[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2373-2374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-641]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9252-2]
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 February 3, 2011 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) 564-2134; by fax at
(202) 565-2098 or via email at [email protected]. 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.
A STAA Committee was formed in June 2009 to provide recommendations
to the Administrator regarding the nominated 2009, 2010 and 2011 STAA
awards. The STAA Committee was augmented with additional experts to
make recommendations for the 2010 STAA awards (Federal Register Notice
Volume 75, Number 44, Pages 10481-10482, published on March 8, 2010).
There is a need to supplement the STAA Committee with additional
expertise to review the 2011 STAA nominations.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and
engineers having experience and expertise in environmental and human
health sciences, ecology, risk assessment, environmental engineering,
environmental lifecycle or systems analysis, and in environmental
sustainability fields such as in green chemistry, green technologies,
and green building design.
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
Panel. 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 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
February 3, 2011. EPA values and welcomes diversity. In an effort to
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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 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 the SAB STAA Committee, 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 at 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: January 6, 2011.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-641 Filed 1-12-11; 8:45 am]
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