[Federal Register: March 14, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 49)]
[Notices]
[Page 11867-11870]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14mr07-48]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0186; FRL-8118-7]
FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel; Notice of Public Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: There will be a 3-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to
consider and
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review guidance on test methods for demonstrating the efficacy of
antimicrobial products for inactivating Bacillus anthracis spores on
environmental surfaces.
DATES: The meeting will be held on July 17-19, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. to
5 p.m., Eastern time.
Comments. The Agency encourages that written comments be submitted
by July 3, 2007 and requests for oral comments be submitted by July 10,
2007. However, written comments and requests to make oral comments may
be submitted until the date of the meeting. For additional
instructions, see Unit I.C. of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
Nominations. Nominations of candidates to serve as ad hoc members
of the FIFRA SAP for this meeting should be provided on or before March
26, 2007.
Special Accommodations. For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation of a
disability, please contact the Designated Federal Official (DFO) listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least 10 days prior to the
meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Environmental Protection
Agency Conference Center, Lobby Level, One Potomac Yard (South Bldg.),
2777 Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202.
Comments. Submit your comments, identified by docket ID number EPA-
HQ-OPP-2007-0186, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments. Your use of
the Federal eRulemaking Portal to submit comments to EPA electronically
is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments.
Mail. Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Regulatory
Public Docket (7502P), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001.
Delivery. OPP Regulatory Public Docket (7502P),
Environmental Protection Agency, Rm. S-4400, One Potomac Yard (South
Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. Deliveries are only
accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation (8:30 a.m. to 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays). Special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The
Docket telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Instructions. Direct your comments to docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-
2007-0186. If your comments contain any information that you consider
to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO listed under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special instruction before
submitting your comments. EPA's policy is that all comments received
will be included in the docket without change and may be made available
on-line at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through
regulations.gov or e-mail. The regulations.gov website is an
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit
an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and
other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk
or CD ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be
able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects
or viruses.
Docket. All documents in the docket are listed in a docket index
available in regulations.gov. To access the electronic docket, go to
http://www.regulations.gov, select ``Advanced Search,'' then ``Docket
Search.'' Insert the docket ID number where indicated and select the
``Submit'' button. Follow the instructions on the regulations.gov web
site to view the docket index or access available documents. Although
listed in a docket index, some information is not publicly available,
e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by
statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not
placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy
form. Publicly available docket materials are available in the
electronic docket at http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only available
in hard copy, at the OPP Regulatory Public Docket in Rm. S-4400, One
Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. The
hours of operation of this Docket Facility are from 8:30 a.m. to 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket
telephone number is (703) 305-5805.
Nominations, Requests to Present Oral Comments, and Requests for
Special Accommodations. Submit nominations to serve as an ad hoc member
of the FIFRA SAP, requests for special seating accommodations, or
requests to present oral comments to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph E. Bailey, DFO, Office of
Science Coordination and Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone
number: (202) 564-2045; fax number: (202) 564-8382; e-mail addresses:
bailey.joseph@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this Action Apply to Me?
This action is directed to the public in general. This action may,
however, be of interest to persons who are or may be required to
conduct testing of chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), FIFRA, and the Food Quality Protection Act of
1996 (FQPA). Since other entities may also be interested, the Agency
has not attempted to describe all the specific entities that may be
affected by this action. If you have any questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a particular entity, consult the DFO
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
When submitting comments, remember to:
1. Identify the document by docket ID number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
2. Follow directions. The Agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
3. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
4. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
5. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
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6. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and
suggest alternatives.
7. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
8. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline
identified.
C. How May I Participate in this Meeting?
You may participate in this meeting by following the instructions
in this unit. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, it is imperative that
you identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2007-0186 in the subject line
on the first page of your request.
1. Written comments. The Agency encourages that written comments be
submitted, using the instructions in ADDRESSES, no later than July 3,
2007, to provide FIFRA SAP the time necessary to consider and review
the written comments. However, written comments are accepted until the
date of the meeting. Persons wishing to submit written comments at the
meeting should contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT and submit 30 copies. There is no limit on the extent of
written comments for consideration by FIFRA SAP.
2. Oral comments. The Agency encourages that each individual or
group wishing to make brief oral comments to FIFRA SAP submit their
request to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no
later than July 10, 2007, in order to be included on the meeting
agenda. Requests to present oral comments will be accepted until the
date of the meeting and, to the extent that time permits, the Chair of
the FIFRA SAP may permit the presentation of oral comments at the
meeting by interested persons who have not previously requested time.
The request should identify the name of the individual making the
presentation, the organization (if any) the individual will represent,
and any requirements for audiovisual equipment (e.g., overhead
projector, 35 mm projector, chalkboard). Oral comments before FIFRA SAP
are limited to approximately 5 minutes unless prior arrangements have
been made. In addition, each speaker should bring 30 copies of his or
her comments and presentation slides for distribution to the FIFRA SAP
at the meeting.
3. Seating at the meeting. Seating at the meeting will be on a
first-come basis.
4. Request for nominations to serve as ad hoc members of the FIFRA
SAP for this meeting. As part of a broader process for developing a
pool of candidates for each meeting, the FIFRA SAP staff routinely
solicits the stakeholder community for nominations of prospective
candidates for service as ad hoc members of the FIFRA SAP. Any
interested person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to
be considered as prospective candidates for a specific meeting.
Individuals nominated for this meeting should have expertise in one or
more of the following areas: Microbiology, disinfectant and sporicidal
efficacy testing, cellular biology/morphology of bacterial spores and
statistics. Nominees should be scientists who have sufficient
professional qualifications, including training and experience, to be
capable of providing expert comments on the scientific issues for this
meeting. Nominees should be identified by name, occupation, position,
address, and telephone number. Nominations should be provided to the
DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before March 26,
2007. The Agency will consider all nominations of prospective
candidates for this meeting that are received on or before this date.
