be
provided an EPA/DC badge that must be
visible at all times in the building and
returned upon departure.
2. Electronic access. You may access
this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet
under the ‘‘Federal Register’’ listings at
https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:08 Apr 16, 2008
Jkt 214001
B. What Action is the Agency Taking?
In accordance with U.S. SPP
commitments, by 2012, EPA under
ChAMP will assess and initiate action,
if necessary, on the over 6,750 existing
chemicals produced above 25,000 lbs/
year in this country. These efforts will
position the United States to take action
to ensure that these chemicals are
produced and used in ways that do not
present unacceptable risks to health and
the environment. The approximately
6,750 chemicals encompassed by the
SPP commitment and ChAMP include
2,750 organic HPV chemicals produced
at or above 1 million lbs/year. In
assessing these chemicals, the Agency
will prepare screening-level
characterizations of hazard, exposure,
and risk, and will use those
characterizations to develop an initial
risk-based prioritization (RBP). HPV
Challenge submissions will generally
provide the base hazard data used in the
hazard characterizations, while the 2006
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) will
provide the bulk of the use and
exposure information used in the
exposure characterizations. These
screening-level hazard and exposure
characterizations will be combined to
develop screening-level risk
characterizations, which summarize
EPA’s current thinking regarding the
potential risks of HPV chemicals or
categories. Together, these
characterization documents will support
an initial RBP identifying the relative
priorities of these chemicals and
informing risk management options.
More detail on the RBP process,
including characterization and
prioritization documents, can be found
at https://www.epa.gov/CHAMP by
following the RBP links.
In addition to the 2,750 organic HPV
chemicals, the United States committed
under SPP to assess and initiate action,
if necessary, on an additional 4,000
organic MPV chemicals. MPV chemicals
are produced at or greater than 25,000
lbs/year but at less than 1 million lbs/
year. The Agency generally does not
have the same degree of hazard and
exposure data on these chemicals,
therefore, the assessment scheme will
differ from that applied to the HPV
chemicals. For MPV chemicals, EPA
intends to develop health and
environmental hazard and
environmental fate characterizations
using available data, Canadian
categorization results, EPA Structure
Activity Relationship (SAR) analysis
input, and knowledge gained under the
HPV Challenge Program, including on
categories of chemicals. The hazard and
fate characterizations will be used to
support development of hazard based
prioritizations to identify MPV
chemicals that may need follow-up (e.g.,
hazard/fate testing, exposure
information, risk management, etc.). As
with HPV chemicals, the Agency
envisions employing both voluntary and
regulatory actions for MPV chemicals.
As mentioned in this unit, ChAMP
may include two new initiatives
identified by EPA. The first of these
concerns approximately 750 inorganic
HPV chemicals, which were first
reported under the 2006 IUR cycle.
Recognizing the value of the original
HPV Challenge Program published in
the Federal Register issue of December
26, 2000 (65 FR 81686) (FRL–6754–6) in
making available to EPA and the public
basic screening level data on many
organic HPV chemicals, EPA believes
there is value in extending the approach
to inorganic HPV chemicals. Several
domestic and international activities
provide a starting point for development
of an Inorganics High Production
E:\FR\FM\17APN1.SGM
17APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 75 / Thursday, April 17, 2008 / Notices
sroberts on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
Volume (IHPV) Challenge Program in
the near future. The Agency is
considering applying the general
approach used in the HPV Challenge
Program (sponsorship commitments,
development of test plans, public
review step, completion of data package,
and submission to EPA) as well as the
inorganics guidance developed by the
Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) for use in its
HPV Program. Additional information
on OECD’s guidance on inorganics can
be found at: https://www.oecd.org/
document/7/0,3343,
en_2649_34379_1947463
_1_1_1_1,00.html.
It is anticipated that an IHPV
Challenge Program, if started in 2008,
could be completed by approximately
2011–2012. The 2011 IUR reporting
cycle will include exposure/use data for
inorganic HPV chemicals which would
allow for EPA to consider both hazard
and exposure elements and develop
RBPs for these chemicals. An
assessment approach similar to that for
organic MPV chemicals could be
applied to inorganic medium
production volume (IMPV) chemicals at
a later date.
The second new initiative concerns
an effort to potentially ‘‘reset’’ the TSCA
Inventory. The original TSCA Inventory
was compiled in 1979 consisting of
62,000 chemicals. Since then
approximately 21,000 new chemicals
have been added to the TSCA Inventory.
Under TSCA section 8(b), EPA is
required to ‘‘compile, keep current, and
publish a list of each chemical
substance which is manufactured or
processed in the United States.’’
