Toxic substances: based paint activities— Identification of dangerous levels of lead,

[Federal Register: February 3, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 22)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 5258-5259]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr03fe99-31]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 745

[OPPTS-62156G; FRL-6060-9] RIN 2070-AC63

Lead; Identification of Dangerous Levels of Lead; Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: EPA will be holding a public meeting on a proposed rule for managing lead in paint, dust, and soil in residences and child-occupied facilities. This public meeting is in response to requests from various parties to provide for additional participation by the environmental justice community in the development of the proposed rule.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on February 16, 1999, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Written comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before March 1, 1999.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington-- Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW., Washington D.C. Each written comment must bear the docket control number OPPTS- 62156G. All comments should be sent in triplicate to: OPPT Document Control Officer (7407), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., SW., Rm. G-099, East Tower, Washington, DC 20460. Written comments and data may also be submitted electronically to: oppt.ncic@epa.gov. Follow the instructions in Unit II. of this document. No Confidential Business Information (CBI) should be submitted through e-mail. All written comments which contain information claimed as CBI must be clearly marked as such. Three copies, sanitized of any comments containing information claimed as CBI, must also be submitted and will be placed in the public record for this rulemaking. Persons submitting information, any portion of which they believe is entitled to treatment as CBI by EPA, must assert a business confidentiality claim in accordance with 40 CFR 2.203(b) for each such portion. This claim must be made at the time that the information is submitted to EPA. If a submitter does not assert a confidentiality claim at the time of submission, EPA will consider this as a waiver of any confidentiality claim and the information may be made available to the public by EPA without further notice to the submitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information: National Lead Information Center's Clearinghouse, 1-800-424-LEAD (5323). For technical and policy questions: Jonathan Jacobson; telephone: (202) 260-3779; e-mail address: jacobson.jonathan@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

   In the Federal Register of June 3, 1998 (63 FR 30302) (FRL-5791- 9), EPA published a proposed rule under section 403 of TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2683). This proposed rule identifies lead-based paint hazards, lead- contaminated dust, and lead-contaminated soil in residences and child- occupied facilities. Section 402 of TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2682) directs EPA to promulgate regulations governing lead-based paint activities. Section 404 of TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2684) requires that any State that seeks to administer and enforce the requirements established by the Agency under section 402 of TSCA must submit to the Administrator a request for authorization of such a program. On October 1 and November 5, 1998, EPA announced in the Federal Register two extensions to the comment period for this proposed rule (63 FR 52662 (FRL-6037-7) and 63 FR 59754 (FRL-6044-9), respectively). The latest extension was until December 31, 1998. EPA has received additional comments from various parties involved with environmental justice to extend the comment period and to provide additional participation by this community in the development of the

   [[Page 5259]]

   proposed rule. In response, EPA reopened the public comment period until March 1, 1999, in order to ensure that all parties, including those that may lack access to the various publications in which EPA has publicized the issuance of the proposal, have sufficient opportunity to submit their comments. Notice of this extension was published in the Federal Register of January 14, 1999 (43 FR 2460) (FRL-6056-1). EPA has also decided to hold a public meeting with interested members of the Agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) and the public to offer additional opportunity for representatives of the environmental justice community to participate in the rulemaking process. During the first hour of the meeting, EPA officials will provide an overview of the proposal, focusing on environmental justice-related. In the second hour of the meeting, NEJAC members will have the opportunity to offer oral comments on the proposed rule. Other members of the public may offer oral comment on a first come, first served basis. Individuals interested in speaking must register at the meeting and are requested to limit their presentations to 3 minutes in order to allow as many persons as possible a fair chance to participate.

2. Public Record and Electronic Submissions

   The official record for this rulemaking, as well as the public version, has been established for this rulemaking under docket control number OPPTS-62156G (including comments and data submitted electronically as described in this unit). A public version of this record, including printed, paper versions of electronic comments, which does not include any information claimed as CBI, is available for inspection from 12 noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The official rulemaking record is located in the TSCA Nonconfidential Information Center, Rm. NE-B607, 401 M St., SW., Washington, DC. Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at:

   oppt.ncic@epa.gov.

   Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Comments and data will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1/6.1 or ASCII file format. All comments and data in electronic form must be identified by the docket control number OPPTS-62156G. Electronic comments on this proposed rule may be filedonline at many Federal Depository Libraries.

   List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 745

   Environmental protection, Hazardous substances, Lead-based paint, Lead poisoning, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

   Dated: January 28, 1999. William H. Sanders, III, Director, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

   [FR Doc. 99-2674Filed2-1-99; 2:55 pm]

   BILLING CODE 6560-50-F