[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 153 (Monday, August 10, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42631-42632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21355]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6141-2]
Announcement of Stakeholder Forums on Perchlorate in Water
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of stakeholder forums.
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SUMMARY: The Interagency Perchlorate Steering Committee (IPSC) will be
holding two one-day stakeholder forums on August 25, 1998 in Salt Lake
City, Utah, and on August 27, 1998 in Phoenix, Arizona. The IPSC, a
working partnership of government agencies chartered to facilitate
identification of the issues and coordinate the exchange of scientific
information related to potential perchlorate contamination in the
environment, includes representatives from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Defense (DoD), Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), National Institute for
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Native American Tribes, Utah
Department of Environmental Quality, Utah Department of Health
Laboratories, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Texas
Natural Resources Conservation Commission and California Department of
Health Services. The purpose of these stakeholder forums is to
disseminate information on the key scientific issues, to identify
additional issues, and to hear stakeholder concerns. This meeting will
be similar in content to the perchlorate stakeholders meeting the IPSC
held in Henderson, Nevada on May 19-21, 1998. At the upcoming meeting,
the IPSC is again seeking input from State and Tribal drinking water
programs, the regulated community (public water systems), public health
organizations, academia, environmental and public interest groups,
engineering firms, and the public on a number of issues related to
perchlorate contamination in the environment. The IPSC encourages the
full participation of stakeholders at the forum.
DATES: The Salt Lake City, Utah forum will be held on Tuesday, August
25, 1998 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. MST. An additional public evening
session will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. MST. The Phoenix,
Arizona forum will be held on Thursday, August 27, 1998 from 8:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. MST.
ADDRESSES: The August 25, 1998 forum will be held at the Department of
Enviromental Quality, 168 North, 1950 West, Building 2, Room 101. The
August 27, 1998 forum will be held at Arizona State University, West
Campus, UCB Building, La Sala Rm. B & C. To register, please contact
the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline via e-mail at sdwa@epamail.epa.gov or by calling 1-800-426-4791 or 703-285-1093
between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT. Those registered by August 18,
1998, will receive a draft agenda, logistics information, and
discussion papers prior to the forum. When registering, please indicate
it is for the
[[Page 42632]]
``Perchlorate Forum'', specify which meeting you will attend and
provide your name, organization, title, mailing address, telephone
number, facsimile number, and e-mail address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on forum
logistics, please contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-
426-4791.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
Perchlorate is used as an oxidizer component in solid propellant
(fuel) for rockets, missiles, and fireworks. It is very soluble in
water, mobile in aqueous systems and can persist for many decades under
typical ground water and surface water conditions. Recent (April 1997)
advances in the analytical detection capability for low concentrations
of perchlorate, from 400 to 4 parts per billion (ppb), have led to the
discovery of the chemical at various manufacturing sites and some
drinking water supply wells of communities in California, Nevada, and
Utah. Perchlorate has been found in ground water at six Superfund
hazardous waste sites in California, at six other California non-
Superfund waste sites, two sites in the Henderson, Nevada area, one
site in Utah, and in the discharge to a creek in Texas. Water suppliers
in both northern and southern California, and the Las Vegas Water
Authority have found perchlorate in their water supplies generally at
levels less than 18 ppb but ranging as high as 280 ppb, with several in
the 100-200 ppb range. Perchlorate has also been detected at low levels
(5 to 9 ppb) in the Colorado River.
Concerns have been raised about perchlorate because of the lack of
adequate scientific information about the contaminant, including: where
the contamination occurs, what reliable methods exist to detect it in
various media, what the potential health effects are, and what
treatment technologies exist. Historically, potassium perchlorate was
used therapeutically to treat hyperthyroidism in Graves' Disease
patients because it inhibits iodine uptake and thereby reduces thyroid
hormone production. Thyroid hormone deficiencies can affect normal
metabolism, growth, and development.
Currently, perchlorate does not have a National Primary Drinking
Water Regulation (NPDWR) or Health Advisory (HA) established. Under the
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), as amended in 1996, EPA is required to
develop a list of contaminants, known as the Contaminant Candidate List
(CCL), that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems
and may require regulation under SDWA (section 1412(b)(1)). As a result
of public comment on a draft of the CCL published on October 6, 1998
(62 FR 52193), perchlorate was added to the final CCL that was
published on March 2, 1998 (63 FR 10274). At this time, additional
research on health effects, effective treatment technologies,
analytical methods, and occurrence is necessary before a determination
can be made of whether to regulate perchlorate with an NPDWR or to
develop guidance.
B. Request for Public Involvement
The IPSC is encouraging development of a sound research and
management strategy by the involved government agencies through
facilitating identification of the issues concerning perchlorate
contamination and by coordinating information exchange to ensure the
incorporation of the best available science and stakeholder input on
technical and policy issues.
The stakeholder forum will cover a broad range of topics including:
(1) key exposure characterization issues (occurrence and sites of known
contamination, transport and transformation, analytical methods); (2)
perchlorate health risk assessment (health effects and toxicology
studies, the peer review process); (3) key technical assessments
(treatment technologies, waste stream handling); (4) ecological
impacts; (5) regulatory and policy issues and; (6) future stakeholder
involvement. Background materials on perchlorate issues will be sent in
advance of the forum to those who register with the EPA Safe Drinking
Water Hotline by August 18, 1998.
The IPSC has announced this forum to hear the views of stakeholders
on actions that the agencies represented by the IPSC are taking or are
planning to take to address perchlorate contamination. The public is
invited to participate fully during the August 25, 1998 and August 27,
1998 forums and during future opportunities for stakeholder
participation.
Dated: August 5, 1998.
Cynthia C. Dougherty,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 98-21355 Filed 8-7-98; 8:45 am]
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