Pursuant to this authority, and in an
effort to better understand the universe
of chemicals actually in commerce at
present, EPA is considering an effort to
reset the TSCA Inventory. While there
are a number of issues and questions
that would need to be resolved if EPA
does move forward with this effort it
necessarily will need to obtain
information on currently manufactured
and/or imported chemicals. Additional
information on ChAMP and EPA’s
current thinking can be found at: https://
www.epa.gov/CHAMP.
C. Why is EPA Taking This Action?
EPA believes that ChAMP provides a
sound basis for realizing further
progress by EPA on assessing and
managing chemicals. The SPP effort has
great potential to achieve greater public
health and environmental protection by
promoting a more integrated approach
to chemicals assessment and
management in North America. By
sharing information and the assessment
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:08 Apr 16, 2008
Jkt 214001
burden North America will be able to
more quickly, efficiently, and costeffectively determine the need for, and
possibly take, risk management actions
on a greater number of chemicals. Work
done by the U.S. to meet its 2012 SPP
commitment represents an important
contribution to this effort and to
meeting U.S. domestic chemical
assessment and management needs. The
two new initiatives being considered
complement and strengthen ChAMP by
expanding EPA’s efforts to include
inorganic HPV chemicals and an effort
focused on resetting the TSCA
Inventory.
20923
Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water
Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR) to
improve public health protection
through the control of microbial
contaminants by focusing on systems
with elevated Cryptosporidium risk.
EPA has determined that the proposed
Stage 2 DDBPR and LT2ESWTR
revisions submitted by Arkansas are no
less stringent than the corresponding
federal regulations. Therefore, EPA
proposes to approve these program
revisions.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
All interested parties may
request a public hearing. A request for
a public hearing must be submitted by
May 19, 2008 to the Regional
Administrator at the EPA Region 6
address shown below. Requests for a
hearing may be denied by the Regional
Administrator. However, if a substantial
request for a public hearing is made by
May 19, 2008, a public hearing will be
held. If no timely and appropriate
request for a hearing is received and the
Regional Administrator does not elect to
hold a hearing on his own motion, this
determination shall become final and
effective on May 19, 2008. Any request
for a public hearing shall include the
following information: the name,
address, and telephone number of the
individual, organization, or other entity
requesting a hearing; a brief statement of
the requesting person’s interest in the
Regional Administrator’s determination
and a brief statement of the information
that the requesting person intends to
submit at such hearing; and the
signature of the individual making the
request or, if the request is made on
behalf of an organization or other entity,
the signature of a responsible official of
the organization or other entity.
[FRL–8555–3]
ADDRESSES:
III. How Can I Request to Participate in
this Meeting?
You may submit a request to
participate in this meeting to the
technical person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Do not
submit any information in your request
that is considered CBI. Requests to
participate in the meeting, identified by
docket ID number EPA–HQ–OPPT–
2008–0317, must be received on or
before April 28, 2008.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Chemicals,
European Union, Hazardous chemicals,
High Production Volume (HPV)
chemicals, Medium Production Volume
(MPV) chemicals, TSCA Inventory.
Dated: April 11, 2008.
Wendy C. Hamnett,
Acting Director, Office Pollution Prevention
and Toxics.
[FR Doc. E8–8329 Filed 4–16–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–S
Public Water System Supervision
Program Revision for the State of
Arkansas
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed approval.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that
the State of Arkansas is revising its
approved Public Water System
Supervision Program. Arkansas has
adopted the Stage 2 Disinfectant and
Disinfection Byproducts Rule (DDBPR)
to increase public health protection by
reducing the potential risk of adverse
health effects associated with
disinfection byproducts throughout the
distribution system. In addition, the
State of Arkansas has adopted the Long
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
DATES:
All documents relating to
this determination are available for
inspection between the hours of 8 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
at the following offices: Arkansas
Department of Health, Division of
Engineering, 4815 West Markham, Little
Rock, Arkansas 72205; and the EPA
Region 6, Drinking Water Section
(6WQ–SD), 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite
1200, Dallas, Texas 75202.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Amy Camacho, EPA Region 6, Drinking
Water Section at the Dallas address
given above or at telephone (214) 665–
7175, or camacho.amy@epa.gov.
Authority: Section 1413 of the Safe
Drinking Water Act, as amended (1996), and
40 CFR part 142 of the National Primary
Drinking Water Regulations.
