Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry December 28, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice makes available for public comment the priority data needs for six priority hazardous substances (see Table 1) as part of the continuing development and implementation of the ATSDR Substance-Specific Applied Research Program (SSARP). The notice also serves as a continuous call for voluntary research proposals. The exposure and toxicity priority data needs in this notice were distilled from the data needs identified in ATSDR's toxicological profiles by the logical scientific approach described in a decision guide published in the Federal Register on September 11, 1989 (54 FR 37618). The priority data needs represent essential information to improve the database for conducting public health assessments. Research to address these priority data needs will help to determine the types or levels of exposure that may present significant risks of adverse health effects in people exposed to the hazardous substances. The priority data needs identified in this notice reflect the opinion of ATSDR, in consultation with other federal programs, about the research needed pursuant to ATSDR's authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund), or CERCLA, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) [42 U.S.C. 9604(i)]. The needs identified here do not represent the priority data needs for any other agency or program. Consistent with Section 104(i)(12) of CERCLA as amended [42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(12)], nothing in this research program shall be construed to delay or otherwise affect or impair the President, the Administrator of ATSDR, or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from exercising any authority regarding any other provision of law, including the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act of 1972 (FIFRA), or the response and abatement authorities of CERCLA. ATSDR worked with other federal programs to determine common substance-specific data needs and mechanisms to implement research that may include authorities under TSCA and FIFRA, private-sector voluntarism, or the direct use of CERCLA funds. When deciding the type of research that should be done, ATSDR considers the recommendations of the Interagency Testing Committee (ITC) established under Section 4(e) of TSCA. Federally funded projects that collect information from 10 or more respondents and that are funded by cooperative agreements are subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. If the proposed project involves research on human subjects, the applicants must comply with Department of Health and Human Services regulations (45 CFR part 46) regarding the protection of human subjects. The applicants must assure that the project will be subject to initial and continuing review by the appropriate institutional review committees. Overall, by providing additional scientific information for the risk assessment process, data generated from this research will support other researchers who are conducting human health assessments involving these six substances. Table 1 presents the priority data needs for six priority substances. The six substances are included in the ATSDR Priority List of Hazardous Substances (70 FR 72840, December 7, 2005). ATSDR invites comments from the public on the individual priority data needs and the priority data needs documents for these substances. After considering the comments, ATSDR will publish the final priority data needs for each substance. These priority data needs will be addressed by the mechanisms described in the ``Implementation of Substance-Specific Applied Research Program'' section of this Federal Register Notice.