[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 120 (Monday, June 23, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37151-37152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15766]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7516-6]


Science Advisory Board, Environmental Economics Advisory 
Committee, Advisory Panel on the Environmental Economics Research 
Strategy; Request for Nominations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) is establishing a panel 
to review the EPA's Environmental Economics Research Strategy. The 
panel will consist of members of the EPA SAB Environmental Economics 
Advisory Committee (EEAC) to which will be added additional experts to 
constitute the Advisory Panel on the Environmental Economics Research 
Strategy (APEERS).

DATES: Nominations should be submitted no later than July 14, 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, 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 Thomas O. Miller, Designated Federal Officer as indicated 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact 
Thomas O. Miller, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), via telephone/voice 
mail at (202) 564-4558; or via e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Summary: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science 
Advisory Board is establishing a panel to review EPA's Environmental 
Economics Research Strategy (EERS). The panel will consist of members 
of the SAB Environmental Economics Advisory Committee to which will be 
added experts to form the Advisory Panel on the Environmental Economics 
Research Strategy (APEERS). The Strategy draws together all relevant 
research needs of the EPA offices and laboratories into an 
understandable framework for guiding EPA's research planning and 
implementation in this topical area.
    The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent 
scientific and technical advice, consultation, and recommendations to 
the EPA Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and 
regulations. General information about the SAB can be found in the SAB 
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    The project the panel will undertake is expected to be no more than 
a six-month effort. 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 found on the SAB's Web site at: 
http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf. Those selected to serve on the 
panel will review the draft materials identified in this notice and 
respond to the charge questions provided below. Upon completion, the 
panel's report will be submitted to the SAB Executive Committee for 
final approval.
    Background: The EPA Science Advisory Board was asked by the 
National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) and the Office of 
Research and Development's National Center for Environmental Research 
(ORD/NCER) to review the EPA Environmental Economics Research Strategy.
    The ``Strategy'' integrates together all relevant research 
conducted by EPA offices and laboratories and provides a blueprint for 
economic research priorities for the agency. The Strategy ``* * * 
identifies priorities and research gaps, evaluates research tools, sets 
out strategic research objectives and suggests responsibilities and 
sequences for conducting or sponsoring research.'' These research needs 
were developed from an initial survey of EPA economists who identified 
research topics for consideration. The top ten categories identified 
were: Valuation of reduced morbidity benefits; environmental behavior 
and decision-making; valuation of ecological benefits; benefits of 
environmental information disclosure; valuation of mortality benefits; 
market mechanisms and incentives other than trading; green accounting-
international trade-finance; market mechanisms and incentives--trading; 
discounting-intergenerational equity; and risk and uncertainty 
techniques-integration with valuation. Research will be conducted 
externally through cooperative agreements, grants, contracts, and 
internally at EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics and in 
relevant EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) National 
Laboratories and Centers.
    The identified research priorities were evaluated by EPA staff in 
relation to four criteria in order to select the areas that EPA would 
emphasize in its research program. The selection criteria used require 
that research must: be needed by EPA, state, or other clients; reflect 
a gap in the existing knowledge base (i.e., not have been conducted 
already); be scientifically feasible and potentially of high quality; 
and be related to EPA's mission in a policy-relevant context and be 
able to come to conclusions on the topic within 5 to 10 years. The 
selected objectives for EPA's economics research focus, include: 
environmental (compliance) behavior and decision-making; benefits of 
environmental information disclosure; ecological valuation; health 
valuation; and market mechanisms and incentives. The Science Advisory 
Board Review Draft of EPA's research strategy for environmental 
economics can be found at the SAB's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab/.
    Proposed Charge to the Panel: The following is the accepted charge 
that has been given to the Science Advisory Board by the Agency:
    Charge Question 1: For each of the major subject areas described in 
the EERS, EPA has attempted to articulate the research questions most 
relevant to EPA that can be effectively addressed given the available 
tools and resources. In this context, please address the following for 
the key research questions identified in the EERS in each of the 
subject areas.
    (a) Is the characterization of each of the major research gaps in 
the literature for the key subject areas of relevance to EPA's economic 
sciences, as identified in the EERS adequate? Will these priorities and 
implementation approaches effectively address the areas of greatest 
scientific uncertainty?
    (b) Given the implementation strategy laid out in the EERS;