However, final selection of ad hoc members for this meeting is a
discretionary function of the Agency.
The selection of scientists to serve on the FIFRA SAP is based on
the function of the panel and the expertise needed to address the
Agency's charge to the panel. No interested scientists shall be
ineligible to serve by reason of their membership on any other advisory
committee to a Federal department or agency or their employment by a
Federal department or agency except the EPA. Other factors considered
during the selection process include availability of the potential
panel member to fully participate in the panel's reviews, absence of
any conflicts of interest or appearance of lack of impartiality,
independence with respect to the matters under review, and lack of
bias. Though financial conflicts of interest, the appearance of lack of
impartiality, lack of independence, and bias may result in
disqualification, the absence of such concerns does not assure that a
candidate will be selected to serve on the FIFRA SAP. Numerous
qualified candidates are identified for each panel. Therefore,
selection decisions involve carefully weighing a number of factors
including the candidates' areas of expertise and professional
qualifications and achieving an overall balance of different scientific
perspectives on the panel.
In order to have the collective breadth of experience needed to
address the Agency's charge for this meeting, the Agency anticipates
selecting approximately 10 ad hoc scientists. FIFRA SAP members are
subject to the provisions of 5 CFR part 2634, Executive Branch
Financial Disclosure, as supplemented by the EPA in 5 CFR part 6401. In
anticipation of this requirement, prospective candidates for service on
the FIFRA SAP will be asked to submit confidential financial disclosure
information which shall fully disclose, among other financial
interests, the candidate's employment, stocks and bonds, and, where
applicable, sources of research support. The EPA will evaluate the
candidates financial disclosure form to assess whether there are
financial conflicts of interest, appearance of a lack of impartiality
or any prior involvement with the development of the documents under
consideration (including previous scientific peer review) before the
candidate is considered further for service on the FIFRA SAP. Those who
are selected from the pool of prospective candidates will be asked to
attend the public meetings and to participate in the discussion of key
issues and assumptions at these meetings. In addition, they will be
asked to review and to help finalize the meeting minutes. The list of
FIFRA SAP members participating at this meeting will be posted on the
FIFRA SAP web site at http://epa.gov/scipoly/sap or may be obtained from the OPP Regulatory Public Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.
II. Background
A. Purpose of the FIFRA SAP
The FIFRA SAP serves as the primary scientific peer review
mechanism of the EPA, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances (OPPTS), and is structured to provide scientific advice,
information and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on pesticides
and pesticide-related issues as to the impact of regulatory actions on
health and the environment. The FIFRA SAP is a Federal advisory
committee established in 1975 under FIFRA that operates in accordance
with requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The FIFRA SAP
is composed of a permanent panel consisting of seven members who are
appointed by the EPA Administrator from nominees provided by the
National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
FIFRA, as amended by the FQPA of 1996, established a Science Review
Board consisting of at least 60 scientists who are available to the
FIFRA SAP on an ad hoc basis to assist in reviews conducted by the
Panel. As a peer review
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mechanism, the FIFRA SAP provides comments, evaluations and
recommendations to improve the effectiveness and quality of analyses
made by Agency scientists. Members of the FIFRA SAP are scientists who
have sufficient professional qualifications, including training and
experience, to provide expert advice and recommendation to the Agency.
B. Public Meeting
The FIFRA SAP will meet to consider and review guidance on test
methods for demonstrating the efficacy of antimicrobial products for
inactivating Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis) spores on environmental
surfaces. EPA regulations require that product performance (efficacy)
studies be submitted to support registration of an antimicrobial
product for which public health claims, such as ``disinfect'' or
``sterilize'' (40 CFR 158.640), are made. In addition, any claim of
inactivation of a specific microorganism should be supported by valid
data that demonstrate the efficacy of the product against that
particular microorganism. At this SAP meeting, the EPA will present
draft guidance concerning efficacy testing to support a claim that an
antimicrobial product inactivates B. anthracis spores on inanimate
environmental surfaces. EPA is seeking the assistance of the FIFRA SAP
to review and comment on the scientific basis for efficacy data
requirements to support registration of products that make such claims.
Specific topics the FIFRA SAP will be asked to consider include
available qualitative and quantitative sporicidal efficacy test
methods, the use of various coupon materials to conduct tests, use of
test surrogates for B. anthracis, and the adequacy of performance
standards for quantitative sporicidal testing. Further, EPA is seeking
assistance of the SAP to review and comment on the scientific basis for
using a ``simulated use test'' for gases and vapors to support
registration of sterilants and sporicides.
C. FIFRA SAP Documents and Meeting Minutes
EPA's background paper, related supporting materials, charge/
questions to the FIFRA SAP, FIFRA SAP composition (i.e., members and ad
hoc members for this meeting), and the meeting agenda will be available
by mid-June. In addition, the Agency may provide additional background
documents as the materials become available. You may obtain electronic
copies of these documents, and certain other related documents that
might be available electronically, at http://www.regulations.gov and the FIFRA SAP homepage at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap.
The FIFRA SAP will prepare meeting minutes summarizing its
recommendations to the Agency approximately 90 days after the meeting.
The meeting minutes will be posted on the FIFRA SAP web site or may be
obtained from the OPP Regulatory Public Docket at http://www.regulations.gov
.
List of Subjects
Environmental protection, Pesticides and pests.
Dated: March 2, 2007.
Clifford J. Gabriel,
Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. E7-4276 Filed 3-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-S