[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4465-4466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01586]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9905-82-OA]
Request for Nominations of Experts To Augment the Science
Advisory Board Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee for the Review of
the EPA's Draft Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office requests
public nominations of scientific experts to augment the SAB Chemical
Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) for the review of the EPA's draft
Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene in Support of Summary
Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by February 18, 2014 per the
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations
may contact the Designated Federal Officer for the review, as
identified below. Nominators unable to submit nominations
electronically as described below may contact the Designated Federal
Officer for assistance. General information concerning the EPA SAB 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 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 Chemical
Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) is a subcommittee of the SAB that
provides advice through the chartered SAB regarding assessments of
environmental chemicals available on EPA's Integrated Risk Information
System (IRIS). The SAB and the CAAC, augmented with additional experts,
will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff
Office procedural policies.
The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) in the
EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) develops toxicological
reviews/assessments for various chemicals for IRIS. NCEA has developed
a draft IRIS assessment for benzo[a]pyrene and has asked the SAB to
peer review the draft document. The SAB Staff Office is seeking experts
to augment the SAB CAAC for this peer review.
Benzo[a]pyrene is a five-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that
is relatively insoluble in water and has low volatility. It is
ubiquitous in the environment primarily as a result of incomplete
combustion emissions. Natural sources of benzo[a]pyrene include forest
fires and volcanoes, and anthropogenic sources include stoves/furnaces
burning fossil fuels (especially wood and coal), motor vehicle exhaust,
and various industrial combustion processes. Major sources of
occupational exposure involve production of aluminum, coke, graphite
and silicon carbide, as well as coal tar distillation. Major sources of
non-occupational exposure involve tobacco products and diet (e.g.,
barbequed or charred meats).
NCEA's draft Toxicological Review of Benzo[a]pyrene (August 2013)
is an update to a 1987 IRIS assessment for benzo[a]pyrene. The draft
assessment and proposed charge questions may be found at the following
URL: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/IRIS%20BaP?OpenDocument. The 1987 benzo[a]pyrene assessment currently
posted to the IRIS database includes an oral cancer risk estimate (oral
slope factor) and a cancer descriptor. For the reassessment, NCEA
evaluated epidemiological data, experimental animal data, and other
relevant data from studies of noncancer and cancer effects of
benzo[a]pyrene. The 2013 draft assessment contains a qualitative
characterization of the hazards for benzo[a]pyrene, including a cancer
descriptor of the chemical's human carcinogenic potential, cancer risk
estimates for oral, inhalation and dermal exposure, and noncancer
toxicity values for chronic oral (reference dose) and inhalation
(reference concentration) exposure. This assessment includes the IRIS
Program's first dermal slope factor. The dermal analysis was included
in consideration of EPA's need to estimate the potential for skin
cancer from dermal exposure, especially in children exposed to
contaminated soil. [Note: NCEA posted the 2013 draft assessment and
draft charge questions on the IRIS Web site (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris_drafts/recordisplay.cfm?deid=66193) on August 21, 2013, which
initiated a public comment period that ended on November 21, 2013.
Additionally, on December 12-13, 2013, NCEA held a public meeting
to obtain stakeholder and public feedback on the draft charge and the
draft benzo[a]pyrene toxicological assessment. As a result of the
comments received during the public comment period and the discussions
at the December meeting, the August 2013 draft versions of these
documents may be revised prior to their submission to the SAB CAAC
panel for peer review.]
Technical Contact for EPA's Draft Assessment: For information
concerning the EPA draft assessment, please contact Dr. Samantha Jones,
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and
Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 8601P,
Washington, DC 20460, phone (703) 347-8580 or via email at
[email protected].
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists
with demonstrated expertise and research to augment the CAAC for the
peer review of the benzo[a]pyrene toxicological review. The SAB Staff
Office seeks experts in one or more of the following areas, with a
particular focus on benzo[a]pyrene: epidemiology with expertise in PAHs
and benzo[a]pyrene; developmental toxicity and neurotoxicity;
reproductive toxicity (both male and female); immunotoxicity;
genotoxicity; cancer biology; dermal toxicity and carcinogenicity,
including toxicokinetic considerations (e.g., dose metrics,
extrapolation from animals to humans); and quantitative risk
assessment, including dose-response modeling expertise. Questions
regarding this review should be directed to Stephanie Sanzone,
Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice
mail at (202) 564-2067, by fax at (202) 565-2098, or via email at
[email protected].
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 the augmented CAAC
panel identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted in
electronic format (preferred over hard copy) following the instructions
for ``Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc
[[Page 4466]]
Committees Being Formed,'' provided on the SAB Web site (see the
``Nomination of Experts'' link on the blue navigational bar at http://www.epa.gov/sab). To receive full consideration, nominations should
include all of the information requested below. 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 resume or curriculum
vitae; 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 Ms. Sanzone as noted above. Nominations should be submitted in
time to arrive no later than February 18, 2014. 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 for
the CAAC benzo[a]pyrene review panel on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/IRIS%20BaP?OpenDocument. Public comments on the 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 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 forming this expert
panel, 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 loss of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees,
subcommittees and advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel as a whole,
diversity of expertise and scientific points of view.
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 a
person's public responsibilities (which include membership on an EPA
federal advisory committee) and private interests and activities, or
the appearance of a loss of impartiality, as defined by federal
regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded from the following
URL address http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.
The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects members
for 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 16, 2014.
Christopher Zarba,
Director, Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-01586 Filed 1-27-14; 8:45 am]
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