[Federal Register: July 30, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 146)]
[Notices]
[Page 44761-44762]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30jy03-50]
[[Page 44761]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7537-6]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations for
a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board Ad Hoc
Committee To Be Known as the Homeland Security Advisory Committee
(HSAC)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces
the formation of a new SAB ad hoc Committee on Homeland Security known
as the Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC), and is soliciting
nominations for members of the Committee.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive by August 20,
2003.
ADDRESSES: Nominations should be submitted in electronic format through
the Form for Nominating Individuals to Panels of the EPA Science
Advisory Board provided on the SAB Web site. The form can be accessed
through a link on the blue navigational bar on the SAB Web site,
www.epa.gov/sab. To be considered, all nominations should include the
information requested on that form. Anyone who is unable to access
nominations on the SAB Web site can obtain a paper copy of the form by
contacting Dr. Philip Sayre, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), as
indicated below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Request for Nomination may contact
Dr. Philip Sayre, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-7673, or via e-
mail at sayre.phil@epa.gov. Those unable to access the nomination forms
through the above Web site can contact Dr. Sayre at the following
address: Philip Sayre, Ph.D., Science Advisory Board Staff Office, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (Mail Code 1400A), Suite 6450-R, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001. General
information about the SAB can be found in the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab
.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summary: The EPA SAB Staff Office is
announcing the formation of a new ad hoc Committee to help provide
advice through the SAB to the Administrator, and other officials in the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on matters pertaining to EPA's
mission in protecting against the environmental and health consequences
of terrorism. The SAB Staff Office is soliciting nominations for
members of the new Committee.
This Committee is being formed to help provide advice to the
Agency, as part of the SAB's mission, established by 42 U.S.C. 4365, to
provide independent scientific and technical advice, consultation, and
recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the technical bases for EPA
regulations.
The work of this Committee is expected to continue for
approximately two to three years; the background for the effort is
described below. Committee members will help provide advice to the
Agency through the SAB. The EPA Administrator may determine that a
particular HSAC meeting be partially or fully closed when matters under
discussion are covered by one of the Government in the Sunshine Act (5
U.S.C. 552b) open meeting exceptions. The SAB is a chartered Federal
Advisory Committee that reports directly to the Administrator.
The HSAC will comply with the openness provisions of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and all appropriate SAB procedural
policies, including the SAB process for panel formation described in
the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Panel Formation Process: Immediate
Steps To Improve Policies and Procedures--An SAB Commentary (EPA-SAB-
EC-COM-002-003), http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ecm02003.pdf.
Background: EPA is supporting the President's National Strategy for
Homeland Security and the new Department of Homeland Security in
specific areas. In keeping with EPA's traditional mission of protecting
human health and the environment, the Agency's mission includes
protection of the country against the environmental and health
consequences of acts of terrorism. EPA is responsible for assisting
public and private utilities in securing the nation's drinking and
wastewater infrastructure, for assisting those responsible for indoor
air, for working with the Department of Homeland Security to support
the enhancement of security for our chemical industry and hazardous
materials sector, and for responding to and recovering from acts of
biological, chemical, certain radiological, and other terrorist
attacks. For example, recently EPA has monitored environmental
conditions to help protect workers in and around the World Trade
Center, and developed and implemented a plan for decontaminating the
Hart Senate Office Building. For more information on the EPA Homeland
Security Strategic Plan, please see http://www.epa.gov/epahome/headline_100202.htm
.
The EPA organizations involved in implementation of Homeland
Security include the following: The Office of Research and Development
(ORD); the Office of Water (OW); the Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER); the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR); the
Office of Pesticides, Prevention, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS); the
Office of Environmental Information (OEI); and the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA). Further, two new
organizations within EPA have been formed to address homeland security
matters: the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) which coordinates
activities across the Agency, and the Office of Research and
Development's (ORD's) National Homeland Security Research Center
(NHSRC). The NHSRC has a 3-year mission to provide appropriate,
effective and rapid risk assessment guidelines and technologies to help
decision-makers prepare for, detect, contain, and decontaminate
chemical and biological attacks directed against buildings and water
treatment systems.
