[Federal Register: September 25, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 187)]
[Notices]
[Page 55512-55513]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25se08-43]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8721-1]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office Notification of a Meeting of
the Science Advisory Board
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a
public face-to-face meeting of the chartered SAB to: discuss future
environmental science issues within the context of EPA's research
directions and priorities, and conduct quality reviews of up to three
Draft SAB reports.
DATES: The meeting dates are Monday, October 27, 2008, from 8:30 a.m.
to 5 p.m. through Tuesday, October 28, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. (Eastern Time).
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Mayflower Hotel, 1127
Connecticut Avenue, NW., Washington, DC; phone (202) 347-4430.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to
obtain further information about this meeting may contact Mr. Thomas O.
Miller, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), by mail at EPA SAB Staff
Office, (1400F), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20460; by telephone at (202) 343-9982; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or
by e-mail at miller.tom@epa.gov. The SAB mailing address is U.S. EPA,
Science Advisory Board (1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20460. General information about the 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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to
provide independent scientific and technical advice, consultation, and
recommendations to the EPA 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. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA
and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
Background: 1. Future Science and Research. On October 27, 2008,
the EPA Science Advisory Board will hold a one day meeting entitled
Looking to the Future. During this meeting, the SAB will hear from, and
interact with, outside experts on: (i) The environmental implications
of biofuels, and (ii) the implications for environmental health
sciences and human health risk assessment of epigenomics research.
Exploration of biofuels and epigenomics research is intended to provide
the chartered SAB with an inter-disciplinary introduction to these
topics, and to stimulate their thinking generally about future advice
to strengthen EPA's response to emerging science issues, especially how
EPA might implement inter-disciplinary approaches that incorporate
significant emerging research.
In 2007, the chartered SAB committed to provide ongoing advice on
strategic research directions for EPA and how they can be implemented.
This activity complements the SAB's traditional review of EPA's annual
research budget. The first day's seminar-style meeting will be followed
by a half-day advisory meeting on October 28, when the chartered SAB
will discuss possible implications of the October 27 meeting for
ongoing SAB advice on EPA research directions.
2. Review of Draft SAB Reports: (a) Quality Review of the Draft SAB
Advisory on Aquatic Life Criteria. EPA's Office of Water asked the
Science Advisory Board for advice on the scientific merits of a white
paper that identifies and addresses technical issues in deriving
aquatic life criteria for emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals
and personal care products exhibiting endocrine disrupting activity or
other toxic mechanisms. The EPA SAB Ecological Processes and Effects
Committee (EPEC) augmented with additional experts conducted this
review. Additional information on this review can be obtained on the
EPA SAB Web site at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/
fedrgstr_activites/MOA%20criteria%20methodology.
(b) Quality Review of the Draft Advisory on the Drinking Water
Contaminant Candidate List 3. EPA's Office of Water asked the SAB to
review EPA's draft Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 3 (CCL 3).
The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments (SDWA) require EPA to (1)
publish every five years a list of currently unregulated contaminants
in drinking water that may pose risks and (2) make determinations on
whether or not to regulate at least five contaminants from that list on
a staggered five year cycle. The list must be published after
consultation with the scientific community, including the SAB, after
notice and opportunity for public comment, and after consideration of
the occurrence database established under section 1445(g) of the SDWA.
The unregulated contaminants considered for the list must include, but
are not limited to, substances referred to in section 101(14) of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980 (CERCLA), and substances registered under the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Additional
information on this
[[Page 55513]]
review can be obtained on the EPA SAB Web site at: http://
yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/CCL3.
(c) Quality Review of the Draft SAB Advisory on Acrylamide. EPA's
National Center for Environmental Assessment, within the Office of
Research and Development, has been updating the human health hazard and
dose-response assessment for Acrylamide. EPA's Office of Research and
Development requested that the Science Advisory Board review its draft
assessment entitled ``Toxicological Review of Acrylamide,'' a polymer
used primarily in waste water treatment, paper and pulp processing, and
mineral processing. The EPA SAB established the Acrylamide Review Panel
to conduct this review. Additional information on this review can be
obtained on the EPA SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/Acrylamide-IRIS-Asst.
Availability of Meeting Materials: Materials in support of this
meeting will be placed on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab in
advance of this meeting.
Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB to
consider. Oral Statements: The total time available for public comments
for topics to be discussed at this October 28, 2008 meeting of the SAB
will be one hour. Fifteen minutes will be allocated for each of the
quality reviews to be conducted and for the general discussion session
on strategic research directions. Individuals or groups requesting an
oral presentation at a public meeting on October 28, 2008 will be
limited to three minutes per speaker. Each person making an oral
statement should consider providing written comments as well as their
oral statement so that the points presented orally can be expanded upon
in writing. Interested parties should contact Mr. Miller, DFO, at the
contact information provided above, by October 17, 2008, to be placed
on the public speaker list for the October 28, 2008 meeting. Written
Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff
Office by October 20, 2008, so that the information may be made
available to the SAB for their consideration prior to this meeting.
Written statements should be supplied to the DFO via e-mail to
miller.tom@epa.gov (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF,
WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/
Windows 98/2000/XP format).
Meeting Accommodations: For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, please contact Mr. Thomas Miller at
(202) 343-9982, or via e-mail at miller.tom@epa.gov. To request
accommodation of a disability, please contact Mr. Miller, preferably at
least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as
possible to process your request.
Dated: September 18, 2008.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-22539 Filed 9-24-08; 8:45 am]
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