E:\FR\FM\17APN1.SGM
17APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 75 (Thursday, April 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20921-20923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8329]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2008-0317; FRL-8361-7]
Security and Prosperity Partnership; Notice of Public Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA will be holding a public meeting to encourage input from
stakeholders regarding approaches to ensuring success in meeting 2012
Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) goals to assess and initiate
action, if necessary, on thousands of high (HPV) and moderate
production volume (MPV) chemicals, to engage stakeholders on the
concept of developing and implementing a HPV Challenge-type program for
``inorganic'' HPV chemicals, and on options for means to potentially
reset the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory. Additional
information on these Chemical Assessment and Management Program (ChAMP)
efforts can be found on the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
homepage, https://www.epa.gov/oppt, and on the new ChAMP website, http:/
/www.epa.gov/champ. The purpose of this public meeting will be to
further discussion and development of these initiatives.
DATES: The meeting will be held on May 2, 2008, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30
p.m.
Requests to participate in the meeting must be received on or
before April 28, 2008.
To request accommodation of a disability, please contact the
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATON CONTACT,
preferably at least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much
time as possible to process your request.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the EPA East, Conference Room
1153, 1201 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC.
Requests to participate in the meeting and requests for
accommodation of a disability, identified by docket identification (ID)
number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2008-0317, may be submitted to the technical person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information contact: Colby
Lintner, Environmental Assistance Division (7408M), Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:
(202) 554-1404; e-mail address: TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov.
For technical information contact: Pam Buster, Environmental
Assistance Division (7408M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8817; e-mail
address: buster.pamela@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 20922]]
I. General Information
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
You may be potentially affected by this action if you manufacture,
import, process, or use chemical substances subject to TSCA.
Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to
chemical manufacturers, e.g., persons manufacturing, importing,
processing, or using chemicals for commercial purposes. Since other
entities may also be interested, the Agency has not attempted to
describe all the specific entities that may have an interest in this
matter. 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.
B. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2008-0317. All documents in the docket are
listed in the docket's index available at https://www.regulations.gov.
Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly
available, e.g., Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only
in hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available
electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available in
hard copy, at the OPPT Docket. The OPPT Docket is located in the EPA
Docket Center (EPA/DC) at Rm. 3334, EPA West Bldg., 1301 Constitution
Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room hours of
operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
Federal holidays. The telephone number of the EPA/DC Public Reading
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket is
(202) 566-0280. Docket visitors are required to show photographic
identification, pass through a metal detector, and sign the EPA visitor
log. All visitor bags are processed through an X-ray machine and
subject to search. Visitors will be provided an EPA/DC badge that must
be visible at all times in the building and returned upon departure.
2. Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register''
listings at https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
II. Background
A. What are SPP and ChAMP?
SPP unites the efforts of Canada, Mexico, and the United States in
an initiative that is committed to accelerating and strengthening the
national and regional risk-based assessment and management of
chemicals. This effort is pursuant to a commitment made by President
Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President
Felipe Calderon in Montebello, Quebec, in August 2007. SPP builds on
current work underway in the United States and Canada and will
complement North American efforts under the Commission on Environmental
Cooperation's Sound Management of Chemicals project.
The SPP initiative includes a number of regional and national
commitments. The partners will share scientific information, technical
understanding, best practices, and risk management approaches, and will
better coordinate research on new approaches to chemical testing and
assessment. When EPA announced the SPP commitment, it stated its
intention to obtain stakeholder input and the public meeting meets that
goal in part. ChAMP is the name given by EPA to its efforts to meet the
SPP commitment to complete initial assessments and take action, if
necessary, on thousands of chemicals produced above 25,000 lbs/year.
This commitment includes both HPV and MPV chemicals, builds on the U.S.
HPV Challenge Program and Canada's work on chemical categorization and
may also include two new initiatives discussed below.
B. What Action is the Agency Taking?
In accordance with U.S. SPP commitments, by 2012, EPA under ChAMP
will assess and initiate action, if necessary, on the over 6,750
existing chemicals produced above 25,000 lbs/year in this country.
These efforts will position the United States to take action to ensure
that these chemicals are produced and used in ways that do not present
unacceptable risks to health and the environment. The approximately
6,750 chemicals encompassed by the SPP commitment and ChAMP include
2,750 organic HPV chemicals produced at or above 1 million lbs/year. In
assessing these chemicals, the Agency will prepare screening-level
characterizations of hazard, exposure, and risk, and will use those
characterizations to develop an initial risk-based prioritization
(RBP). HPV Challenge submissions will generally provide the base hazard
data used in the hazard characterizations, while the 2006 Inventory
Update Reporting (IUR) will provide the bulk of the use and exposure
information used in the exposure characterizations. These screening-
level hazard and exposure characterizations will be combined to develop
screening-level risk characterizations, which summarize EPA's current
thinking regarding the potential risks of HPV chemicals or categories.