The Agency has asked the EPA Science Advisory Board to form an
expert group to advise senior managers on matters related to homeland
security. Examples of consultations for the Committee could include the
following: (1) Detection and characterization of contaminants in water
and air, response and mitigation, and prevention and protection; (2)
improvements to rapid risk assessment for terrorist agents such as
development of information systems and tools, risk estimates and risk
communication methodologies; and (3) verification of the performance of
technologies that can be used to monitor and ensure the quality of the
nation's drinking water supplies, and technologies for use in
monitoring indoor environments.
Charge to the Panel: When specific issues are identified for SAB
advice, a charge to the Panel and the initiation of SAB HSAC activities
will be announced on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/paneltopics.html
.
Request for Nominations: The EPA SAB Staff Office requests
nominations of individuals who are regarded as national and
international level experts in homeland security to serve as Committee
members. Areas of expertise sought include at least the following: (a)
Atmospheric sciences and air modeling;
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(b) engineering expertise for the design and operation of building
systems for air treatment and handling; (c) engineering expertise for
the design and operation of water treatment and dispersal systems; (d)
analytical chemistry for chemical detection methodologies; (e)
microbiology related to detection techniques for microbial pathogens;
(f) expertise in inactivation and disposal techniques for bulk amounts
of materials containing chemical, radiological, and biological agents;
(g) radiation health; (h) toxicology; (i) clinical toxicology; (j)
microbial pathology; (k) epidemiology; and (l) risk assessment.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to serve as
committee members in the areas described above. The nominating form
requests contact information about the person making the nomination;
contact information about the nominee; the disciplinary and specific
areas of expertise of the nominee; the nominee's resume; and a general
biosketch of the nominee indicating education, expertise, past
research, recent service on other advisory committees or with
professional associations, and recent grant and/or contract support.
Anyone who is unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web
site, or has questions concerning any aspect of the nomination process,
may contact Dr. Philip Sayre as indicated above in this FR notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than August
20, 2003.
The EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office will acknowledge
receipt of the nominations. From the nominees identified by respondents
to this Federal Register notice and through other sources (termed the
``Widecast''), SAB Staff Office will develop a smaller subset (known as
the ``Short List'') for more detailed consideration. Criteria used by
the SAB Staff Office in developing this Short List are given at the end
of the following paragraph. The SAB Staff Office will contact
individuals who are considered for inclusion in the Short List to
determine whether they are willing to serve on the Committee. The Short
List will be posted on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab, and
will include, for each candidate, the nominee's name and their
biosketch. The Short List also will be available from Dr. Sayre at the
address listed above. Public comments will be accepted for 21 calendar
days on the Short List. During this comment period, the public will be
requested to provide information, analysis or other documentation on
nominees that the SAB Staff Office should consider in evaluating
candidates for the Committee.
For the EPA SAB, a balanced Committee is characterized by inclusion
of candidates who possess the necessary domains of knowledge, the
relevant scientific perspectives (which, among other factors, can be
influenced by work history and affiliation), and the collective breadth
of experience to adequately address the charge. Public responses to the
Short List candidates will be considered in the selection of the
Committee members, along with information provided by candidates and
information gathered by EPA SAB Staff Office independently on the
background of each candidate (e.g., financial disclosure information
and computer searches to evaluate a nominee's prior involvement with
the topic under review). Specific criteria to be used in evaluating
individual nominees include: (a) Scientific and/or technical expertise,
knowledge, and experience (primary factors); (b) absence of financial
conflicts of interest; (c) scientific credibility and impartiality; (d)
availability and willingness to serve; and (e) ability to work
constructively and effectively in committees.
Those Short List candidates ultimately chosen to serve on the
Committee will be appointed as Special Government Employees. Therefore,
all Short List candidates will be required to fill out the
``Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Special Government
Employees Serving on Federal Advisory Committees at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency'' (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential
form allows Government officials to determine whether there is a
statutory conflict between that person's public responsibilities as a
Special Government Employee and private interests and activities, or
the appearance of a lack of impartiality, as defined by Federal
regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded from the following
URL address: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf. Finally,
some members may need to complete national security clearance forms to
obtain access to sensitive or classified homeland security information.
Committee members will likely be asked to attend one to two meetings
and public conferences per year over the anticipated course of the
advisory activity.
Dated: July 24, 2003.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 03-19352 Filed 7-29-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P