99-19905. Petition To Delist Ethylene Glycol Butyl Ether From the List of Hazardous Air Pollutants

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42125-42127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19905]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6411-6; Docket No. A-99-24]


Petition To Delist Ethylene Glycol Butyl Ether From the List of 
Hazardous Air Pollutants

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of receipt of a complete petition.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the receipt of a complete petition 
from the Chemical Manufacturers Association's (CMA's) Ethylene Glycol 
Ethers Panel requesting EPA to remove the chemical ethylene glycol 
butyl ether (EGBE) (CAS No. 111-76-2) from the list of hazardous air 
pollutants (HAPs) contained in section 112(b)(1) of the 1990 Clean Air 
Act (Act). We have determined that the CMA's original petition dated 
August 29, 1997 and the supplemental materials provided by CMA through 
December 21, 1998 will support an assessment of the human health 
impacts associated with people living in the vicinity of facilities 
emitting EGBE. In addition, the data submitted by CMA will support an 
assessment of the environmental impacts associated with emissions of 
EGBE to the ambient air and deposited onto soil or water. Consequently, 
we have concluded that CMA's petition is complete as of December 21, 
1998, the date of the last supplement, and is ready for public comment 
and the technical review phase of our delisting evaluation process.

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    This document invites the public to comment on the petition and to 
provide additional data, beyond that filed in the petition, on sources, 
emissions, exposure, health effects and environmental impacts 
associated with EGBE that may be relevant to our technical review.

DATES: Comments and additional data will be accepted if received on or 
before September 2, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Documents. A copy of the complete petition is contained in a 
docket available at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information 
Office, 401 M Street SW, Room M-1500 (6102), Waterside Mall, Washington 
DC 20460. The docket number for this action is A-99-24. The docket is 
an organized file of all the information received and considered in 
making the decision on the completeness of CMA's petition. The main 
purpose of the docket is to allow you to readily identify and locate 
documents that record the process we followed in making our decision. 
You may inspect the petition and copy it for offsite review between 
8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. In addition, CMA 
will make copies of the petition available upon request. To request a 
copy from CMA, you may call Dr. Susan A. Lewis at [phone] during 
normal business hours. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying.
    Comments and Data Submissions. Comments and additional data should 
be submitted (in duplicate if possible) to: The Docket Clerk, Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Office, 401 M Street SW, Room M-1500 
(Mail Code 6102), Waterside Mall, Washington DC 20460.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ted Palma, Emission Standards Division 
(MD-13), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, 
telephone [phone], electronic mail address: 
[e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

A. What Is the List of Hazardous Air Pollutants?

    Hazardous air pollutants include a wide variety of organic and 
inorganic substances released from large and small industrial 
operations, fossil fuel combustion, gasoline and diesel-powered 
vehicles, and many other sources. The HAPs have been associated with a 
wide variety of adverse health effects, including cancer, neurological 
effects, reproductive effects, and developmental effects. The health 
effects associated with the various HAPs may differ depending upon the 
toxicity of the individual HAP and the particular circumstances of 
exposure, such as the amount of chemical present, the length of time a 
person is exposed, and the stage in life of the person when the 
exposure occurs. The list of HAPs, which includes the pollutant 
category ``glycol ethers,'' of which EGBE is a member of this category, 
can be found in section 112(b)(1) of the Act. The HAPs list provides 
the basis for research, regulation, and other related EPA activities 
under section 112 of the Act.

B. What Is a HAP Delist Petition?

    A HAP delist petition is a formal request to the EPA from an 
individual or group to remove a specific HAP from the HAPs list. The 
removal of a HAP from the list eliminates it from consideration in 
EPA's program to promulgate national, technology-based emissions 
control standards. This technology-based standards program is commonly 
referred to as the maximum achievable control technology (MACT) 
program.
    Petitions to add or delete chemicals from the HAPs list are allowed 
under section 112(b)(3)(A) of the Act. The Act specifies that any 
person may petition the Administrator to modify, by addition or 
deletion, the list of HAPs, and the EPA Administrator is required to 
either grant or deny a petition to delist a specific HAP within 18 
months of the receipt of a complete petition.
    To delete a substance from the HAPs list, section 112(b)(3)(C) 
requires that the petitioner must provide adequate data on the health 
and environmental effects of the substance to determine that emissions, 
ambient concentrations, and bio-accumulation or deposition of the 
substance may not reasonably be anticipated to cause any adverse 
effects to human health or adverse environmental effects.

C. How Does EPA Review a Petition To Delist a HAP?

    The petition review process proceeds in two phases: a completeness 
determination and a technical review. During the completeness 
determination, we conduct a broad review of the petition to determine 
whether or not all the necessary subject areas are addressed and 
whether reasonable information and analyses are presented for each of 
these subject areas. Once the petition is determined to be complete, we 
place a notice of receipt of a complete petition in the Federal 
Register. That Federal Register notice announces a public comment 
period on the petition and starts the technical review phase of our 
decision-making process. The technical review involves a more thorough 
scientific review of the petition to determine whether the data, 
analyses, interpretations, and conclusions in the petition are 
appropriate and technically sound. The technical review will also 
determine whether or not the petition satisfies the necessary 
requirements of section 112(b)(3)(C) and adequately supports a decision 
to delist the HAP. All comments and data submitted during the public 
comment period are considered during the technical review.

