[Federal Register: October 22, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 203)]
[Notices]
[Page 54563-54564]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22oc09-50]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8971-8]
EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office Request for Nominations
of Experts for the SAB Trichloroethylene (TCE) Review Panel
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice request for nominations.
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SUMMARY: The Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting
public nominations of experts to form an SAB Ad Hoc Panel to review
EPA's health effects assessment for Trichloroethylene (TCE).
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 12, 2009 per
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact
Dr. Marc Rigas, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by
telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9978; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or
via e-mail at rigas.marc@epa.gov. General information concerning the
EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA SAB Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an
electronic database containing descriptive and quantitative
toxicological information on human health effects that may result from
chronic exposure to various substances in the environment. This
information supports human health risk assessments, and includes hazard
identification and dose-response data and derivations of oral reference
doses (RfDs) and inhalation reference concentrations (RfCs) for
noncancer effects and oral slope factors and oral and inhalation unit
risks for cancer effects. IRIS is prepared and maintained by EPA's
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the Office
of Research and Development (ORD). ORD has
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developed a draft IRIS Toxicological Assessment for TCE and has
requested that the SAB conduct a review of its draft Assessment.
In 2001, ORD developed a draft IRIS Toxicological Assessment for
TCE, which was released for public comment and external peer review. In
2002, the Environmental Health Committee of the SAB reviewed the draft
TCE Assessment and made several recommendations to strengthen the dose-
response assessment. In 2004, in preparation for development of a new
TCE assessment, the National Research Council (NRC) was requested to
provide a scientific consultation on key scientific issues related to
assessing the human health risks of TCE, including those relevant to
hazard characterization/mode of action, physiologically-based
pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, and dose-response assessment. ORD has
taken the recommendations and conclusions included in the NRC's report,
which was released in 2006, into account as it developed a new revised
draft IRIS Toxicological Assessment for TCE. ORD has requested that the
SAB conduct a review of its revised draft Assessment.
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 Staff Office will form an expert Panel to review
ORD's draft IRIS Toxicological Assessment for TCE. The SAB Panel will
comply with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)
and all appropriate SAB procedural policies. Upon completion, the
Panel's report will be submitted to the chartered SAB for final
approval for transmittal to the EPA Administrator. The TCE Review Panel
is being asked to comment on the scientific soundness of the Agency's
draft IRIS review.
Availability of the Review Materials: The EPA draft IRIS
Toxicological Review document to be reviewed by the TCE Review Panel
will be made available by ORD at the following URL http://epa.gov/ncea
(under ``Recent Additions''). For questions concerning the review
materials, please contact Dr. Weihsueh Chiu, at (703) 347-8607, or
chiu.weihsueh@epa.gov.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is requesting
nominations of nationally recognized experts with expertise in one or
more of the following areas, particularly with respect to TCE and its
metabolites: toxicokinetics; toxicology; carcinogenic modes of action;
physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling; epidemiology;
statistics; dose-response modeling; and risk assessment.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for possible
service on the TCE Review Panel in the areas of expertise described
above. Nominations should be submitted in electronic format (which is
preferred over hard copy) following the instructions for ``Nominating
Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees Being Formed''
provided on the SAB Web site. The instructions can be accessed through
the ``Nomination of Experts'' link on the blue navigational bar on the
SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. To receive full consideration,
nominations should include all of the information requested.
EPA's SAB Staff Office requests: contact information about the
person making the nomination; contact information about the nominee;
the disciplinary and specific areas of expertise of the nominee; the
nominee's curriculum vita; sources of recent grants and/or contracts;
and a biographical sketch of the nominee indicating current position,
educational background, research activities, and recent service on
other national advisory committees or national professional
organizations.
Persons having questions about the nomination procedures, or who
are unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web site, should
contact Dr. Marc Rigas, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than
November 12, 2009. EPA values and welcomes diversity. In an effort to
obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations of
women and men of all racial and ethnic groups.
The EPA SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of nominations.
The names and biosketches of qualified nominees identified by
respondents to the Federal Register notice and additional experts
identified by the SAB Staff will be posted on the SAB Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this ``Short List'' of
candidates will be accepted for 21 calendar days. The public will be
requested to provide relevant information or other documentation on
nominees that the SAB Staff Office should consider in evaluating
candidates.
For the EPA SAB Staff Office, a balanced subcommittee or review
panel includes candidates who possess the necessary domains of
knowledge, the relevant scientific perspectives (which, among other
factors, can be influenced by work history and affiliation), and the
collective breadth of experience to adequately address the charge. In
establishing the TCE Review Panel, the SAB Staff Office will consider
public comments on the ``Short List'' of candidates, information
provided by the candidates themselves, and background information
independently gathered by the SAB Staff Office. Selection criteria to
be used for Panel membership include: (a) Scientific and/or technical
expertise, knowledge, and experience (primary factors); (b)
availability and willingness to serve; (c) absence of financial
conflicts of interest; (d) absence of an appearance of a lack of
impartiality; and (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and
advisory panels; and, for the Panel as a whole, (f) diversity of, and
balance among scientific expertise and viewpoints.
The SAB Staff Office's evaluation of an absence of financial
conflicts of interest will include a review of the ``Confidential
Financial Disclosure Form for Special Government Employees Serving on
Federal Advisory Committees at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency'' (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential form allows Government
officials to determine whether there is a statutory conflict between
that person's public responsibilities (which includes membership on an
EPA Federal advisory committee) and private interests and activities,
or the appearance of a lack of impartiality, as defined by Federal
regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded from the following
URL address http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf.
The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects
subcommittees and review panels is described in the following document:
Overview of the Panel Formation Process at the Environmental Protection
Agency Science Advisory Board (EPA-SAB-EC-02-010), which is posted on
the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.
Dated: October 15, 2009.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-25457 Filed 10-21-09; 8:45 am]
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