[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 24]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 40CFR194.26]



[Page 50]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)

 

PART 194_CRITERIA FOR THE CERTIFICATION AND RE-CERTIFICATION OF THE WASTE 

ISOLATION PILOT PLANT'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE 40 CFR PART 191 DISPOSAL 

REGULATIONS--Table of Contents

 

         Subpart C_Compliance Certification and Re-certification

 

Sec.  194.26  Expert judgment.



    (a) Expert judgment, by an individual expert or panel of experts, 

may be used to support any compliance application, provided that expert 

judgment does not substitute for information that could reasonably be 

obtained through data collection or experimentation.

    (b) Any compliance application shall:

    (1) Identify any expert judgments used to support the application 

and shall identify experts (by name and employer) involved in any expert 

judgment elicitation processes used to support the application.

    (2) Describe the process of eliciting expert judgment, and document 

the results of expert judgment elicitation processes and the reasoning 

behind those results. Documentation of interviews used to elicit 

judgments from experts, the questions or issues presented for 

elicitation of expert judgment, background information provided to 

experts, and deliberations and formal interactions among experts shall 

be provided. The opinions of all experts involved in each elicitation 

process shall be provided whether the opinions are used to support 

compliance applications or not.

    (3) Provide documentation that the following restrictions and 

guidelines have been applied to any selection of individuals used to 

elicit expert judgments:

    (i) Individuals who are members of the team of investigators 

requesting the judgment or the team of investigators who will use the 

judgment were not selected; and

    (ii) Individuals who maintain, at any organizational level, a 

supervisory role or who are supervised by those who will utilize the 

judgment were not selected.

    (4) Provide information which demonstrates that:

    (i) The expertise of any individual involved in expert judgment 

elicitation comports with the level of knowledge required by the 

questions or issues presented to that individual; and

    (ii) The expertise of any expert panel, as a whole, involved in 

expert judgment elicitation comports with the level and variety of 

knowledge required by the questions or issues presented to that panel.

    (5) Explain the relationship among the information and issues 

presented to experts prior to the elicitation process, the elicited 

judgment of any expert panel or individual, and the purpose for which 

the expert judgment is being used in compliance applications(s).

    (6) Provide documentation that the initial purpose for which expert 

judgment was intended, as presented to the expert panel, is consistent 

with the purpose for which this judgment was used in compliance 

application(s).

    (7) Provide documentation that the following restrictions and 

guidelines have been applied in eliciting expert judgment:

    (i) At least five individuals shall be used in any expert 

elicitation process, unless there is a lack or unavailability of experts 

and a documented rationale is provided that explains why fewer than five 

individuals were selected.

    (ii) At least two-thirds of the experts involved in an elicitation 

shall consist of individuals who are not employed directly by the 

Department or by the Department's contractors, unless the Department can 

demonstrate and document that there is a lack or unavailability of 

qualified independent experts. If so demonstrated, at least one-third of 

the experts involved in an elicitation shall consist of individuals who 

are not employed directly by the Department or by the Department's 

contractors.

    (c) The public shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present 

its scientific and technical views to expert panels as input to any 

expert elicitation process.