D. How Is the Decision To Delist a HAP Made?

    The decision to either grant or deny a petition is made after a 
comprehensive technical review of both the petition and the information 
received from the public to determine whether the petition satisfies 
the requirements of section 112(b)(3)(C) of the Act. If the 
Administrator decides to grant a petition, a notice of proposed 
rulemaking is published in the Federal Register. That notice proposes a 
modification of the HAPs list and presents the reasoning for doing so. 
However, if the Administrator decides to deny a petition, a notice 
setting forth an explanation of the reasons for denial will be 
published instead. A notice of denial constitutes final Agency action 
of nationwide scope and applicability and is subject to judicial review 
as provided in section 307(b) of the Act.

II. Completeness Determination and Request for Public Comment

    On August 29, 1997, we received a petition from the CMA's Ethylene 
Glycol Ethers Panel to remove EGBE (CAS No. 111-76-2) from the HAPs 
list. After our initial review of the petition, we determined that 
additional information was needed to determine ecological risks as well 
as on the derivation of the safe human exposure level for EGBE. The 
petitioner submitted several additional documents in September and 
December of 1998 to address the information gaps. After reviewing all 
of the supplemental information, we have now determined that the 
essential subject areas have been addressed and that the petition is 
complete and ready for technical review. The CMA's last supplement 
which occurred December 21, 1998 marked the start of the 18-months 
decision period. Today's document initiates our comprehensive technical 
review of the petition and invites public

[[Page 42127]]

comment on the substance of the petition as described above.

III. Description of the Petition

    The complete petition provided by CMA contains the following 
information:
    A. Background information on EGBE, including chemical and physical 
properties data, synonyms, atmospheric residence time, solubility, 
information on atmospheric transformations as well as production and 
usage information.
    B. A hazard identification and dose-response assessment to 
determine whether exposure to EGBE is capable of causing adverse health 
effects in humans. Further, CMA provided supplemental materials 
addressing the results of the National Toxicology Program mouse and rat 
cancer bioassays of EGBE.
    C. An inventory of the releases of EGBE to the atmosphere. The 
inventory was developed by examining Federal, State, and local data 
sources. In addition, the inventory development included direct contact 
with industrial and trade associations and review of other chemical 
databases.
    D. ``Tiered'' air dispersion modeling that provides estimates of 
the ambient concentration of EGBE for comparison with inhalation health 
criteria. Tiered modeling involves the use of successive modeling 
techniques to move from conservative ``worst case'' estimates of the 
ambient concentrations of a substance emitted from a source toward more 
``realistic'' site-specific estimates of the ambient concentrations.
    E. An evaluation of the ambient measured concentrations of EGBE and 
estimates of typical urban ambient levels.
    F. An evaluation of the environmental fate and transport of EGBE to 
surface waters.
    G. A risk characterization study presenting an assessment of 
potential air inhalation exposures and surface water ingestion 
exposures to humans. Further, the petition included an assessment of 
the quality of the study data and uncertainty associated with the 
analysis.
    H. An ecological risk assessment to determine if adverse 
environmental effects may occur as a result of predicted ambient air 
quality levels and deposition to soil and water resulting from air 
releases of EGBE.
    The petition describes EGBE as the largest volume glycol ether used 
in the U.S. It estimates that the 1995 total U.S. consumption of EGBE 
was between 285 and 310 million pounds. The vast majority of EGBE is 
produced at five plants located in Michigan, Texas, and Louisiana. 
Approximately 90 percent of the EGBE consumed in the U.S. was used as a 
solvent in paints, coatings, industrial and household cleaners, 
adhesives, and inks. The remaining 10 percent was used as a chemical 
intermediate. As described in the petition, releases of EGBE to the 
environment are primarily to the atmosphere.
    In support of the delisting effort, the petitioner conducted a 
comprehensive emission inventory examining potential air emissions 
sources of EGBE as well as glycol ethers. Evaluating a cross-section of 
the industry, the petition collected data and conducted its ``tiered-
type'' air quality assessment on over 3,400 facilities with inventoried 
air emissions of EGBE.
    The hazard identification and dose-response assessment in the 
petition presents a summary of recent health criteria studies performed 
by a steering group comprised of CMA and EPA scientists. The petition 
suggests that an inhalation reference concentration and ingestion 
reference dose ranging from 3 to 73 milligrams per cubic meter and 3 to 
23 milligrams per kilogram per day, respectively, are appropriate 
health criteria for the risk and exposure assessment.
    The risk assessment compares model predicted air quality data with 
proposed health criteria information to conclude that air releases of 
EGBE are not anticipated to cause adverse effects to human health. An 
ecological risk assessment, to determine adverse environmental effects 
to nonhuman receptors, further concludes that air releases of EGBE are 
not likely to cause nor contribute to adverse environmental effects.

    Dated: July 26, 1999.
Robert Brenner,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 99-19905 Filed 8-2-99; 8:45 am]
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