[Federal Register: April 12, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 70)]
[Notices]
[Page 19180-19182]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12ap04-42]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7646-5]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Clean Air Scientific
Advisory Committee (CASAC); Ambient Air Monitoring and Methods (AAMM)
Subcommittee; Request for Nominations
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
[[Page 19181]]
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency)
Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing the formation
of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Ambient Air
Monitoring and Methods (AAMM) Subcommittee (hereinafter, the
``Subcommittee'') and is hereby soliciting nominations for this
Subcommittee.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by May 3, 2004 per the
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact
Mr. Fred Butterfield, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science
Advisory Board Staff, at telephone/voice mail: (202) 343-9994; or via
e-mail at: butterfield.fred@epa.gov. General information concerning the
CASAC or the SAB can be found on the EPA Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab
.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The CASAC, which comprises seven members appointed by
the EPA Administrator, was established under section 109(d)(2) of the
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) as an independent scientific advisory
committee, in part to provide advice, information and recommendations
on the scientific and technical aspects of issues related to air
quality criteria and national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)
under sections 108 and 109 of the Act. The CASAC is a Federal advisory
committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as
amended, 5 U.S.C., App. The Subcommittee will comply with the
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural
policies.
The SAB Staff Office is forming this Subcommittee to provide EPA,
through the CASAC, with advice and recommendations on topical areas
related to ambient air monitoring and methods developments. The Clean
Air Act requires EPA to establish NAAQS and to regulate, as necessary,
hazardous air pollutants. The Agency uses ambient air monitoring to
determine current air quality conditions, and to assess progress toward
meeting these standards and related regulatory goals. EPA has
traditionally concentrated much of the national air monitoring efforts
on the six ``criteria air pollutants,'' i.e., ozone, particulate
matter, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead.
More recently, the Agency is focusing upon the measurement of toxic air
pollutants including early work to establish a national air toxics
monitoring program. Nearly all of the air quality monitoring is
conducted by State, local, and Tribal agencies through funding provided
by EPA's matching Federal grants programs. Data needs, and therefore,
scientific demands upon the ambient air monitoring network are
increasing. EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS),
within EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, developed a draft national
ambient air monitoring strategy that will accommodate these changes.
The CASAC's National Ambient Air Monitoring Strategy (NAAMS or
Strategy) Subcommittee provided an initial review of the draft strategy
which is available on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/casacl04001.pdf.
The CASAC requested that the Agency develop an
implementation plan that matched the underlying concepts of the
Strategy. Accordingly, the new Subcommittee will be charged with
reviewing the monitoring strategy implementation plan, which will
include specific recommendations of measurements, measurement methods,
regulatory review and revision, quality assurance/quality control
standards, and network design.
Furthermore, EPA's OAQPS has initiated the evaluation of continuous
monitoring technologies for use in the measurement of coarse particles
as either a Federal Reference Method (FRM) or a Federal Equivalent
Method (FEM). These efforts support major regulatory objectives of the
Clean Air Act as part of the Agency's work in developing a reference
method for coarse particles to be included in the EPA Review of the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter: Policy
Assessment of Scientific and Technical Information (i.e., the draft
OAQPS Staff Paper on Particulate Matter), which can be found at the
following URL: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pm/s_pm_index.html.
Therefore, the new Subcommittee will also be charged with
reviewing the coarse particle methods testing study conducted by EPA
and providing recommendations for use of these methods as reference or
equivalent methods. The review also will consider how to optimize the
use of one or more methods to meet multiple monitoring objectives,
while having a scientifically-acceptable approach to the coarse
particle reference method.
Any questions concerning either the ambient air monitoring strategy
implementation plan or the coarse particle methods evaluation
activities should be directed to Dr. Richard Scheffe, U.S. EPA OAQPS
Monitoring and Quality Assurance Group Leader, at phone: (919) 541-
4650; or e-mail: scheffe.rich@epamail.epa.gov.
