EPA MEETING in Research Triangle Park , NC

WHAT: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Particulate Matter (PM) Review Panel  

WHEN: November 12 & 13, 2003   

WHY: The federal Clean Air Act requires peer review of the scientific soundness of the EPA Science Advisory Board's particulate matter assessment including conceptual approach to the assessment, detailed evaluation of specific issues, and interpretation of the findings.   According to Designated Federal Officer for CASAC, public comment at the November 12-13 Review Panel's
meeting will probably happen on the first day of the meeting, related to the Review Panel's ongoing review of two items: 1) the 4th External Review Draft of the PM Air Quality Criteria Document (AQCD) and 2) the draft PM Staff Paper and Risk Assessment.  As of today, the meeting agenda is not finalized.   The draft agenda for this meeting is to be posted on the SAB Web page (www.epa.gov/sab) approximately one week prior to the meeting.

WHERE: Research Triangle Park, NC.  The meeting will tentatively be held at the Clarion Hotel in Research Triangle Park, 4912 S. Miami Blvd, Research Triangle Park, NC.   

Below are three items from the EPA Science Advisory Board website: 1) Background on the PM proposal being reviewed,  2) Basic information on the SAB's mission, and 3)  The EPA contact for the meeting. 

I encourage all who are interested in air quality and public health to attend.  

Louis Zeller
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
PO Box 88
Glendale Springs, NC 28629
Phone: 336-982-2691
Fax: 336-982-2954
Email: BREDL@skybest.com  

more info: Nov. 12, 2003: BREDL comments on CASAC review of the air quality criteria document for particulate matter.

1) Background on the PM proposal being reviewed  

Project #: 03-27

EPA Science Advisory Board

Air Quality Criteria Document for Particulate Matter (PM AQCD)

Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA)

Program Contact: Robert Elias, NCEA-RTP (NCEA-RTP) (919) 541-4167

Background: Clean Air Act Sections 108 & 109 require EPA to periodically assess scientific bases for review of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The PM AQCD produced by NCEA-RTP/ORD assesses the latest available information on PM air quality, exposure, dosimetry, and health and ecological effects, as key inputs to development of options for retaining or revising the PM NAAQS described in a PM Staff Paper produced by OAR's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) with ORD (NCEA, NHEERL, NERL) assistance. The First External Review Draft (October 1999) of the revised PM AQCD underwent public comment and CASAC review (December 1999). In response to that review, revisions were incorporated into a Second External Review Draft (April 2001) earlier released for public comment (April - July 2001) and CASAC review (July 2001). Further revisions were consequently incorporated into a Third External Review Draft released in May 2002 for public comment and CASAC review in July 2002. Any chapters not closed on at the July 2202 CASAC meeting may require further CASAC review after revision in response to the July CASAC review comments.

2) Basic information on the SAB's mission

Congress established the EPA Science Advisory Board in 1978 and gave it a broad mandate to advise the Agency on technical matters. The Board's principal mission includes:

Reviewing the quality and relevance of the scientific and technical information being used or proposed as the basis for Agency regulations

Reviewing research programs and the technical basis of applied programs

Reviewing generic approaches to regulatory science, including guidelines governing the use of scientific and technical information in regulatory decisions, and critiquing such analytic methods as mathematical modelling

Advising the Agency on broad scientific matters in science, technology, social and economic issues

Advising the Agency on emergency and other short-notice programs

3)  The EPA contact for the meeting  

Fred Butterfield
Designated Federal Officer
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee
EPA Science Advisory Board
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Phone: (202) 564-4561
Cell: (703) 915-9799
Fax: (202) 501-0323/0582
E-mail: butterfield.fred@epa.gov
SAB Home page: www.epa.gov/sab