[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 225 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70344-70346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-27612]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8742-4]
EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public
Teleconference Meeting of the Chartered Science Advisory Board
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces
two public teleconference meetings of the chartered SAB to: (1) Conduct
its quality review of several draft SAB reports, and (2) to receive a
briefing from EPA on biofuels.
DATES: The meeting dates are Tuesday, December 9, 2008, from 1 p.m. to
3 p.m. (Eastern Time) and Tuesday, December 16, 2008, from 11 a.m. to
12 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Location: The meeting will be conducted by telephone only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to
obtain general information concerning this public teleconference
meeting should contact Mr. Thomas Miller, Designated Federal Officer
(DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), 1200
[[Page 70345]]
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice
mail (202) 343-9982; fax (202) 233-0643; or e-mail at
[email protected]. General information concerning the EPA Science
Advisory Board can 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 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.
The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB
Staff Office procedural policies. Pursuant to the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the EPA
SAB will hold a public teleconference meeting to conduct several
quality reviews and to receive a briefing on biofuels by EPA
representatives.
Background: SAB Telephone Conference, Tuesday, December 9, 2008:
(a) SAB Quality Review of the Draft Report from the SAB Committee
for the Valuation of Ecological Systems and Services (C-VPESS). The
Chartered Science Advisory Board will conduct a quality review of the
draft final SAB report from its Committee for Valuing the Protection of
Ecological Systems and Services. The report is an original SAB study,
initiated in 2003. The committee's charge was to assess EPA valuation
needs; assess the state of the art and science of valuing protection of
ecological systems and services; and identify key areas for improving
knowledge, methodologies, practice, and research. The report takes a
multi-disciplinary approach to ecological valuation issues. Additional
information on this topic is available on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activities/Ecological%20Valuation?OpenDocument.
(b) EPA Biofuels Briefing: On October 27, 2008, the Science
Advisory Board conducted a seminar entitled ``Looking to the Future''
as part of an ongoing effort to consider EPA's long-range strategic
research vision. A part of that meeting focused on the environmental
implications of biofuels. During the SAB's December 9, 2008 telephone
conference, the Board will receive a briefing from representatives of
the EPA OAR Office of Transportation and Air Quality on the status of
the agency's renewable fuels program rule development process. This
information will provide additional background information to the SAB
as it considers how it might further advise the EPA Administrator on
the Agency's research program.
Background: SAB Telephone Conference, Tuesday, December 16, 2008:
(a) SAB Quality Review of the Draft SAB Panel Report on the EPA
Particulate Matter (PM) Research Centers Program. The chartered Science
Advisory Board will conduct a quality review of the draft SAB report
from its Particulate Matter Research Centers Program Review Advisory
Panel. In 1998, the Congress directed EPA to establish as many as five
university-based PM research centers as part of the Agency's PM
research program. The first PM Research Centers were funded from 1999
to 2005 with a total program budget of $8 million annually. EPA's PM
Research Centers program was initially shaped by recommendations from
the National Research Council. In 2002, EPA requested that the Science
Advisory Board conduct an interim review of EPA's PM Research Centers
program. This review was instrumental in providing additional guidance
for the second phase of the program (2005-2010). Five current centers
are funded for 2005-2010 with the total program budget at $40 million.
EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), within the
Office of Research and Development (ORD), requested that the SAB
comment on the Agency's current PM Research Centers program and to
advise EPA concerning the possible structures and strategic direction
for the program from 2010 to 2015. The SAB formed the PM Research
Centers Program Advisory Panel to conduct this review. The Panel met to
review and discuss the program on October 1-2, 2008 and has now
completed a draft report providing the results of its deliberations.
Additional information on this review is available on the SAB Web site
at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activities/2008%20PM%2Centers%20Program%;20Review?OpenDocument.
(b) SAB Quality Review of the Draft SAB Contaminant Candidate List
3 Advisory. The Chartered Science Advisory Board will conduct a second
quality review of the draft SAB Drinking Water Committee (DWC) report
on EPA's Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 3. This report was
the subject of a quality review at the SAB's October 28, 2008 meeting.
At that meeting, the Chartered SAB asked for some revisions relative to
the comments made by SAB members during that meeting (see these
comments on the SAB Web site at the following URL http://
yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/A3B59D3624B2B1DA852574EB006DD0C9/
$File/;SAB+Comments+on+CCL+3+Oct+28+08+Meeting.pdf) and that the report
be returned to the SAB for completion of the quality review. The DWC
review was conducted at the request of the EPA Office of Water. 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 review can be obtained on the EPA SAB Web site at
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activities/CCL3.
Availability of Meeting Materials: The agenda and other 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 during this teleconference.
Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting time
to make an oral presentation at a public SAB teleconference will be
limited to three minutes, with no more than one-half hour for all
speakers. At face-to-face meetings, presentations will be limited to
five minutes, with no more than a total of one hour for all speakers.
To be placed on the public speaker list, parties interested in the
December 9, 2008 meeting should contact Mr. Thomas Miller, DFO, in
writing (preferably by e-mail), by December 2, 2008 at the contact
information provided above. Parties interested in the December 16, 2008
meeting should contact Mr. Thomas Miller, DFO, in writing (preferably
by e-mail), by December 9,
[[Page 70346]]
2008 at the contact information provided above.
Written Statements: Written statements relevant to the December 9,
2008 meeting should be received in the SAB Staff Office by December 2,
2008, and written statements relevant to the December 16 meeting should
be received in the SAB Staff Office by December 9, 2008 so that the
information may be made available to the SAB for their consideration
prior to these teleconference meetings. Written statements should be
supplied to the DFO via e-mail to [email protected] (acceptable file
format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, 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. Thomas Miller at
(202) 343-9982, or [email protected]. 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: November 14, 2008.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-27612 Filed 11-19-08; 8:45 am]
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