[Federal Register: July 15, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 136)]
[Notices]
[Page 40576-40577]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15jy08-46]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8692-3]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of Upcoming
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Particulate Matter Research
Centers Program Advisory Panel
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the SAB
Particulate Matter (PM) Research Centers Program Advisory Panel to
comment on the Agency's current PM research centers program and provide
advice to EPA concerning future structures and strategic direction for
the program.
DATES: The meeting dates are Wednesday, October 1, 2008, from 8:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. through Thursday, October 2, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 3
p.m. (Eastern Time).
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the SAB Conference Center
located at: 1025 F Street, NW., Room 3705, Washington, DC 20004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to
obtain further information about this meeting must contact Mr. Fred
Butterfield, Designated Federal Officer (DFO). Mr. Butterfield may be
contacted at the EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460;
or via telephone/voice mail: 202-343-9994; fax 202-233-0643; or e-mail
at butterfield.fred@epa.gov. General information about the EPA SAB, as
well as any updates concerning the meeting announced in this notice,
may be found on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
[[Page 40577]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to
provide independent scientific and technical advice to the
Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and
regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App.
This SAB Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
Background: In 1998, the Congress directed EPA to establish as many
as five university-based PM research centers as part of the Agency's
expanded Office of Research and Development (ORD) PM research program.
The first PM Research Centers were funded from 1999 to 2005 with a
total program budget of $8 million annually (see: http://es.epa.gov/
ncer/science/pm/centers.html). In the original Request for Applications
(RFA), prospective centers were asked to propose an integrated research
program on the health effects of PM, including exposure, dosimetry,
toxicology and epidemiology. ORD's PM Research Centers program was
initially shaped by recommendations from the National Research Council.
In 2002, ORD requested that the Science Advisory Board conduct an
interim review of EPA's PM Research Centers program, the report from
which is found at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/
6374FD2B32EFE730852570CA007415FE/$File/ec02008.pdf. This review was
instrumental in providing additional guidance to ORD for the second
phase of the program (2005-2010). In 2004, ORD held a second
competition for the PM Research Centers program. This RFA asked
respondents to address the central theme of ``linking health effects to
PM sources and components,'' and to focus on the research priorities of
susceptibility, biological mechanisms, exposure-response relationships,
and source linkages. From this RFA, five current centers are funded for
2005-2010 with the total program budget at $40 million (see: http://
cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/outlinks.centers/
centerGroup/19).
EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), within
ORD, requested that the SAB Staff Office form an expert panel to
comment on the Agency's current PM Research Centers program and to
advise EPA concerning the possible structures and strategic direction
for the program as ORD considers funding a third round of air pollution
research centers into the future, i.e., from 2010 to 2015. Therefore,
in response to this request from NCER, the SAB Staff Office published a
notice in the Federal Register (73 FR 5838) on January 31, 2008, which
announced the formation of an SAB ad hoc panel for this advisory
activity and requested public nominations of qualified experts to serve
on this panel.
The SAB Staff Office has established the SAB PM Research Centers
Program Advisory Panel. This ad hoc Panel is comprised of nationally-
and internationally-recognized, non-EPA scientists with extensive
research program management expertise and experience related to
airborne pollution (including PM) and the application of research
results in reducing air pollution in protection of human health and the
environment. Furthermore, these experts have had direct research
experience related to airborne particulate matter. The roster and
biosketches of this SAB Panel are posted on the SAB Web site at http://
www.epa.gov/sab.
Technical Contacts: Any programmatic or technical questions
concerning EPA's Airborne Particulate Matter Research Centers Program
can be directed to Ms. Stacey Katz, NCER, at phone: 202-343-9855, or e-
mail: katz.stacey@epa.gov; Ms. Gail Robarge, NCER, at phone: 202-343-
9857, or e-mail: robarge.gail@epa.gov; or to Mr. Dan Costa, ORD's
National Program Director for Air Research, at phone: 919-541-2532, or
e-mail: costa.dan@epa.gov.
Availability of Meeting Materials: All Agency documents to be
discussed during this advisory activity will be available on EPA's
``Airborne Particulate Matter Research Centers--New (2005)'' Web page
at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/
outlinks.centers/centerGroup/19.
The SAB meeting agenda and any other materials for this upcoming
public advisory meeting will be available on the EPA Web site at http:/
/www.epa.gov/casac in advance of the meeting.
Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB
Panel to consider on the topics included in this advisory activity and/
or group conducting the activity. Oral Statements: In general,
individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a public
meeting will be limited to five minutes per speaker, with no more than
a total of one hour for all speakers. Interested parties should contact
Mr. Butterfield, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail) at the contact
information noted above, by September 24, 2008, to be placed on a list
of public speakers for the meeting. Written Statements: Written
statements should be received in the SAB Staff Office by September 24,
2008, so that the information may be made available to the SAB Panel
members for their consideration. Written statements should be supplied
to the DFO electronically via e-mail (acceptable file formats: Adobe
PDF, MS Word, WordPerfect, MS PowerPoint, 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 Mr. Butterfield at the
phone number or e-mail address noted above, preferably at least ten
days prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to
process your request.
Dated: July 8, 2008.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-16118 Filed 7-14-08; 8:45 am]
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