[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 185 (Friday, September 24, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 51782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25012]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Invasive Species Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to establish; request for nominations and 
comments.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Executive Order 13112, the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, on behalf of the new interdepartmental Invasive Species 
Council, proposes to establish the Invasive Species Advisory Committee 
(ISAC). The Secretary of the Interior, acting as administrative lead, 
is requesting nominations for qualified persons to serve as members of 
the ISAC.

DATES: Written nominations must be received within 30 days of the date 
of publication, October 25, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Nominations should be sent to Gordon Brown, Invasive Species 
Coordinator, Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, 1849 
C Street, NW, room 6635, Washington DC, 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon Brown, Invasive Species 
Coordinator, telephone (202) 208-6336; fax (202) 208-2219; e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Advisory Committee Scope and Objectives

    The purpose and role of the ISAC are to provide advice to the 
Invasive Species Council (Council), as authorized by Executive Order 
13112, on a broad array of issues related to preventing the 
introduction of invasive species and providing for their control and 
minimizing the economic, ecological, and human health impacts that 
invasive species cause. The Council is Co-chaired by the Secretary of 
the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of 
Commerce. The duty of the Council is to provide national leadership 
regarding invasive species issues. The Council will coordinate Federal 
agency activities concerning invasive species; prepare and issue a 
national Invasive Species Management Plan; encourage planning and 
action at local, tribal, State, regional and ecosystem-based levels to 
achieve the goals and objectives of the management plan; develop 
recommendations for international cooperation in addressing invasive 
species; develop, in consultation with the Council on Environmental 
Quality, guidance to Federal agencies pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act on invasive species matters; facilitate 
development of a coordinated network to document, evaluate, and monitor 
impacts from invasive species; facilitate establishment of an 
information-sharing system on invasive species that utilizes, to the 
greatest extent practicable, the Internet; support long-term 
continuance and effective implementation of the Management Plan.
    The ISAC will maintain an intensive and regular dialogue to 
actively explore these issues and will draw on the expertise of its 
members and other sources to provide advice in order to help the 
Council fulfill these goals. The ISAC will provide advice in 
cooperation with stakeholders and existing organizations addressing 
invasive species. The ISAC will meet up to four (4) times per year.
    The ISAC will be made up of United States citizens. It will consist 
of no more than 25 voting members. Members will be appointed by the 
Secretary of Interior, in consultation with the other members of the 
Council. Members of ISAC will be knowledgeable in and represent one or 
more of the following communities of interests: weed science; fisheries 
science; rangeland management; forest science; entomology; nematology; 
plant pathology; veterinary medicine; the broad range of farming or 
agricultural practices; biodiversity issues; applicable laws and 
regulations relevant to invasive species policy; risk assessment; 
biological control of invasive species; public health/epidemiology; 
industry activities, structure, and international trade; environmental 
education; ecosystem monitoring; natural resource database design and 
integration; internet-based management of conservation issues.
    Members should also have practical experience in one or more of the 
following areas: representing sectors of the national economy that are 
significantly threatened by biological invasions (e.g. agriculture, 
fisheries, public utilities, recreational users, tourism, etc.); 
representing sectors of the national economy whose routine operations 
may pose risks of new or expanded biological invasions (e.g. shipping, 
forestry, horticulture, aquaculture, pet trade, etc.); developing 
natural resource management plans on regional or ecosystem-level 
scales; addressing invasive species issues, including prevention, 
control and monitoring, in multiple ecosystems and on multiple scales; 
integrating science and the human dimension in creating effective 
solutions to complex conservation issues; coordinating diverse groups 
of stakeholders to resolve complex environmental issues and conflicts; 
complying with NEPA and other federal requirements for public 
involvement in major conservation plans. Members will be selected in 
order to achieve a balanced representation of viewpoints to effectively 
address invasive species issues under consideration. No member may 
serve on the ISAC for more than three (3) consecutive terms of two 
years. Reappointment terms will be staggered within stakeholder groups 
(2 or 3 years) to avoid turnover.
    Members of the ISAC and its subcommittees will serve without pay. 
However, while away from their homes or regular places of business in 
the performance of services of the ISAC, members shall be allowed 
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the same 
manner as persons employed intermittently in the government service, as 
authorized by section 5703 of Title 5, United States Code.

Submitting Nominations

    Nominations should be typed and should include the following:
    1. A brief summary of no more than two (2) pages explaining the 
nominee's suitability to serve on the ISAC.
    2. A resume or curriculum vitae.
    3. Letters of reference.
    Nominations should be sent, no later than September 24, 1999, to 
Gordon Brown, Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, 1849 
C Street, NW, Room 6635, Washington DC, 20240.
    To ensure that recommendations of the ISAC take into account the 
needs of the diverse groups served, Department of the Interior is 
actively soliciting nominations of qualified minorities, women, persons 
with disabilities and members of low income populations.

    Dated: September 21, 1999.
William Y. Brown,
Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 99-25012 Filed 9-23-99; 8:45 am]
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