97-5309. Science Advisory Board; Notice of Public Teleconferences

[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10045-10047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5309]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5698-9]


Science Advisory Board; Notice of Public Teleconferences

    Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, 
notice is hereby given that two Committees of the Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) will conduct public teleconference meetings on the dates 
noted below. The meetings are all open to the public. All times noted 
are Eastern Time.

1. Executive Committee

    The Science Advisory Board's (SAB) Executive Committee, will 
conduct a public teleconference meeting on Monday, March 17, 1997, 
between the hours of 12:00 and 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting will 
be coordinated through a conference call connection in Room 2103 of the 
Mall at the Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20460. The public is welcome to attend the meeting 
physically or through a telephonic link. Additional instructions about 
how to participate in the conference call can be obtained by calling 
Ms. Priscilla Tillery-Gadsen at 202-260-4126 by March 12.
    In this meeting the Executive Committee plans to review the report 
from its Integrated Human Exposure Committee--Review of the Agency's 
Exposure Factors Handbook. If time permits, the Committee may discuss 
other issues.
    Any member of the public wishing further information concerning the 
meeting or who wishes to submit comments should contact Dr. Donald G. 
Barnes, Designated Federal Official for the Executive Committee, 
Science Advisory Board (1400), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Washington DC 20460; telephone [phone]; FAX [phone]; or 
via the INTERNET at [e-mail]. Copies of the review 
document are available from the same source.

2. Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis

    The Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (ACCACA, or 
the ``Council'') of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) plans to hold four 
public teleconferences on the dates and times described below. All 
meetings are open to the public, however, the number of available phone 
lines is limited. For further information concerning the specific 
meetings described in this notice, please contact the individuals 
listed below. Documents that are the subject of SAB reviews are 
normally available from the originating EPA office and are not 
available from the SAB Office. These teleconferences are a follow-up to 
earlier Council discussions held on November 7 and 8, 1996 concerning 
the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 812 Retrospective and Prospective 
Studies (See 61 FR, 54196, Thursday, October 17, 1996).
    The Council has allocated four dates for public teleconferences to 
deal with both the Retrospective and the Prospective Studies. The 
dates, times, and anticipated topical issues to be discussed are listed 
as follows:
    (a) Friday, March 14, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.): Prospective 
Study and Retrospective Study: The major topic planned for this 
teleconference is review of the Prospective Study emissions modeling 
assumptions, methodology, results and documentation. The Council will 
provide advice to the Agency on the validity and utility of the 
emissions modeling data within the purposes of the current Prospective 
Study. It is also planned that logistical and scheduling aspects of 
both the Prospective and Retrospective Studies will be briefly 
discussed during this public teleconference. Some discussion may occur 
on select Retrospective Study issues at this teleconference. However, 
the preferred plan is to keep these topics separate, with this 
teleconference being reserved primarily to deal with the Prospective 
Study.
    (b) Wednesday, March 19, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.): 
Prospective Study and Retrospective Study: The major topics for this 
teleconference are to complete review of the Prospective Study 
emissions modeling assumptions, methodology, results and documentation 
(if more time is needed after the discussions of March 14), and to 
begin closure review on the Retrospective Study issues. The timing of 
which specific issues are to be discussed at each teleconference will 
be planned at this or the previous (March 14, 1997) teleconference, and 
will be driven by the schedule of availability of the Lead Discussants 
and other Council participants. The Council identified a number of 
Retrospective Study issue areas, some of which are listed here as 
follows: valuation of bronchitis and heart disease; presentation of 
baseline (``but for'' issues, that is, but for the presence of the 1990 
Clean Air Act), choice of study for estimating PM-related mortality 
(includes physical effects); costs (operations and maintenance costs, 
cost-of-clean, etc.); ecological effects; valuing changes in 
intelligence quotient (IQ) issues; presentation of life years lost 
calculations (life years remaining issue); methodological effects; 
morbidity effects by age; and research needs. Other related issues are 
planned to be discussed as time permits.
    (c) Friday, March 21, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.): Retrospective 
Study: The major topic of this teleconference is to continue closure 
review on the Retrospective Study issue areas identified above. 
Specific issue areas will be scheduled to match the availability of the 
Lead Discussants and other interested Council participants.
    (d) Wednesday, March 26, 1997 (11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.): 
Retrospective Study: The major topic of this teleconference is to 
continue closure review on the Retrospective Study issue areas 
identified above. If all the issue areas have been discussed in the 
earlier teleconferences, the Council members may elect to cancel this 
session. However, this time is being reserved for the Council just in 
case they need additional discussions to facilitate closure on the 
Retrospective Study.
    After the teleconference sessions are complete, the Agency plans to 
revise the Retrospective Study Report to Congress and re-issue it to 
the entire Council and the public for one final closure review prior to 
submitting the document for Executive Branch review and subsequent 
submission to Congress.
    Please contact the SAB staff (see below) to determine the logistics 
and details of the individual public teleconference meetings, or if the 
later planned meetings will be necessary.

