[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11082-11084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5474]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7460-4]


Science Advisory Board; Request for Nominations for Experts for a 
Panel on Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA's SAB is announcing the formation of a new SAB Panel 
and is soliciting nominations for members of the panel.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted on or before March 28, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Nominations should be submitted in electronic format through 
the Form for Nominating Individuals to Panels of the EPA Science 
Advisory Board provided on the SAB Web site. The form can be accessed 
through a link on the blue navigational bar on the SAB Web site, http://www.epa.gov/sab. To be considered, all nominations must include the 
information required on that form. Anyone who is unable to submit 
nominations via this form may contact Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated 
Federal Officer, U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (1400A), by telephone/
voice mail at (202) 564-4562, by fax at (202) 501-0323, or via e-mail 
at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Request for Nomination may contact 
Dr. Angela Nugent at the address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    1. Action: Notice; request for nominations to a new ``Panel on 
Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services'' of the 
EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB).
    2. Summary: The EPA's SAB is announcing the formation of a new 
Panel to provide advice to strengthen the EPA's approaches for 
assessing the costs and benefits of environmental programs that protect 
ecological systems and services, to identify research needs to improve 
how ecological resources are valued, and to support decision making to 
protect ecological resources. The SAB is soliciting nominations to 
establish the members of the new Panel.
    This Panel is being formed to provide advice to the Agency, as part 
of the EPA SAB's mission, to provide independent scientific and 
technical advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA 
Administrator on the technical bases for EPA regulations. The project 
it will undertake is a self-initiated project of the Board, intended as 
a multi-year effort; the background for the effort and the charge to 
the Panel is described below. The Board is a chartered Federal advisory 
Committee, which reports directly to the Administrator.
    Members of the Panel will provide advice to the Agency, through the 
SAB's Executive Committee, over a two-to-three year period. Over that 
period, the Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB procedural policies, including the SAB process for 
panel formation described in the Overview of the Panel Formation 
Process at the Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board, 
which can be found on the SAB's Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.
    3. Background: EPA's Strategic Plan (EPA-190-R-00-002) states as 
goals one, two and four that a major part of the EPA's mission is to 
safeguard the natural environment, air, water, healthy communities and 
ecosystems, upon which life depends. The goals address ecosystem 
protection and restoration. Goal one, for example, specifies links 
between reductions in air pollution and protection of the environment, 
and such benefits as restoring life in damaged ecosystems. The Agency 
is seeking scientific guidance on measures to improve quantification 
and characterization of benefits of protecting ecosystems and restoring 
life in damaged ecosystems and to inform environmental protection 
decisions.
    Goals two and four of the EPA Strategic Plan include ``the 
restoration and protection of watersheds and their aquatic ecosystems 
to improve public health, enhance water quality, reduce flooding, and 
provide habitat for wildlife and the desire of ``preventing pollution 
and reducing risk in communities, homes, workplaces, and ecosystems.'' 
Meeting these goals will require a scientifically rigorous method to 
quantify not only losses of commercially exploited ecosystem benefits 
(e.g., recreational fishing, impact of atmospheric sulfur and nitrogen 
oxides, lost commercial timber from ozone damage), but also to quantify 
and characterize the benefits of protecting ecological systems and 
services (emphasize more strongly) (e.g., carbon sequestration, water 
purification, water retention, biodiversity, existence values, 
aesthetic values, and habitat).
    In short, the EPA needs a comprehensive effort that will improve 
the methods used to value the benefits of protecting ecological systems 
and services to facilitate Agency decisions concerning the protection 
and restoration of ecosystems. Developing and implementing such methods 
will assist the Agency in meeting the eighth Goal of the Strategic 
Plan, ``to develop and apply the best available science for addressing 
current and future environmental hazards as well as new approaches 
toward improving environmental protection.''
    The SAB Executive Committee has determined that the issue of 
protection of ecological systems and services and valuing of their 
protection is an important, multi-dimensional issue where the 
scientific and technical advice of the Board is needed. It has 
acknowledged that valuing the protection of ecological systems and 
services has proved a challenging problem for the Agency and existing 
SAB Advisory committees to address.
    In regard to this last point, the Board notes that in 2001, the 
independent

