SOURCE: US Environmental Protection Agency, 4/4/12
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel June 12 through 15, 2012, to consider and review Problem Formulation for the Reassessment of Ecological Risks from the Use of Atrazine. This SAP meeting will focus on the proposed use of the Plant Assemblage Toxicity Index (PATI)-model, amphibians and monitoring data, all which are components of the problem formulation.
The SAP will be directed at re-evaluation of micro/mesocosm studies and their impact on a PATI-derived level of concern (LOC) for aquatic plant communities and a strategy for using the PATI-derived LOC for identification of watersheds at risk. The strategy will employ adjustments to control for bias in atrazine concentrations from monitoring data according to sampling frequency.
EPA also will include a review of atrazine studies with amphibians, published in the open literature since the 2007 SAP on amphibians. This review will explore whether additional effects have been associated with exposure to atrazine and whether there is a relationship between effects reported across various studies and common study design elements.
SAP details:
- Meeting times - 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. June 12-14; 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 15.
- Deadline for written comments - May 29.
- Deadline to nominate SAP ad-hoc candidates - 14 days from Federal Register notice date. Agency is looking for scientists with expertise in aquatic community ecology, surface water monitoring, water quality, environmental fate and transport, aquatic toxicity, plant toxicity, and statistics.
- Deadline to request formal oral comments - June 5.
- EPA's background paper, related supporting materials, charge/questions to FIFRA SAP, FIFRA SAP composition (i.e., members and ad hoc members for this meeting), and the meeting agenda will be available at least 15 days prior to the meeting.
Instructions for submitting comments:
Comments must contain docket identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0230 and submitted by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal - http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail - Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P),Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460–0001.
Delivery - OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only accepted during the Docket Facility's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays). Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The Docket Facility telephone number is (703) 305–5805.
For more information about the June 2012 SAP, please see the attached FIFRA SAP public meeting notice or visit http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/atrazine/atrazine_update.htm. |
