[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 230 (Tuesday, December 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66168-66170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31963]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6196-2]


Science Advisory Board; Emergency Notification of Public Advisory 
Committee Meetings

    Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub. L. 92-463, 
notice is hereby given that several Committees of the Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) will meet on the dates and times described below. All times 
noted are Eastern Time. All meetings are open to the public, however, 
seating is limited and available on a first come basis. Documents that 
are the subject of SAB reviews are normally available from the 
originating U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office and are 
not available from the SAB Office. Public drafts of SAB reports are 
available to the Agency and the public from the SAB office. Details on 
availability are noted below.

1. Drinking Water Committee (DWC)

    The Drinking Water Committee (DWC) of the Science Advisory Board 
(SAB) will hold a public meeting beginning at 8:00 am Thursday, 
December 10, 1998 and ending not later than 5:30 pm Friday, December 
11, 1998. The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City 
Hotel, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202; telephone 
(703) 418-1234. At this meeting, the Committee will receive briefings 
on the status of various research efforts being conducted in support of 
the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments (SDWA) of 1996 and conduct a 
review of the US EPA ORD comparative risk approach for balancing the 
chemical and microbial risks from drinking water.

Background

    In accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), regulations 
have been promulgated or proposed by U.S. EPA to provide maximum 
control of exposures to pathogenic organisms in water while minimizing 
concomitant exposures to the disinfection byproducts (DBPs). The SDWA 
Amendments of 1996 additionally require the Agency to conduct cost-
benefit analyses of the regulatory impacts in order to identify cost-
effective drinking water treatment options.
    The National Center for Environmental Assessment-Cincinnati Office 
(NCEA-Cin) has developed a methodology for risk analysis and comparison 
that might assist the Agency in supporting its SDWA regulatory 
activities. The Agency's document Comparative Risk Framework 
Methodology and Case Study (Framework Document) presents a methodology 
for such comparisons that applies the prevention-effectiveness approach 
developed by the Centers for Disease Control for structuring and 
analyzing this complex risk trade-off problem. Prevention-effectiveness 
research combines tools of decision and economic analysis to look at 
the cost-effectiveness of different public health interventions and 
employs decision trees to explicitly and graphically structure the 
problem. The document consists of a Comparative Risk Framework 
Methodology (CRFM) and a Case Study. The application of this approach 
explicitly recognizes disinfection and treatment of drinking water to 
be a primary public health intervention and prevention measure designed 
to minimize the transmission of microbial pathogens in drinking water.

Charge

    The Drinking Water Committee is requested to review the strategy 
proposed for structuring and analyzing this comparative risk/risk 
tradeoff problem, including the overall concept, the use of population-
based probabilities for expressing both cancer and noncancer health 
risks and mechanisms for arriving at these numbers, and the pros and 
cons of the different common metrics/weights proposed for comparing 
qualitatively and quantitatively different health risks. Specific 
charge questions are available by contacting the Office of the Science 
Advisory Board at the address noted below. Charge questions are 
included for the following areas: overall approach; the comparative 
risk framework methodology; the case study; engineering and water 
treatment issues; risk characterization; microbial risks; chemical 
dose-response assessment; exposure; health conditions; the common 
health metric; the results of the methods application; and research 
needs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Single copies of the background 
information for the review of the risk comparison framework can be 
obtained by contacting Dr. Glenn Rice, US EPA

[[Page 66169]]

National Center for Environmental Assessment, 26 Martin Luther King 
Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268; or by telephone at (513) 569-7813. 
Additional information for this meeting, or the meeting agenda, can be 
obtained by contacting Mr. Thomas O. Miller, Designated Federal Officer 
(DFO) for the Drinking Water Committee, Science Advisory Board (1400), 
U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; by telephone at (202) 
260-5886; by fax at (202) 260-7118 or via the E-Mail at: 
[email protected], or by contacting Ms. Dorothy Clark at (202) 260-
6555, by fax at (202) 260-7118, and by E-Mail at: 
[email protected]. Anyone wishing to make an oral presentation to 
the Committee must contact Mr. Miller, in writing (by letter, fax, or 
E-mail) no later than 12 noon, Thursday, December 3, 1998, in order to 
be included on the Agenda. The request should identify the name of the 
individual who will make the presentation and an outline of the issues 
to be addressed. At least 35 copies of any written comments to the 
Committee are to be given to Mr. Miller no later than the time of the 
presentation for distribution to the Committee and the interested 
public.