The SAB Staff Office is soliciting public nominations of national
and international experts in one or more of the following areas:
(a) Atmospheric sciences and air quality simulation modeling. Areas
of expertise include the development and application of regional and
larger-scale air quality dispersion models to predict atmospheric
concentrations of ozone, particulate matter and other air pollutants,
with emphasis placed on the application of such systems to developing
emission control strategies in support of national-level programs or
State Implementation Plans (SIPs). Related areas of expertise include
individuals with expertise in mechanisms of chemical interactions,
source-receptor modeling, observational-based models and related data
analysis expertise and conceptual model development.
(b) Human health effects and exposure assessment. Areas of
expertise include utilizing ambient monitoring data in epidemiology,
toxicology, and related disciplines that examine the causative
relationships between air pollution and adverse health effects in
indoor and outdoor environments.
(c) Air quality measurement science. Areas of expertise include
measurement of criteria and hazardous air pollutants in particulate
matter and gaseous samples with an understanding of routine monitoring
conducted by most State and local agencies, an interest in and an
understanding of integrating advanced methodologies into monitoring
networks and transferring new technological advances to routine use by
government air quality agencies.
(d) Ecological risk assessment. Areas of expertise include the
assessment of ecosystem exposure to criteria and hazardous air
pollutants and the use of such data in ecosystem risk assessment.
(e) State, local agency or Tribal experience. Areas of expertise
include experience working in a State, local agency or Tribal
organization familiar with the practical logistics of conducting air
monitoring operations, as well as in air monitoring network design.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals in the areas
of expertise described above to serve on the Subcommittee the areas of
expertise described above. Nominations should be submitted in
electronic format through
[[Page 19182]]
the Form for Nominating Individuals to Panels of the EPA Science
Advisory Board provided on the SAB Web site, http://www.epa.gov/sab.
The form can be accessed through a link on the blue navigational bar on
the SAB Web site, http://www.epa.gov/sab. To be considered, all
nominations must include the information required on that form.
Anyone who is unable to submit nominations using this form, and any
questions concerning any aspects of the nomination process may contact
Mr. Fred Butterfield, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than May 3,
2004.
To be considered, all nominations must include: (a) A current
biography, curriculum vitae (C.V.) or resume, which provides the
nominee's background, experience and qualifications for the
Subcommittee; and (b) a brief biographical sketch (``biosketch''). The
biosketch should be no longer than one page and must contain the
following information for the nominee:
(I) Current professional affiliations and positions held;
(ii) Area(s) of expertise, and research activities and interests;
(iii) Leadership positions in national associations or professional
publications or other significant distinctions;
(iv) Educational background, especially advanced degrees, including
when and from which institutions these were granted;
(v) Service on other advisory committees, professional societies,
especially those associated with issues under discussion in this
review; and
(vi) Sources of recent (i.e., within the preceding two years) grant
and/or other contract support, from government, industry, academia,
etc., including the topic area of the funded activity.
Please note that even if there is no responsive information (e.g., no
recent grant or contract funding), this must be indicated on the
biosketch (by ``N/A'' or ``None''). Incomplete biosketches will result
in nomination packages not being accepted.
The EPA SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of the
nomination. From the nominees identified by respondents to this notice
(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 in developing this Short List are given
at the end of the following paragraph. 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. 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 Subcommittee.
For the EPA SAB Staff Office, a balanced subcommittee or review
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 responses to the Short List candidates will
be considered in the selection of the Subcommittee, along with
information provided by candidates and information independently-
gathered by the SAB Staff Office 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 an individual Subcommittee
member include: (a) Scientific and/or technical expertise, knowledge,
and experience (primary factors); (b) availability and willingness to
serve; (c) absence of financial conflicts of interest; (d) scientific
credibility and impartiality; and (e) skills working in advisory
committees, subcommittees and review panels. Subcommittee members will
likely be asked to attend no more than two public, face-to-face
meetings and/or public teleconference meetings per year.
Short List candidates will also 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 (which
includes membership on an EPA Federal advisory committee) 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
.
The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects
subcommittees and review panels is described in the following document:
Overview of the Panel Formation Process at the Environmental Protection
Agency Science Advisory Board (EPA-SAB-EC-02-010), which is on the SAB
Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.
Dated: April 6, 2004.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 04-8224 Filed 4-9-04; 8:45 am]
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