[Federal Register: March 29, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 60)]
[Notices]
[Page 16249-16250]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29mr04-54]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7641-3]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations for
Experts for the Perfluorooctanoic Acid Human Health Risk Assessment
Review Panel
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 review panel known as the Perfluorooctanoic
Acid Human Health Risk Assessment Review Panel (PFOA Review Panel), and
is soliciting nominations for members of the Panel.
DATES: The deadline for submitting nominations is three (3) weeks from
publication of this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nominations should be submitted in
electronic format through the Form for Nominating Individuals to Panels
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory
Board provided on the SAB Web site. The form can be accessed through a
link on the blue navigational bar of the SAB Web site at: http://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. Suhair Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), as
indicated below.
Any member of the public requiring further information regarding
this Request for Nominations, or a paper nomination form, may contact
Dr. Shallal by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9977, via e-mail at
shallal.suhair@epa.gov, or at the following address: Suhair Shallal,
PhD., Science Advisory Board Staff Office, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (Mail Code 1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460. 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 review panel and soliciting nominations for members of the panel.
This panel 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
policies and regulations. The work of this panel is expected to
continue until the review is complete. The SAB is a chartered Federal
Advisory Committee that reports directly to the Administrator. The PFOA
Review Panel will provide advice through the SAB. The PFOA Review Panel
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 Overview
of the Panel Formation Process at the Environmental Protection Agency,
Science Advisory Board (EPA-SAB-EC-COM-02-010), http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ecm02010.pdf
.
Background: EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics has
been studying perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in order to understand the
health and environmental impact of perfluorochemicals. PFOA is a
synthetic (man-made) chemical and does not occur naturally in the
environment. The term PFOA refers to not only perfluorooctanoic acid
itself, but also its principal salts. The most commonly used chemical
in this grouping is the ammonium salt, ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or
APFO. PFOA is primarily used as a reactive intermediate, while its
salts are used as processing aids in the production of fluoropolymers
and fluoroelastomers and in other surfactant uses. Fluoropolymers are
used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial applications.
Although fluoropolymers are made using PFOA, the finished products
themselves are not expected to contain PFOA. The EPA has completed its
draft Risk Assessment of Potential Human Health Effects Associated with
PFOA and Its Salts. The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) has been asked
to review and comment on the scientific soundness of this assessment.
Request for Nominations: The EPA SAB Staff Office requests
nominations of experts to serve as Panel members on the PFOA Review
Panel. Areas of expertise sought include at least the following: (a)
Toxicology of perfluorinated compounds and mechanism of toxicity; (b)
Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity; (c) Toxicokinetics; (d)
Carcinogenesis; (e) Public Health; (f) Epidemiology; and (g) Human
Health Risk Assessment.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to serve as
panel members in the areas described above. The nominating form
requests the following: (1) Contact information about the person making
the nomination; (2) contact information about the nominee; (3) the
disciplinary and specific areas of expertise of the nominee; (4) the
nominee's resume; and (5) 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. Shallal as indicated, above.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than three
(3) weeks after publication of this notice.
From the nominees identified by respondents to this notice and
through other sources (termed the ``Widecast''), the 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 Panel. 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. Shallal 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 Panel.
For the EPA SAB, a balanced Panel 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
[[Page 16250]]
responses to the Short List candidates will be considered in the
selection of the Panel 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 panels.
Those Short List candidates ultimately chosen to serve on the Panel
will be appointed as Special Government Employees (SGEs). 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 an
SGE 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.
As an SGE, EPA SAB members are
required to abide by the letter and spirit of the ethical regulations
to which all U.S. Government employees must adhere. SGEs are required
to take annual ethics training in order to serve on the SAB.
Dated: March 23, 2004.
Richard Albores,
Acting Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 04-6926 Filed 3-26-04; 8:45 am]
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