[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 4 (Monday, January 7, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1222-1223]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8514-3]
Human Impacts of Climate Change Advisory Committee
AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, HICCAC.
ACTION: Notice of a public conference call meeting of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Human Impacts of Climate Change
Advisory Committee (HICCAC) on January 14, 2008, at 12 noon until 2 pm.
(EST).
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-
463 as amended (5 U.S.C., App. 2), notification is hereby given that
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and
Development (ORD) will hold a public conference call meeting of the
HICCAC. This public conference call meeting is a follow-up to the
public meeting that was held on October 15-16, 2007 (72 FR 52877,
September 17, 2007).
The U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California has
ordered the interagency U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) to
produce the periodic scientific assessment of climate change required
by the Global Change Research Act of 1990 by May 31, 2008 (Center for
Biological Diversity v. Brennan, et al., 2007 WL 2408901 [No. 06-7062,
Aug. 21, 2007]). Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.6, which is being
reviewed by the HICCAC, is an integral component of this assessment.
The CCSP has directed EPA to complete and submit a final draft of
Product 4.6 to the CCSP by January 31, 2008. To meet this deadline, the
HICCAC is holding this conference call meeting to review its final
report on this product. This notice is being published less than 15
days before the teleconference. Product 4.6 is a large document that
has been developed under an unusually short time frame, with impacts on
the authors' and committee members' schedules. January 14 is the only
date that the Committee is available to hold this conference call
meeting. Since EPA will likely have to make changes to the document
following the teleconference, delaying this meeting would cause EPA to
be late in submitting this product to the CCSP. Participants will
discuss the revisions to the document that were a result of the public
meeting in October. The CCSP expects to release the draft scientific
assessment in April 2008. Interested parties will have an opportunity
to review and comment on the entire scientific assessment, including
Product 4.6, when it is released to the public.
Public Participation: Members of the public may submit written
comments to Joanna Foellmer, Designated Federal Official, HICCAC (see
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below). In addition,
members of the public may call into the conference call meeting as
observers, and there will be a limited time for comments from the
public. Please contact Joanna Foellmer no later than COB January 10,
2008, if you wish to make oral comments during the conference call
meeting. Requests to make oral comments must be in writing (via e-mail,
fax or ground mail). Please send a copy of your presentation to Joanna
Foellmer by January 12, 2008. Information on services for the disabled
may be obtained by contacting Joanna Foellmer.
Agenda: The proposed agenda for the conference call includes, but
is not limited to, a review of the revised Synthesis and Assessment
Product (SAP 4.6) that analyzes the impacts of global change on human
health, human settlements, and human welfare. The HICCAC will respond
to the changes made to the final report based on the review of an
earlier draft of the report. There will be a discussion by the HICCAC
panel with respect to their individual and collective assessment of the
revised SAP 4.6 report. A draft agenda may be obtained from Joanna
Foellmer (see the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below).
DATES: The conference call will take place on January 14, 2008, at 12
noon until 2 pm (EST).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding information and
logistics for the HICCAC public conference call meeting should be
directed to Joanna Foellmer by telephone: 703-347-8508, by e-mail:
[email protected], by fax: 703-347-8694, or by regular mail:
Joanna Foellmer, ORD/NCEA (Mail Code 8601P), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HICCAC supports the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in its participation in the interagency U.S.
Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), specifically in implementation
of Goal 4 of the Strategic Plan for the CCSP. Goal 4 is to understand
``the sensitivity and adaptability of different natural and managed
ecosystems and human systems to climate and related global changes.''
EPA also helps the CCSP satisfy its requirement to conduct periodic
assessments of climate change and variability, as set forth in the
Global Change Research Act of 1990. The HICCAC serves in the public's
interest and supports EPA in performing its duties and
responsibilities.
The primary responsibility of the HICCAC is to conduct an expert
peer review of the external review draft report entitled: ``Synthesis
and Assessment Product 4.6: Analyses of the effects of global change on
human health and welfare and human systems'' (SAP 4.6). The HICCAC will
provide advice to the EPA Administrator on the results of this study,
and within the context of the basic study plan, the HICCAC will advise
on: (1) The specific issues to be addressed; (2) appropriate technical
approaches; (3) the usefulness of information provided to decision
makers; (4) the quality of the content of the final report; (5)
compliance with the
[[Page 1223]]
Information Quality Act; and (6) other matters important to the
successful achievement of the objectives of the study. Additionally,
once the Agency completes its responses to the comments received from
the HICCAC and the public, the HICCAC will review the Agency's
responses.
EPA has already released the external draft SAP 4.6 report for
public review. The Federal Register notice (FR 72 39798) announcing a
forty-five day public comment period was posted on the U.S. Climate
Change Science Program (CCSP) Web site (www.climatescience.gov) on July
20, 2007. This report is accessible at www.epa.gov/ncea under Recent
Additions and is linked to the CCSP Web site.
Dated: December 31, 2007.
Rebecca Clark,
Deputy Director, National Center for Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. E8-22 Filed 1-4-08; 8:45 am]
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