[[Page 11083]]

Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis, whose chair sits on 
the SAB Executive Committee, identified that a ``major effort'' was 
needed ``to develop credible methods to quantify and monetize the 
effects of marginal changes in air pollution on ecosystem processes'' 
and to include non-market ecosystem services in future Section 812 
reports (Draft Analytical Plan for EPA's Second Prospective Analysis--
Benefits and costs of the Clean Air Act, 1990-2020: An Advisory by the 
Advisory Council for Clean Air Compliance EPA-SAB-COUNCIL-ADV-01-004). 
The Council advised the Agency to develop a major review of the 
economic literature focusing on the valuation of ecological systems and 
services, with the purpose of differentiating results more useful for 
the Agency's 812 analysis of ecological benefits from those less 
useful.
    The SAB notes that the new Panel is likely to address many of the 
issues raised in a 2001 SAB report, Toward Integrated Environmental 
Decision Making (EPA-SAB-EC-00-011). That report noted the following 
impediments to the valuing of ecological systems and services: 
difficulty translating changes in ecological conditions into monetary 
units: difficulty measuring values placed on keeping ecosystems viable 
(``existence values'') because the public often does not have knowledge 
about ecological impacts; difficulty finding ecological services 
reflected well in markets; and difficulty measuring values such as 
equity and sustainability. The report also cited the following needs: 
better methods to estimate value the public places on protecting 
ecological conditions; better methods to incorporate values and 
preferences into decision-making; and more open dialogue among 
scientists and between scientists and decision makers.
    The Board notes that many of these issues were also discussed at a 
joint EPA/SAB workshop in 2001, and documented in the report: 
Understanding Public Values and Attitudes Related to Ecological Risk 
Management: An SAB Workshop Report of an EPA/SAB Workshop (EPA-SAB-EC-
WKSP-01-001). The workshop was a public meeting designed to demonstrate 
how researchers using different kinds of analytical methods, tools, and 
approaches from the social sciences can mutually inform each other and 
risk managers in understanding: (a) Public values and attitudes related 
to specific threats to ecological resources, such as Tampa Bay Estuary, 
a body of water threatened with nitrogen deposition and (b) the 
significance of those values to decision makers. The Report identified 
opportunities to improve consideration of values in environmental 
decision making in the following areas: environmental science; social, 
economic and behavioral sciences; actions to be taken by policy makers 
and their roles; roles and requirements of stakeholders; and research 
development and research needs.
    4. Proposed Charge to the Panel: The Executive Committee notes that 
the panel will need to synthesize the existing serious work already 
invested on this issue and currently underway elsewhere and define and 
steer distinct activities where the SAB can add value to those efforts. 
Currently, the National Academy of Sciences is working on a project 
titled ``Assessing and Valuing of Aquatic Ecosystem Services.'' This 
project, which is being co-sponsored by the EPA, is meant to ``evaluate 
methods for assessing services and associated economic values of 
aquatic and related terrestrial ecosystems. The Executive Committee 
desires coordination with efforts such as this one, so that the panel 
builds on the information and advice developed. It envisions a multi-
year effort to build upon and go beyond past guidance and efforts to 
support the Agency's valuation methods. The SAB's effort would identify 
research needs to improve valuing of ecological resources and identify 
scientifically appropriate methods and suite of tools to be used to 
assist decision making to protect ecological resources. The Executive 
Committee envisions that the Panel will plan and conduct a series of 
activities designed to accomplish the following:
    (a) Enhance the ability of ecological, economic, social, and 
technological analysis to contribute useful assessment of the value of 
changes in and the protection of ecosystems and ecosystem services.
    (b) Explore alternative approaches (e.g., benefit-cost analysis, 
ecological analysis, and the analysis of public concerns and values) in 
terms of the soundness and reliability of the methods involved, the 
current evidentiary base associated with each, data gaps, and potential 
contributions to decision making.
    (c) Identify research needs and priorities for the further 
development of each of these approaches and to explore innovative 
strategies to encourage new research and new investigators to address 
the value of ecological systems and services.
    (d) Compare the different approaches, identifying areas of 
convergence and divergence and the potential for developing more 
integrative and synthetic approaches.
    (e) Make recommendations as to how these alternative approaches may 
inform and be incorporated in the Agency's valuing the protection of 
ecological systems and services and to contribute to the work of other 
SAB committees.
    Specific activities to respond to this charge are to be defined by 
the new SAB Panel.
    5. SAB Request for Nominations: Any interested person or 
organization may nominate qualified individuals for membership on the 
Subcommittee. Individuals should have expertise in one or more of the 
following areas:

