Draft Federal Guide for Green Construction Specs; Reopening of Comment Period

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In the Federal Register of July 28, 2004, EPA published a notice of availability of a draft Federal Guide for Green Construction Specifications for public comment. The notice stated that comments on the draft Guide would be accepted until September 27, 2004. EPA has received several requests for an extension of time to comment on the draft Guide on the grounds that several issues that the Guide covers, require additional time for analysis. The Agency has determined that reopening the comment period is in the public interest. Consequently, the period for receipt of comments on the draft Guide is extended until January 14, 2005. It should be noted that the reopening of the comment period does not represent any modification of the draft Guide. The reopening of the comment period simply provides those interested parties additional time to provide comments to the Agency on the draft Guide. All other requirements stipulated in the initial notice for receipt of comments still apply. The draft Guide is available on the whole Building Design Guide at http://fedgreenspecs.wbdg.org.

DATES:

Comments must be received by January 14, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail, or through hand delivery/courier. Follow the detailed instructions as provided in Unit I.C. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of the July 28, 2004, Federal Register document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For general information: 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: (202) 554-1404; e-mail address: lintner.colby@epa.gov.

For technical information contact: Alison Kinn Bennett, Pollution Prevention Division (7409M), Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-8859; e-mail address: kinn.alison@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

This action is directed to the public in general, and may be of particular interest to those persons that design, build, or acquire buildings or building products for the Federal government. Since other entities may also be interested, 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 technical person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Copies of this Document and Other Related Information?

1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this action under docket identification (ID) number OPPT-2004-0092. The official public docket consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action, any public comments received, and other information related to this action. Although, a part of the official docket, the public docket does not include Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. The official public docket is the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at the EPA Docket Center, Rm. B102-Reading Room, EPA West, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The EPA Docket Center Reading Room telephone number is (202) 566-1744 and the telephone number for the OPPT Docket, which is located in EPA Docket Center, is (202) 566-0280.

2. Electronic access. You may access the draft Federal Guide for Green Construction Specifications at the Whole Building Design Guide Internet site at: http://fedgreenspecs.wbdg.org . You may access this Federal Register document electronically through the EPA Internet under the Federal Register listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.

An electronic version of the public docket is available through EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the official public docket, and to access those documents in the public docket that are available electronically. Although, not all docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access any of the publicly available docket materials through the docket facility identified in Unit I.B.1. Once in the system, select “search” then key in the appropriate docket ID number.

Certain types of information will not be placed in the EPA Dockets. Information claimed as CBI and other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute, which is not included in the official public docket, will not be available for public viewing in EPA's electronic public docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted material will not be placed in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only in printed, paper form in the official public docket. To the extent feasible, publicly available docket materials will be made available in EPA's electronic public docket. When a document is selected from the index list in EPA Dockets, the system will identify whether the document is available for viewing in EPA's electronic public docket. Although, not all docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access any of the publicly available docket materials through the docket facility identified in Unit I.B.1. EPA intends to work towards providing electronic access to all of the publicly available docket materials through EPA's electronic public docket.

For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically or on paper, will be made available for public viewing in EPA's electronic public docket as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that is placed in EPA's electronic public docket. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the public docket.

Public comments submitted on computer disks that are mailed or delivered to the docket will be transferred to EPA's electronic public docket. Public comments that are mailed or delivered to the docket will be scanned and placed in EPA's electronic public docket. Where practical, physical objects will be photographed, and the photograph will be placed in EPA's electronic public docket along with a brief description written by the docket staff.

C. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?

To submit comments, or access the official public docket, please follow the detailed instructions as provided in Unit I.C. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of the July 28, 2004 Federal Regsiter document (69 FR 45053) (FRL-7686-7). If you have questions, consult the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

II. What Action is the Agency Taking?

EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances is reopening the comment period for the draft Federal Guide for Green Construction Specifications from September 27, 2004 to January 14, 2005.

List of Subjects

• Environmental protection
• Green building
• Federal construction and renovation