Purpose of the Teleconferences

    The specific topic of the Prospective Study review is the draft 
emissions modeling assumptions, methodology,

[[Page 10046]]

results and documentation for this study. The Council is being asked by 
the Agency to review the emissions modeling data (including input, 
model configurations, and output data) to be used for the first CAA 
Section 812 prospective analysis and make recommendations to the 
Administrator on the validity and utility of the emissions modeling 
data within this analytical context. Specific questions include the 
following:
    (1) Are the regulatory assumptions and other design features of the 
Pre-Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and Post-CAAA scenarios reasonable 
and appropriate, given the purposes of the present study?
    (2) Are the input data used to configure the emissions models 
sufficiently valid and reliable for the intended analytical purpose?
    (3) Are the emissions models, and the methodologies they employ, 
sufficiently valid and reliable for the intended analytical purpose?
    (4) If the answers to any of the three questions above is negative, 
what specific alternative assumptions, data or methodologies does the 
Council recommend the Agency consider using for the prospective 
analysis?
    (5) If the answers to questions (1), (2), and (3) are positive, are 
the emissions inventories for the Pre-CAAA and Post-CAAA scenarios 
developed by this modeling exercise sufficiently valid and reliable for 
the intended purpose?
    (6) If the answer to question (5) is negative, what specific 
improvements does the Council recommend the Agency consider?
    The draft documents that present, compile and document the results 
and methodologies used for the Prospective Study emissions modeling, as 
well as the Retrospective Study Appendices and select text edits which 
are the subject of these reviews are available from the originating EPA 
office. The review materials and supporting documentation for the 
Prospective Study include the following:

Review Materials

    (1) U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, Air Emissions Estimates 
from Electric Power Generation for the CAAA Section 812 Prospective 
Study, February 1997,
    (2) E.H. Pechan & Associates, Inc., Emission Projections for the 
Clean Air Act Section 812 Prospective Analysis, January 31, 1997,

Supporting Documents

    (3) U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, Analyzing Electric Power 
Generation Under the CAAA, July, 1996,
    (4) U.S. EPA, Natural Gas Supply Assumptions in the Clean Air Power 
Initiative, U.S. EPA White Paper, July 31, 1996,
    (5) U.S. EPA, Coal Supply Assumptions in the Clean Air Power 
Initiative, U.S. EPA White Paper, July 31, 1996,
    (6) ICF Kaiser, Inc., The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and 
the Increasing Competitiveness of Powder Run River Basin (PRB) Coals, 
Memorandum from Charles Mann and Theodore Breton, ICF Kaiser, Inc. to 
Sam Napolitano, U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, October 15, 
1996.
    In addition to the above review materials and supporting documents, 
it is anticipated that briefing slides or bullet point documents will 
be circulated to the SAB's Council and made available to the public 
approximately ten days prior to the first public review teleconference 
on March 14, 1997. The intent behind the distribution of these briefing 
materials is to present summaries of the analytical context of the 
emissions modeling step, key scenario design features, emissions 
modeling methodologies, and emissions modeling results in order to 
facilitate the Agency's presentations during the teleconference, and to 
help focus the Council's subsequent review discussions.
    Once the Agency, considering the advice of the Council, determines 
that the emissions inventories are sufficiently valid and reliable, the 
Agency will configure and operate the air quality models to translate 
differences in emissions under the scenarios into differences in air 
quality conditions. On a parallel track, the costs of compliance with 
the regulatory programs and standards associated with each of the 
scenarios will also be developed. The methodological details and 
results of these subsequent analytical steps will be submitted for the 
SAB's Council to review at a later date.
    To discuss technical aspects or obtain copies of the draft 
documents pertaining to the CAA Section 812 Prospective Study emissions 
estimates listed above, or the Appendices and select text edits for the 
Retrospective Study, as well as the anticipated briefing slides or 
bullet point documents, please contact Mr. James DeMocker, Office of 
Policy Analysis and Review (OAR) (MC 6103), US Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. Tel. [phone]; 
FAX [phone], or via the Internet at: 
[e-mail]. To obtain copies of the latest complete 
draft of the Retrospective Study Report to Congress dated October 1996 
and entitled ``The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act, 1970 to 
1990,'' please contact Ms. Michelle Olawuyi, Secretary, Office of 
Economy and Environment (MC 2172), US Environmental Protection Agency, 
401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. Tel. [phone]; FAX (202) 
260-5732, or via the Internet at [e-mail].
    To obtain copies of the teleconference agendas, please contact Mrs. 
Diana L. Pozun, Secretary to the Council at Tel. [phone]; FAX 
[phone]; or via the Internet: [e-mail]). To 
discuss technical or logistical aspects of the Council's review 
process, please contact Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal 
Official, Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (the 
``Council''), Tel. [phone]; FAX [phone]; or via the 
Internet: kooyoomjian.jack @epamail.epa.gov). Members of the public who 
wish to physically be present at the teleconferences may do so at the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters Building, 401 M 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, Waterside Mall Room Number 2103. 
Members of the public who wish to obtain logging-on procedures should 
contact Mrs. Diana L. Pozun at least one week prior to the 
teleconference(s) of interest.

Public Speaking

    To request time for public comments at the Council teleconferences, 
please contact Mrs. Diana L. Pozun in writing at the mail, FAX or E-
Mail addresses given above no later than one week prior to each of the 
teleconferences.

Providing Oral or Written Comments at SAB Meetings

    The Science Advisory Board (SAB) expects that public statements 
presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously 
submitted oral or written statements. In general, opportunities for 
oral comment at teleconference meetings will be usually limited to 
three minutes per speaker and no more than fifteen minutes total. 
Written comments (at least 35 copies) received in the SAB Staff Office 
sufficiently prior to a meeting date (usually one week prior to a 
meeting), may be mailed to the Council prior to its meeting; comments 
received too close to the meeting date will normally be provided to the 
Council at its meeting, except for teleconferences, where brief written 
materials may be FAXed to the participants, with more detailed or 
lengthy materials received too close to

[[Page 10047]]

the teleconference to be mailed to the Council or its appropriate 
subcommittee participants shortly after the teleconference. Written 
comments may be provided up until the time of the meeting.

    Dated: February 24, 1997.
Donald G. Barnes,
Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.
[FR Doc. 97-5309 Filed 3-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P