--To what extent is this research scientifically feasible at a high 
level of quality?
--How successful is this research likely to be in answering policy-
relevant questions for EPA within the next 8-10 years?

    (c) What improvements in the design and implementation of the EERS 
would make each research project more useful to EPA and other 
environmental management agencies?

[[Page 37152]]

    Charge Question 2: What methodogical research needs in valuation 
should EPA investigate as a complement to the needs derived from the 
strategy interviews?
    In the valuation areas, EPA's expressed needs are primarily 
practical: better values for ecological and human health impacts of 
environmental policies. However, most grant proposals (and most journal 
articles) investigate practical questions as well as methodological or 
other questions (e.g. incentive compatibility or elicitation methods in 
stated preference or more refined models of behavior in revealed 
preference). EPA does not expect that researchers will propose to 
estimate only the practical values that EPA needs, but will also 
propose to investigate methodological issues. Since the research 
strategy interviews did not elicit methodological needs, and EPA 
believes that improving methodology while generating practical values 
provides useful synergy, further input on prioritizing methodological 
issues from the EEAC would be useful.
    Charge Question 3: Can the SAB identify by consensus any 
environmental economics issues of overriding importance to EPA that the 
EERS has missed, and that EPA should address provided that more 
resources be made available for Environmental Economics Research? Could 
the SAB explain why this (these) issue(s) should be of high concern to 
EPA's research programs.
    Charge Question 4: What is the best way for EPA to communicate the 
results of the research strategy and plans for achieving its long-term 
research goals to the wider research community, and other potential 
users?
    SAB Request for Nominations: This review will be conducted by a 
panel comprised of the EPA SAB's Environmental Economics Advisory 
Committee, an existing Standing Committee of the Board. Because some 
EEAC members may not be able to participate, the SAB may choose to 
include on the panel, persons who are members of other existing SAB 
Committees, or who have been nominated by the public, for panel 
inclusion, in response to this notice. Therefore, the EPA SAB is 
requesting nominations of individuals who are recognized, national-
level experts in environmental economics who specialize in one or more 
of the following areas:
    (a) Environmental (compliance) behavior and decision-making (e.g., 
why and how firms react to government intervention in markets, 
voluntary programs, perceptions of environmentally related costs);
    (b) Benefits of environmental information disclosure;
    (c) Ecological valuation;
    (d) Human health valuation;
    (e) Market mechanisms and incentives;
    (f) Cost analysis;
    (g) Benefit-Cost analysis and Uncertainty analysis in BCA;
    (h) Discounting and intergenerational equity.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to add 
expertise in the above areas for the Advisory Panel on the 
Environmental Economics Research Strategy (APEERS).
    Anyone who is unable to submit nominations in electronic format may 
contact Thomas O. Miller as indicated in this FR notice. Nominations 
should be submitted before July 14, 2003. Any questions concerning 
either this process or any other aspects notice should be directed to 
Thomas O. Miller, as indicated in this FR notice.
    The EPA Science Advisory Board will acknowledge receipt of these 
nominations to the nominators. 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 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 the specific expertise to add to the Advisory 
Panel on the Environmental Economics Research Strategy (APEERS).
    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) scientific credibility and 
impartiality; (c) availability and willingness to serve; (d) absence of 
financial conflicts of interest; 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 be asked to attend one public meeting and two 
public teleconferences during this review.

    Dated: June 16, 2003.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 03-15766 Filed 6-20-03; 8:45 am]
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