[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 44 (Monday, March 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10481-10482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4820]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9124-2]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of
Experts To Augment the SAB Scientific and Technological Achievement
Awards Committee
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is
requesting public nominations for scientists and engineers to augment
the SAB Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA)
Committee.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by March 29, 2010 per
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations
may contact Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9946; by fax at
(202) 233-0643 or via e-mail at hanlon.edward @epa.gov. General
information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board can be found at
the EPA SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The SAB (42 U.S.C. 4365) is a chartered Federal
Advisory Committee that provides independent scientific and technical
peer review, advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA
Administrator on the technical basis for EPA actions. As a Federal
Advisory Committee, the SAB conducts business in accordance with the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and related
regulations. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
EPA's STAA Program was established in 1980 to recognize Agency
scientists and engineers who published their work in the peer-reviewed
literature. The STAA Program is an annual Agency-wide competition to
promote and recognize scientific and technological achievements by EPA
employees. The STAA program is administered and managed by EPA's Office
of Research and Development (ORD). ORD requested SAB to review
scientific publications nominated by EPA managers and make
recommendations to the Administrator for STAA awards. The SAB STAA
Committee, augmented with additional experts, will conduct this review
and provide these recommendations.
In a Federal Register Notice (Volume 74, Number 22, Pages 6033-
6034) published on February 4, 2009, the SAB Staff Office solicited
public nominations to form the SAB STAA Committee that would review
publications and make recommendations for STAA awards during 2009, 2010
and 2011. The 2009-2011 STAA Committee was formed in June 2009 and
provided advice to the Administrator regarding the 2009 STAA awards.
Request for Nominations: There is a need to supplement the STAA
Committee with additional expertise to review the 2010 and 2011
nominations. Accordingly, the SAB Staff Office is seeking nominations
of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and engineers
having experience and expertise in ecosystems and ecological risk
assessment.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals in the areas
of expertise described above for possible service on this expert ad hoc
Committee. 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 grant and/or contract
support; and a biographical sketch of the nominee indicating current
position, educational
[[Page 10482]]
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. Edward Hanlon, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than March
29, 2010. 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 this Federal Register notice, and additional experts
identified by the SAB Staff, will be posted in a List of Candidates on
the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this
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
augmenting this expert ad hoc Panel to provide advice and
recommendations to the Administrator for STAA awards, the SAB Staff
Office will consider public comments on the 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
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: February 25, 2010.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-4820 Filed 3-5-10; 8:45 am]
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