[Federal Register: December 19, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 242)]
[Notices]
[Page 75173-75174]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19de05-54]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8010-3]
Notification of a Partially Closed Consultation of the Science
Advisory Board's Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces a
partially closed consultation of the HSAC.
DATES: The consultation will take place on January 30-31, 2006.
ADDRESSES: This consultation will take place at the EPA's SAB
Conference Center located at the Woodies Building, 1025 F Street, NW.,
Room 3705, Washington, DC 20004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to
obtain further information regarding this announcement may contact Ms.
Vivian Turner, Designated Federal Officer, by telephone: (202) 343-9697
or by e-mail at: turner.vivian@epa.gov. The SAB Mailing address is:
U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460. General
information about the SAB, as well as any updates concerning the
consultation announced in this notice, may be found in the SAB Web site
at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA's Office of Water (OW) and Office of
Research and Development (ORD) have requested a consultation with the
SAB's Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) to obtain the
individual advice of the HSAC members on the development of EPA's
WaterSentinel (WS) program and Standard Analytical Methods (SAM). The
WS program is being developed by the EPA in partnership with drinking
water utilities and other key stakeholders in response to Homeland
Security Presidential
[[Page 75174]]
Directive 9. The initiative involves designing, deploying, and
evaluating a model contamination warning system for drinking water
security. Another essential component is the need for standardized
analytical methods (SAM) to be used by all laboratories for responding
to incidents that require rapid analysis. The EPA and other Federal
parties, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the
Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Geological Survey, have
evaluated the suitability of existing methodologies and selected a set
of methods for use by EPA and contract laboratories to analyze
environmental samples in times of national emergency. The methods are
limited to chemical, biological, radiochemical, and biotoxin analytes
in environmental media. The purpose of the consultation is to seek
early advice from the individual members of the SAB HSAC regarding the
proposed approach, design, adequacy and the future implementation for
the WS program and the scientific soundness and adequacy of SAM.
The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent
scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator. The SAB
formed the HSAC as a subcommittee of the Chartered SAB to provide
independent scientific and technical advice on matters pertaining to
the environmental and health consequences of terrorism in response to
an EPA request. Background on the HSAC and its charge was provided in a
Federal Register Notice published on July 30, 2003 (68 FR 44761-44762).
For this consultation, the HSAC will be augmented with experts from
other SAB committees or individuals previously identified on the HSAC
``Short List'' (see, http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/hsacadhoc.html).
It is EPA's policy to follow the provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA) for subcommittees of its chartered advisory
committees. Accordingly, in accordance with FACA, EPA has determined
that a portion of the SAB's HSAC consultation on WS will be closed to
the public pursuant to section 552b(c)(9)(B) of the Government in the
Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B)), which allows closure of a
meeting if the ``premature disclosure of [the information to be
discussed] would * * * be likely to significantly frustrate
implementation of a proposed agency action * * *.'' This discussion
will involve sensitive national security information relating to
specific water sector vulnerabilities and emergency response tactics,
including sensitive information relating to intentional contamination
events. Also, EPA will present detailed findings about the emergency
response capabilities of public health agencies and water utilities.
The disclosure of this sensitive national security information would
significantly frustrate the Agency's efforts to protect the nation's
drinking water systems. Therefore, pursuant to section 10(d) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, 10(d), I
have determined that the topics identified above will concern matters
that, if prematurely disclosed, would significantly frustrate
implementation of proposed agency actions. Accordingly, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B), this portion of the meeting will be closed to the
public.
Availability of Meeting Materials: The agenda and other meeting
materials for this consultation will be available prior to the meeting
date on the SAB Web site: http://www.epa.gov/sab EPA's technical documents on the WS program may be found at: http://www.cfpub.epa.gov/.
safewater/watersecurity/index.cfm. EPA's technical documents on SAM may
be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ordnhsrc/pubs/reportSAM092905.pdf.
Procedures for Providing Public Comment: The SAB Staff Office
accepts written public comments of any length, and will 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 Ms. Turner no later than January
20, 2006 to reserve time on the January 30-31, 2006 meeting agenda.
Opportunities for oral comments will be limited to five minutes per
speaker.
Written Comments: Written comments should be received in the SAB
Staff Office by January 20, 2006 so that the comments may be made
available to the members of the HSAC for their consideration. Comments
should be supplied to Ms. Turner at the contact information provided
above, in the following formats: One hard copy (original signature
optional), or one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format:
Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, Word, or Rich Text files (in IBM-PC/
Windows 98/2000/XP format)).
Accessibility: For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, please contact Ms. Turner at the phone
number or e-mail noted above, preferably at least 10 days prior to the
consultation, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your
request.
Dated: December 13, 2005.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E5-7505 Filed 12-16-05; 8:45 am]
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