[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27315-27316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13477]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8914-6]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of an Upcoming
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Committee on EPA's Report on the
Environment
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
Advisory Committee on EPA's Report on the Environment. The Committee
will conduct a consultation on proposed approaches to developing future
versions of EPA's Report on the Environment.
DATES: The meeting dates are Tuesday, June 30, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. (Eastern Time) and Wednesday, July 1, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. to 12
noon. (Eastern Time).
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the SAB Conference Center, 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 Dr. Thomas
Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO). Dr. Armitage 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) 343-9995; fax (202) 233-0643; or e-
mail at: armitage.thomas@epa.gov. Any inquiry regarding future
development of EPA's Report on the Environment should be directed to
Dr. Denice Shaw of EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment
at shaw.denice@epa.gov or (703) 347-8628. 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.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee
Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the SAB Advisory
Committee on EPA's Report on the Environment will hold a public meeting
to provide consultative comment on proposed approaches to developing
future versions of EPA's Report on the Environment (ROE). The SAB was
established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide
[[Page 27316]]
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. 2. The SAB will comply
with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office
procedural policies.
Background: In May 2008, EPA published its Report on the
Environment (hereinafter referred to as ROE 2008). This report is
available on the EPA Office of Research and Development Web site at
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=190806. In the ROE
2008, EPA presented environmental and human health indicator
information to represent the status of and trends in the condition of
the Nation's environment. EPA intends to use the ROE to: (1) Inform
strategic planning, priority setting, and decision making across the
Agency, and (2) provide information to enable the public to assess
whether EPA is succeeding in its overall mission to protect human
health and the environment. Individual chapters in the ROE 2008 provide
information on the condition of air, water, and land environments. Two
other chapters focus on human health and ecological condition.
The SAB reviewed previous drafts of the ROE dated 2003 and 2007.
The findings and recommendations of these SAB reviews are available on
the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab (see reports EPA-SAB-05-004
and EPA-SAB-08-007). Many SAB comments were incorporated into the ROE
2008, and EPA expects to modify future editions of the ROE based on the
long-term recommendations provided by the SAB in its review of the
draft ROE 2007. EPA also intends to more directly align information in
future editions of the ROE with the goals and objectives in the
Agency's Strategic Plan. Therefore, EPA's Office of Research and
Development has requested that the SAB provide additional advice over
the next few years on how to: (1) Address previous SAB recommendations
to improve future editions of the ROE, and (2) make the ROE more useful
to the Agency in informing planning and decision making and providing
information to the public. To provide this additional advice, the SAB
Staff Office formed the ad hoc SAB Advisory Committee on EPA's Report
on the Environment. The purpose of the upcoming meeting of this
Committee is to provide consultative advice on a white paper that
addresses restructuring the ROE in response to previous SAB comments
and recommendations. Background information on the process of forming
the SAB Advisory Committee on EPA's Report on the Environment was
provided in a Federal Register Notice published on July 23, 2008 (73 FR
42801-42802). The roster and biosketches of Committee members are
posted on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
Availability of Meeting Materials: An EPA discussion paper along
with the meeting agenda, charge to the SAB Committee, and other meeting
material will be posted on the SAB Web site at https://www.epa.gov/sab
in advance of the meeting.
Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the
public may submit relevant written or oral information on the topic of
this advisory activity, and/or the group conducting the activity, for
the SAB to consider during the advisory process. 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 Dr. Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail) at
the contact information noted above by June 23, 2009 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 June 23, 2009
so that the information may be made available to the SAB Committee
members for their consideration. Written statements should be supplied
to the DFO in the following formats: One hard copy with original
signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format:
Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text
files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format). Submitters are requested to
provide two versions of each document submitted with and without
signatures, because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents
with signatures on its Web sites.
Accessibility: For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Armitage 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: June 2, 2009.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-13477 Filed 6-8-09; 8:45 am]
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