2. Secondary Data Use Subcommittee of the Executive Committee

    The Secondary Data Use Subcommittee of the Science Advisory Board's 
(SAB) Executive Committee, will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, December 15 
and 16, 1998 in the SAB Conference Room, Room 3709, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Headquarters Building, 401 M Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20460. The meeting will begin at 9:00 am on December 15th and 
adjourn no later than 5:00 pm on December 16th.

Purpose

    The purpose of this meeting is to begin the SAB's project to 
provide advice to the Agency on the appropriate secondary use of EPA 
regulatory data bases. This review was requested by the Center for 
Environmental Information and Statistics (CEIS) in EPA's Office of 
Policy. The CEIS is in the process of reviewing 30 major EPA regulatory 
databases for their potential use in secondary data analyses (i.e., for 
uses other than that for which they were originally collected). The 
Agency's regulatory data bases were designed to be used in making 
enforcement, compliance, and standard setting decisions. The CEIS 
reviews will try to determine the extent to which these observational 
data bases can be used for other purposes such as assessment of 
environmental conditions and trends, scientifically based studies of 
cross-media relationships, and human health or environmental risk 
assessment.
    The tentative overall charge to the Secondary Data Use Subcommittee 
is to: (a) provide consultations on the overall process of suitability 
review; (b) review CEIS's reviews for technical quality, 
comprehensiveness and clarity; (c) provide consultation on developing 
minimum criteria or characteristics that a database should possess if 
it is to be used for scientific purposes such as exposure assessment; 
(d) make recommendations for areas where the CEIS should develop new 
quantitative methods for the use of secondary EPA databases; and (e) 
set up a workshop which brings together Agency and external experts to 
discuss the various issues and concerns regarding the secondary use of 
administrative and observational EPA databases.
    On July 30, 1998, the Subcommittee held its first meeting which was 
a consultation on the overall process of suitability review. At the 
December 15-16, 1998 meeting, the Subcommittee plans to review CEIS's 
initial descriptive reviews for technical quality, comprehensiveness 
and clarity; provide consultation on the next round of case studies, 
and receive a briefing on CEIS's approach to reviewing geographically 
based environmental indices.

For Further Information

    Copies of the review documents and background materials are 
available from Dr. N. Phillip Ross, Chief Statistician, Center for 
Environmental Information and Statistics (2163), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202) 260-5244, fax (202) 260-5880, 
or via E-mail at [email protected]. The review documents are also 
available on the Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/
quality.html. Copies of the agenda are available from Ms. Betty 
Fortune, Science Advisory Board (1400), U.S. EPA, 401 M Street SW, 
Washington DC 20460, telephone (202) 260-4126, fax (202) 260-9232, or 
via E-mail at [email protected].
    Any member of the public wishing to present brief oral comments to 
the Subcommittee must contact Mrs. Anne Barton, Designated Federal 
Officer (DFO) for the Secondary Data Use Subcommittee, in writing, no 
later than noon Tuesday, December 8 at Science Advisory Board (1400), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC 20460; FAX (202) 
260-9232; or via E-Mail at [email protected]. The request should 
identify the name of the individual who will make the presentation and 
an outline of the issues to be addressed. At least 35 copies of any 
written comments to the Committee are to be given to the DFO no later 
than the time of the presentation; these will be distributed to the 
Subcommittee and the interested public. To discuss technical aspects of 
the meeting, please contact Mrs. Barton by telephone at (202) 260-9280.

3. Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC)

    The Science Advisory Board's (SAB's) Radiation Advisory Committee 
(RAC) will conduct a public teleconference meeting on Tuesday, December 
15, 1998. The teleconference meeting will convene at 11:00 a.m. and 
adjourn at approximately 1:00 p.m. that day. At this meeting, the RAC 
will review and discuss edits to their draft advisory concerning of 
low-activity mixed radioactive waste. The RAC began this advisory at 
their November 17-19, 1998 public meeting (See 63 Federal Register 207, 
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1998, pp. 57295-57298). The charge focused on 
technical aspects of the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA) 
performance assessment analyses. The charge questions to be answered 
include, but are not limited to the following: (a) Does the EPA dose 
assessment reasonably cover the hydrogeologic and climatic settings 
that might be used for the disposal of low-activity mixed waste? (b) 
What modeling time frame does the Committee recommend be used to 
project potential doses from disposal of low-activity mixed waste?, and 
(c) Is it reasonable to assign a constant ``high'' release rate for the 
duration of the simulation, or does the SAB advise an alternative 
approach such as assuming a lower release rate at the start and 
increasing it incrementally over the modeling period, thereby mimicking 
the gradual deterioration of the concrete?

For Further Information

    Any member of the public wishing further information concerning the 
teleconference meeting, such as copies of the proposed meeting agenda, 
information to connect to the teleconference, the current public draft 
of the advisory, or who wish to submit written comments should contact 
Mrs. Diana L. Pozun at Tel. (202) 260-8432; FAX (202) 260-7118, or via 
E-mail at: [email protected]. Members of the public who wish to make 
a brief oral presentation to the Committee must contact Dr. K. Jack 
Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Radiation 
Advisory Committee, in writing no later than 12 noon Eastern Time, 
Thursday, December 10, 1998 in

[[Page 66170]]

order to be included on the Agenda. Dr. Kooyoomjian can be reached at: 
Science Advisory Board (1400), U.S. EPA, Washington, DC 20460, fax 
(202) 260-7118; or via E-Mail at: [email protected]. Public 
comments at teleconferences will be normally limited to three minutes 
per speaker or organization. The request should identify the name of 
the individual who will make the presentation, the organization (if 
any) they will represent, and at least 35 copies of an outline of the 
issues to be addressed or the presentation itself. For technical 
information pertaining to the teleconference meeting please contact Dr. 
Kooyoomjian at (202) 260-2560.
    For questions pertaining to the advisory, as well as background 
documents provided to the SAB's RAC, or to discuss any other aspects of 
this review or any supporting or background information please contact 
Dr. Mary E. Clark, ORIA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (6601J), 
401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, tel. (202) 564-9348; fax (202) 
565-2043; or E-mail: [email protected].

Providing Oral or Written Comments at SAB Meetings

    The Science Advisory Board expects that public statements presented 
at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted oral or 
written statements. In general, each individual or group making an oral 
presentation will be limited to a total time of ten minutes. For 
teleconference meetings, opportunities for oral comment will usually be 
limited to no more than three minutes per speaker and no more than 
fifteen minutes total. Written comments (at least 35 copies) received 
in the SAB Staff Office sufficiently prior to a meeting date (usually 
one week before the meeting), may be mailed to the relevant SAB 
committee or subcommittee; comments received too close to the meeting 
date will normally be provided to the committee at its meeting, or 
mailed soon after receipt by the Agency. Written comments may be 
provided to the relevant committee or subcommittee up until the time of 
the meeting.
    Additional information concerning the Science Advisory Board, its 
structure, function, and composition, may be found on the SAB Website 
(http://www.epa.gov/sab) and in The Annual Report of the Staff Director 
which is available from the SAB Publications Staff at (202) 260-4126 or 
via fax at (202) 260-1889. Individuals requiring special accommodation 
at SAB meetings, including wheelchair access, should contact the 
appropriate DFO at least five business days prior to the meeting so 
that appropriate arrangements can be made.

    Dated: November 25, 1998.
John R. Fowle, III,
Acting Staff Director, Science Advisory Board.
[FR Doc. 98-31963 Filed 11-30-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P