Together, these characterization documents will support an initial RBP
identifying the relative priorities of these chemicals and informing
risk management options. More detail on the RBP process, including
characterization and prioritization documents, can be found at https://
www.epa.gov/CHAMP by following the RBP links.
In addition to the 2,750 organic HPV chemicals, the United States
committed under SPP to assess and initiate action, if necessary, on an
additional 4,000 organic MPV chemicals. MPV chemicals are produced at
or greater than 25,000 lbs/year but at less than 1 million lbs/year.
The Agency generally does not have the same degree of hazard and
exposure data on these chemicals, therefore, the assessment scheme will
differ from that applied to the HPV chemicals. For MPV chemicals, EPA
intends to develop health and environmental hazard and environmental
fate characterizations using available data, Canadian categorization
results, EPA Structure Activity Relationship (SAR) analysis input, and
knowledge gained under the HPV Challenge Program, including on
categories of chemicals. The hazard and fate characterizations will be
used to support development of hazard based prioritizations to identify
MPV chemicals that may need follow-up (e.g., hazard/fate testing,
exposure information, risk management, etc.). As with HPV chemicals,
the Agency envisions employing both voluntary and regulatory actions
for MPV chemicals.
As mentioned in this unit, ChAMP may include two new initiatives
identified by EPA. The first of these concerns approximately 750
inorganic HPV chemicals, which were first reported under the 2006 IUR
cycle. Recognizing the value of the original HPV Challenge Program
published in the Federal Register issue of December 26, 2000 (65 FR
81686) (FRL-6754-6) in making available to EPA and the public basic
screening level data on many organic HPV chemicals, EPA believes there
is value in extending the approach to inorganic HPV chemicals. Several
domestic and international activities provide a starting point for
development of an Inorganics High Production
[[Page 20923]]
Volume (IHPV) Challenge Program in the near future. The Agency is
considering applying the general approach used in the HPV Challenge
Program (sponsorship commitments, development of test plans, public
review step, completion of data package, and submission to EPA) as well
as the inorganics guidance developed by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) for use in its HPV Program.
Additional information on OECD's guidance on inorganics can be found
at: https://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_34379_1947463_1_
1_1_1,00.html.
It is anticipated that an IHPV Challenge Program, if started in
2008, could be completed by approximately 2011-2012. The 2011 IUR
reporting cycle will include exposure/use data for inorganic HPV
chemicals which would allow for EPA to consider both hazard and
exposure elements and develop RBPs for these chemicals. An assessment
approach similar to that for organic MPV chemicals could be applied to
inorganic medium production volume (IMPV) chemicals at a later date.
The second new initiative concerns an effort to potentially
``reset'' the TSCA Inventory. The original TSCA Inventory was compiled
in 1979 consisting of 62,000 chemicals. Since then approximately 21,000
new chemicals have been added to the TSCA Inventory. Under TSCA section
8(b), EPA is required to ``compile, keep current, and publish a list of
each chemical substance which is manufactured or processed in the
United States.'' Pursuant to this authority, and in an effort to better
understand the universe of chemicals actually in commerce at present,
EPA is considering an effort to reset the TSCA Inventory. While there
are a number of issues and questions that would need to be resolved if
EPA does move forward with this effort it necessarily will need to
obtain information on currently manufactured and/or imported chemicals.
Additional information on ChAMP and EPA's current thinking can be found
at: https://www.epa.gov/CHAMP.
C. Why is EPA Taking This Action?
EPA believes that ChAMP provides a sound basis for realizing
further progress by EPA on assessing and managing chemicals. The SPP
effort has great potential to achieve greater public health and
environmental protection by promoting a more integrated approach to
chemicals assessment and management in North America. By sharing
information and the assessment burden North America will be able to
more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively determine the need for,
and possibly take, risk management actions on a greater number of
chemicals. Work done by the U.S. to meet its 2012 SPP commitment
represents an important contribution to this effort and to meeting U.S.
domestic chemical assessment and management needs. The two new
initiatives being considered complement and strengthen ChAMP by
expanding EPA's efforts to include inorganic HPV chemicals and an
effort focused on resetting the TSCA Inventory.
III. How Can I Request to Participate in this Meeting?
You may submit a request to participate in this meeting to the
technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Do not
submit any information in your request that is considered CBI. Requests
to participate in the meeting, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OPPT-2008-0317, must be received on or before April 28, 2008.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Chemicals, European Union, Hazardous
chemicals, High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals, Medium Production
Volume (MPV) chemicals, TSCA Inventory.
Dated: April 11, 2008.
Wendy C. Hamnett,
Acting Director, Office Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
[FR Doc. E8-8329 Filed 4-16-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S