(a) Decision Science
(b) Ecology
(c) Economics
(d) Engineering
(e) Psychology
(f) Social Sciences with emphasis in ecosystem protection

Prior experience that involved valuing of ecosystems and services 
according to a structured scientific method is desirable.
    6. Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to add 
expertise in the above areas Panel. Nominations should be submitted in 
electronic format through the Form for Nominating Individuals to Panels 
of the EPA Science Advisory Board provided on the SAB Web site. The 
form can be accessed through a link on the blue navigational bar on the 
SAB Web site, MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor http://www.epa.gov/sab. To be 
considered, all nominations must include the information required on 
that form.
    Anyone who is unable to submit nominations using this form may 
contact Dr. Angela Nugent at the mailing address above. Nominations 
should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 21 days after the 
publication date of this Federal Register Notice. Any questions 
concerning either this process or any other aspects notice should be 
directed to Dr. Nugent.
    The EPA Science Advisory Board will acknowledge receipt of the 
nomination and inform nominators of the panel selected. From the 
nominees identified by respondents to this Federal Register notice 
(termed the ``Widecast''), SAB Staff will develop a smaller subset 
(known as the ``Short List'') for more detailed consideration. Criteria 
used by the SAB Staff in developing this Short List are given at the 
end of the following paragraph. The Short List will be posted on the 
SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab, and will include, for each 
candidate, the nominee's name and

[[Page 11084]]

their biosketch. Public comments will be accepted for 21 calendar days 
on the Short List. During this comment period, the public will be 
requested to provide information, analysis or other documentation on 
nominees that the SAB Staff should consider in evaluating candidates 
for Panel.
    For the EPA SAB, a balanced review panel (i.e., committee, 
subcommittee, or panel) is characterized by inclusion of 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. Public responses to the Short List 
candidates will be considered in the selection of the panel, along with 
information provided by candidates and information gathered by EPA SAB 
Staff independently on the background of each candidate (e.g., 
financial disclosure information and computer searches to evaluate a 
nominee's prior involvement with the topic under review). Specific 
criteria to be used in evaluating an individual subcommittee member 
include: (a) Scientific and/or technical expertise, knowledge, and 
experience (primary factors); (b) absence of financial conflicts of 
interest; (c) scientific credibility and impartiality; (d) availability 
and willingness to serve; and (e) ability to work constructively and 
effectively in committees.
    Short List candidates will also be required to fill-out 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, which is submitted by EPA SAB Members and Consultants, 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: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf. 
Subcommittee members will likely be asked to attend at least one public 
face-to-face meeting and several public conference call meetings over 
the anticipated course of the advisory activity.
    The approved policy under which the EPA SAB selects review panels 
is described in a recent SAB document, EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) 
Panel Formation Process: Immediate Steps to Improve Policies and 
Procedures--An SAB Commentary (EPA-SAB-EC-COM-002-003), which can be 
found on the SAB's Web site at: (http://www.epa.gov/sab) http://www.epa.gov/sab/ecm02003.pdfhttp://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ecm02003.pdf.
    Additional information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board, 
including its structure, function, and composition, may be found on the 
EPA SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab; and in the EPA Science 
Advisory Board FY2001 Annual Staff Report, which is available from the 
EPA SAB Publications Staff at phone: (202) 564-4533; via fax at: (202) 
501-0256; or on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/annreport01.pdf.
    7. For Further Information Contact: Any member of the public 
wishing further information regarding this Request for Nomination may 
contact Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. EPA Science 
Advisory Board (1400A), Suite 6450C by telephone/voice mail at (202) 
564-4562, by fax at (202) 501-0323; or via e-mail at 
[email protected].

    Dated: February 28, 2003.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 03-5474 Filed 3-6-03; 8:45 am]
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