[Federal Register: June 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 114)]
[Notices]
[Page 34758]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15jn05-61]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7924-6]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of Upcoming
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board, 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 a
public meeting of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC).
DATES: July 15, 2005. The Committee will hold a public face-to-face
meeting on July 15, 2005 from 8:30 a.m.to 4 p.m. (EST).
ADDRESSES: The meeting of the Committee will be held at the SAB
Conference Center located at the Woodies Building, 1025 F St. NW., Room
3705, Washington, DC, 20004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to
obtain more information regarding this meeting may contact Dr. Heidi
Bethel, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office (1400F), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone/voice mail: (202) 343-9975; Fax (202)
233-0643 or via e-mail at bethel.heidi@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Agency's overall mission with respect to homeland
security is the protection of the nation against the environmental and
health consequences of acts of terrorism. Five Mission Critical Areas
(MCAs) are described in the U.S. EPA's 2004 Homeland Security Strategy
(http://www.epa.gov/homelandsecurity/htm/ohs-sp.htm). EPA's roles
within the MCAs include protection of critical infrastructure including
water and wastewater industries; aiding other federal agencies in the
protection of the chemical, food, transportation, and energy sectors;
responding and recovering from any chemical, biological, radiological,
or nuclear terrorist events; providing environmental expertise to
support federal law enforcement activities; improving compliance
monitoring and surveillance of imports in U.S. ports of entry; and
synthesizing and communicating complex information related to human
health and the environment. Additionally, EPA is committed to
protecting its own personnel and infrastructure and conducting internal
evaluations of the Agency's homeland security activities to determine
if objectives are achieved.
Because of the cross-disciplinary nature of homeland security
issues, multiple EPA offices are involved and their efforts are
coordinated by the Administrator's Office of Homeland Security (OHS)
(http://www.epa.gov/homelandsecurity/index.htm). Homeland security
research at EPA is conducted by the Office of Research and
Development's National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC)
(http://www.epa.gov/nhsrc/). Research is conducted by the Agency in the
following three areas: building cleanup through detection, containment,
decontamination and disposal of terrorist agents and building
materials; threat and consequence assessment, which involves the
development of information systems and tools, risk estimates, and risk
communication; and water infrastructure protection with an emphasis on
water supply, treatment, and distribution infrastructures.
In response to a request from the Agency, the SAB has formed a
subcommittee of the Chartered SAB to provide independent scientific and
technical advice on matters pertaining to EPA's mission in protecting
against the environmental and health consequences of terrorism.
Background on this SAB Committee and its charge was provided in a
Federal Register (FR) Notice published on July 30, 2003 (68 FR 44761-
44762).
Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463,
Notice is hereby given that the SAB HSAC, a subcommittee of the
Chartered SAB, will hold a public face-to-face meeting. The Committee
will receive briefings from EPA offices regarding the Agency's role in
homeland security and the scope of their research and program
activities. EPA's technical contact is Ms. Lee Ann Byrd, EPA Office of
Homeland Security (1109A), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW., Washington, DC
20460; telephone/voice mail: (202) 564-0675/6978; or via e-mail at
byrd.lee@epa.gov.
Availability of Meeting Materials: The meeting agenda and meeting
materials will be posted on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/science1/agendas.htm
prior to the meeting.
Procedures for Providing Public Comment: It is the policy of the
EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office to accept written public
comments of any length, and to accommodate oral public comments
whenever possible. Oral Comments: Requests to provide oral comments
must be in writing (e-mail, fax or mail) and received by Dr. Bethel no
later than five business days prior to the meeting in order to reserve
time on the meeting agenda. For face-to-face meetings, opportunities
for oral comment will usually be limited to no more than ten minutes
per speaker or organization (unless otherwise stated). Speakers should
bring at least 35 copies of their comments and presentation slides for
distribution to the reviewers and public at the meeting. Written
Comments: Although written comments are accepted until the date of the
meeting (unless otherwise stated), written comments should be received
in the SAB Staff Office at least five business days prior to the
meeting date so that the comments may be made available to the
committee for their consideration. Comments should be supplied to the
DFO at the address/contact information noted above in the following
formats: one hard copy with original signature and one electronic copy
via e-mail (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat, WordPerfect, Word,
or Rich Text files (in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format).
Dated: June 9, 2004.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 05-11826 Filed 6-14-05; 8:45 am]
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