[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55548-55549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25987]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8974-7]
EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations
of Experts for the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Lead
Review Panel
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency)
Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing the formation
of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Lead Review
Panel. The SAB Staff Office is soliciting public nominations for this
Panel.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 18, 2009 per
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact
Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by
telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9878; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or
via e-mail at [email protected]. General information concerning the
CASAC or the EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA SAB Web
site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) was
established under section 109(d)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act)
(42 U.S.C. 7409) as an independent scientific advisory committee. CASAC
provides advice, information and recommendations on the scientific and
technical aspects of air quality criteria and National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) under sections 108 and 109 of the Act. The
CASAC is a Federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App.
Section 109(d)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires that EPA
periodically review and revise, as appropriate, the air quality
criteria and the NAAQS for the six ``criteria'' air pollutants,
including lead. With the release of the final rule for the Lead NAAQS
on October 15, 2008 and its subsequent publication in the Federal
Register (73 FR 66964) on November 12, 2008, the Agency has completed
its most recent review of the NAAQS for lead. EPA formed the CASAC Lead
Review Panel that supported EPA's 2005-2008 Lead
[[Page 55549]]
NAAQS review in February 2006. Information about EPA's 2005-2008 Lead
NAAQS Review and the CASAC Lead Review Panel's advice can be found on
the CASAC Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebProjectsbyTopicCASAC!OpenView.
This Federal Register notice seeks nominations for subject matter
experts to serve on a new CASAC Lead Review Panel for the next review
cycle of the Lead NAAQS that will begin in fiscal year (FY) 2010. The
Panel will be charged with reviewing EPA's technical and policy
assessments that support the Agency's review of the NAAQS for lead,
including drafts of the Integrated Review Plan, Integrated Science
Assessment, Risk/Exposure Assessment, Policy Assessment, and
Rulemaking. The CASAC Lead Review Panel will comply with the provisions
of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
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 lead:
Atmospheric sciences; fate and transport; exposure assessment;
toxicology; biokinetic modeling; epidemiology; risk assessment;
biostatistics; ecology; and air quality.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for possible
service on the CASAC Lead 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 Mr. Aaron Yeow, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than
November 18, 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 CASAC Lead 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 22, 2009.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-25987 Filed 10-27-09; 8:45 am]
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