E7-18479. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values; Notice of Availability

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances (NAC/AEGL Committee) is developing AEGLs on an ongoing basis to provide Federal, State, and local agencies with information on short-term exposures to hazardous substances. This notice provides a list of 37 hazardous substances for Proposed AEGL values, which are available for public review and comment. Comments are welcome on both the Proposed AEGL values and the Technical Support Documents in the public docket.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before October 19, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2006-0832, by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

• Mail: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.

• Hand Delivery: OPPT Document Control Office (DCO), EPA East Bldg., Rm. 6428, 1201 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Attention: Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2006-0832. The DCO is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the DCO is [phone]. Such deliveries are only accepted during the DCO’s normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.

Instructions: Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2006-0832. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the docket without change and may be made available on-line at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-mail. The regulations.gov website is an “anonymous access” system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA’s public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/​epahome/​dockets.htm.

Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the docket index available in regulations.gov. To access the electronic docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov, select “Advanced Search,” then “Docket Search.” Insert the docket ID number where indicated and select the “Submit” button. Follow the instructions on the regulations.gov website to view the docket index or access available documents. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 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 http://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 [phone], and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket is [phone]. 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For general information contact: Colby Lintner, Regulatory Coordinator, Environmental Assistance Division (7408M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

For technical information contact: Paul S. Tobin, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (7406M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

This action is directed to the general public to provide an opportunity for review and comment on Proposed AEGL values and their supporting scientific rationale. This action may be of particular interest to anyone who may be affected if the AEGL values are adopted by government agencies for emergency planning, prevention, or response programs, such as EPA’s Risk Management Program under the Clean Air Act and Amendments Section 112r. It is possible that other Federal agencies besides EPA, as well as State and local agencies and private organizations, may adopt the AEGL values for their programs. As such, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.

2. Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments, remember to:

i. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).

ii. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.

iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes.

iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/or data that you used.

v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced.

vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and suggest alternatives.

vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats.

viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline identified.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) published in the Federal Register of October 31, 1995 (Ref. 1) a notice establishing the NAC/AEGL Committee with the stated charter objective of “the efficient and effective development of AEGLs and the preparation of supplementary qualitative information on the hazardous substances for Federal, State, and Local agencies and organizations in the private sector concerned with chemical emergency planning, prevention, and response.” The NAC/AEGL Committee is a discretionary Federal advisory committee formed with the intent to develop AEGLs for hazardous substances through the combined efforts of stakeholder members from both the public and private sectors in a cost-effective approach that avoids duplication of efforts and provides uniform values, while employing the most scientifically sound methods available.

This action provides notice of availability for public review and comment, of proposed AEGL values and underlying supporting documents for 37 hazardous substances. These values represent the 10^th set of exposure levels proposed and published by the NAC/AEGL Committee. For the previous 9 Federal Register notices (Refs. 2-10) that proposed AEGLs values for 140 hazardous substances, see Unit IV. These 9 Federal Register notices were published to provide an opportunity for public review and comment. Background information on the AEGL Program may be found in these earlier Federal Register notices or on the AEGL website (http://www.epa.gov/​oppt/​aegl).

Following public review and comment, the NAC/AEGL Committee will reconvene to consider relevant comments, data, and information that may have an impact on the NAC/AEGL Committee’s position and will again seek consensus for the establishment of Interim AEGL values. Although the Interim AEGL values will be available to Federal, State, and local agencies and to organizations in the private sector as biological reference values, it is intended to have them reviewed by a subcommittee of the National Academies (NA). The NA subcommittee will serve as a peer review of the Interim AEGL values and as the final arbiter in the resolution of issues regarding the AEGL values, and the data and basic methodology used for setting AEGL values. Following concurrence, Final AEGL values will be published under the auspices of NA.

III. List of Hazardous Substances

On behalf of the NAC/AEGL Committee, EPA is providing an opportunity for public comment on the Proposed AEGL values for the 37 hazardous substances identified in the table in this unit. Technical Support Documents and key literature references are in the public docket.

Proposed AEGL Hazardous Substances Table

Hazardous Substances Name	CAS Number
1,2,3-trimethylbenzene	526-73-8
1,2,4-trimethylbenzene	95-63-6
1,3,5-trimethylbenzene	108-67-8
Adamsite	578-94-9
Aluminum phosphide	20859-73-8
Arsenic trioxide	1327-53-3
Biphenyl	92-52-4
bis-Chloromethyl ether	542-88-1
Calcium phosphide	1305-99-3
Cyclohexyl isocyanate	3173-53-3
Diphenylchloroarsine	712-48-1
Ethyldichloroarsine	598-14-1
Hexafluoroacetone	684-16-2
Hexafluoropropylene	116-15-4
Ketene	463-51-4
Magnesium aluminum phosphide	None
Magnesium phosphide	12057-74-8
Methyl chlorosilane	993-00-0
Methyl dichlorosilane	75-54-7
Methyl t-butyl ether	1634-04-4
Methyldichloroarsine	593-89-5
Nitrogen mustard HN-1 bis(2-chloroethyl)ethylamine	538-07-8
Nitrogen mustard HN-2 bis(2-chloroethyl)methyl amine	51-75-2
Nitrogen mustard HN-3 tris(2-chloroethyl)amine	555-77-1
Phenyldichloroarsine	696-28-6
Phenylmercaptan	108-98-5
Potassium phosphide	20770-41-6
Propargyl alcohol	107-19-7
Selenium hexafluoride	7783-79-1
Silane	7803-62-5
Sodium phosphide	12058-85-4
Strontium phosphide	12504-13-1
Sulfuryl chloride	7791-25-5
Tetramethoxy silane	681-84-5
Trimethoxy silane	2487-90-3
Vinyl acetate monomer	108-05-4
Zinc phosphide	1314-84-7

IV. References

1. EPA. Establishment of a National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances. Federal Register (60 FR 55376, October 31, 1995) (FRL-4987-3). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

2. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances; Notices. Federal Register (62 FR 58840, October 30, 1997) (FRL-5737-3). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

3. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances, Proposed AEGL Values; Notice. Federal Register (65 FR 14186, March 15, 2000) (FRL-6492-4). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

4. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances, Proposed AEGL Values; Notice. Federal Register (65 FR 39264, June 23, 2000) (FRL-6591-2). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

5. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels(AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values. Federal Register (65 FR 77866, December 13, 2000) (FRL-6752-5). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

6. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values. Federal Register (66 FR 21940, May 2, 2001) (FRL-6776-3). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

7. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values. Federal Register (67 FR 7164, February 15, 2002) (FRL-6815-8). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

8. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values. Federal Register (68 FR 42710, July 18, 2003) (FRL-7189-8). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

9. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values; Notice of Availability. Federal Register (69 FR 54144, September 7, 2004) (FRL-7350-2). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

10. EPA. National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Hazardous Substances; Proposed AEGL Values; Notice of Availability. Federal Register (71 FR 60141, October 12, 2006) (FRL-8095-1). Available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/​fedrgstr.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs)
• Hazardous substances

Dated: September 10, 2007.

James B. Gulliford,

Assistant Administrator, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.