2011-16730. Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public Teleconference of the SAB Mercury Review Panel

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference of the Mercury Review Panel.

DATES:

The teleconference will be held on July 20, 2011, from 1 to 4 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time)

ADDRESSES:

The public teleconference will be conducted by telephone only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Members of the public who wish to obtain further information regarding this meeting must contact Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer (DFO). Dr. Nugent may be contacted at the EPA Science Advisory Board (1400R), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; or by telephone/voice mail at [phone]; fax at [phone]; or e-mail at [e-mail]. General information concerning the SAB can be found at the EPA SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/​sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDAA), codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., App. 2. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby given that the SAB Mercury Review Panel will hold a public teleconference to discuss a draft advisory report Review of EPA's Draft Technical Support Document: National-Scale Mercury Risk Assessment Supporting the Appropriate and Necessary Finding for Coal and Oil-Fired Electric Generating Units—March 2011. The Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.

EPA is considering regulating the emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) released from coal-burning electric generating units in the United States (U.S. EGUs) under Section 112(n)(1)(A) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA developed a draft risk assessment for mercury, entitled Technical Support Document: National-scale Mercury Risk Assessment. This draft assessment considers the nature and magnitude of the potential risk to public health posed by current U.S. EGU mercury emissions and the nature and magnitude of the potential risk posed by U.S. EGU mercury emissions in the future, once all anticipated CAA-related regulations potentially reducing mercury from U.S. EGUs are in-place. EPA's Office of Air and Radiation requested peer review of this draft document. To conduct this review, the SAB Mercury Review Panel met on June 15-17, 2011 (76 FR 29746-29747) to review the draft Technical Support Document. The purpose of the July 21 2011, teleconference is to discuss the panel's draft report, Review of EPA's Draft Technical Support Document: National-Scale Mercury Risk Assessment Supporting the Appropriate and Necessary Finding for Coal and Oil-Fired Electric Generating Units—March 2011.

Availability of Meeting Materials: The agenda, the draft panel report, and other meeting materials will be available on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/​sab/​sabproduct.nsf/​fedrgstr_​activites/​A%26N%20Hg%20Risk%20Assessment%20TSD?​OpenDocument in advance of the meeting.

Procedures for Providing Public Input: Public comment for consideration by EPA's Federal advisory committees and panels has a different purpose from public comment provided to EPA program offices. Therefore, the process for submitting comments to a Federal advisory committee is different from the process used to submit comments to an EPA program office.

Federal advisory committees and panels, including scientific advisory committees, provide independent advice to EPA. Members of the public can submit comments for a Federal advisory committee to consider as it develops advice for EPA. Input from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if it provides specific scientific or technical information or analysis for panels to consider or if it relates to the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. Members of the public wishing to provide comment should contact the Designated Federal Officer for the relevant advisory committee directly. Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at this public meeting will be limited to three minutes per speaker. Interested parties should contact Dr. Angela Nugent, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail) at the contact information noted above by July 18, 2011, to be placed on the list of public speakers for the meeting. Written Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff Office by July 18, 2011, so that the information can be made available to the Panel for their consideration. Written statements should be supplied to the DFO in electronic format via e-mail (acceptable file formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format). It is the SAB Staff Office general policy to post written comments on the Web page for the advisory meeting or teleconference. Submitters are requested to provide an unsigned version of each document because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents with signatures on its Web sites. Members of the public should be aware that their personal contact information, if included in any written comments, may be posted to the SAB Web site. Copyrighted material will not be posted without explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Accessibility: For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Angela Nugent at the phone number or e-mail address noted above, preferably at least ten days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

Dated: June 27, 2011.

Anthony F. Maciorowski,

Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.