[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53162-53164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-22933]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7555-8 ]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Announcement of a New 
Ecological Effects Subcommittee of the Advisory Council on Clean Air 
Compliance Analysis, a Request for Nominations, and a Request for 
Comments on the ``Short List'' Candidates

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces the formation of a new subcommittee 
of the Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (Council), 
requests nominations of candidates, and requests for comments on the 
proposed candidates for the ``Short List''. The Subcommittee will 
assist the Council in providing advice to the Agency regarding 
assessments of ecological effects related to the impacts of 
implementing the Clean Air Act (CAA). The new subcommittee, for which 
the SAB Staff Office is soliciting nominations, will be called the 
Ecological Effects Subcommittee (EES).

DATES: Nominations should be submitted no later than September 19, 
2003.
    Comments on the current or revised ``Short List'' candidates should 
be submitted no later than September 29, 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 (DFO), as indicated below. Information on experts also 
listed as ``Short List'' candidates, as described below, should also be 
submitted to Dr. Nugent.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this notice may contact Dr. Angela 
Nugent, (DFO), U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., (1400A), Washington, DC 20460; by telephone/voice mail at 
(202) 564-4562, by fax at (202) 501-0323; or via e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summary: The EPA SAB Staff Office is 
announcing the formation of a new Subcommittee, the EES of the Council 
and is soliciting nominations for members. The Subcommittee will assist 
the Council in providing advice to the Agency on characterizing 
ecological effects related to the Agency's analyses required under 
section 312 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) of the impacts of the CAA on the 
public health, economy, and environment of the United States. The 
Council is a separately chartered Federal advisory

[[Page 53163]]

committee Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. 
App.).
    Background: In the past, the Council has relied on a Subcommittee 
called the Health and Ecological Effects Subcommittee (HEES) to provide 
advice on assessments of both health and ecological effects used in 
such analyses. On February 14, 2003, the SAB Staff Office published a 
Federal Register notice (68 FR 7531-7534), requesting nominations for 
the HEES as well as for another Subcommittee of the Council, the Air 
Quality Modeling Subcommittee, and for additional expertise needed for 
the Council itself. Background on the history and mandate given to the 
Council may be found in the referenced Federal Register notice.
    On May 29, 2003, the SAB Staff Office published on the SAB website 
a Memorandum entitled ``US EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff 
Office's Selection of Experts to Augment the Expertise of the Advisory 
Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis to form a Special Council 
Panel for the Review of the Third 812 Analysis, the Air Quality 
Modeling Subcommittee, and the Health Effects Subcommittee'' (see 
http://www.epa.gov/science1/pdf/councilpanelselectionmemo.pdf) In that 
memorandum, the Staff Office described its decision to focus the HEES 
on health effects and to rename it the ``Health Effects Subcommittee'' 
(HES).
    The SAB Staff Office made the decision regarding the HES and the 
decision to establish the EES because of the importance of ecological 
issues to the Council, which noted in its most recent report, Review of 
the Draft Analytical Plan for EPA's Second Prospective Analysis--
Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act 1990-2020, EPA-SAB-COUNCIL-ADV-
01-004, 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 reports.
    The general charge to the EES will be to assist the Council in: (a) 
Reviewing data to be used for any analysis of ecological effects 
required under section 312 of the CAA; (b) reviewing the methodology 
used to analyze such data and make recommendations on the use of such 
methodology; and (c) prior to the issuance of a report to Congress 
required under section 312 of the CAA, reviewing the findings of the 
report and make recommendations concerning the validity and utility of 
such findings. Members of the EES will provide advice to the Agency, 
through the council, over a two-year period.
    The initial charge questions to be addressed by the EES related to 
the Agency's draft analytical plan are identified below. Expertise 
needed to address these questions and to meet the general charge to the 
EES identified in the paragraph immediately above are identified below 
under the heading ``SAB Staff Office Request for Nominations.''
    Subsequent to the publication of the Federal Register notice 
referenced above, the SAB Staff Office issued another request for 
nominations on a related but separate advisory topic. This request was 
entitled ``Science Advisory Board; Request for Nominations for Experts 
for a Panel on Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and 
Services' (68 FR 11082-11084, March 7, 2003). The charge to this new 
Committee is to assess Agency needs and the state of the art and 
science of valuing protection of ecological systems and services, and 
then to identify key areas for improving knowledge, methodologies, 
practice, and research. This charge includes many of the kinds of 
issues discussed in the Council Advisory Report for the Agency as a 
whole. SAB Staff Office decisions relating to the formation of this 
advisory group, were documented in a memorandum, ``US EPA Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Committee on Valuing the Protection of Ecological 
Systems and Services: Description of Process for Forming the 
Committee,'' dated August 11, 2003 and posted on the SAB Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/science1/panels/vpesspanel.html. The Memorandum 
identifies the members of the Committee, who were selected from a 
``Short List'' of 44 experts chosen from the nearly 150 experts 
nominated through the SAB Staff Office nomination process announced in 
the March 7, 2003, Federal Register notice.
    The SAB Staff Office is issuing this notice in light of three 
considerations: (1) The February 14, 2003, Federal Register Request for 
Nominations for the Council and its subcommittees already included a 
request for nominees with expertise in ecosystem effects related to air 
pollution; (2) the ``Short List'' of experts resulting from the March 
7, 2003, Federal Register Request for Nominations that led to the 
formation of the Committee on Valuing the Protection of Ecological 
Systems and Services already included ecologists with expertise 
appropriate for the EES; and (3) the ``Short List'' of ecological 
scientists resulting from the March 7, 2003, Federal Register notice 
included the two ecologists identified in response to the February 14, 
2003, call. Considering the experts already identified, the SAB Staff 
Office will derive an initial ``Short List'' for the EES from the 
experts in ecology identified from the two previous requests for 
nominations and is providing the public with a brief final opportunity 
to provide additional nominations before the EES is formed. The 
candidates on this initial ``Short List'' will be posted on the SAB Web 
site at http://www.epa.gov/science1/panels/scpanel812heesaqms.htm.
    Initial Charge Questions for the EES: The two initial charge 
questions to be addressed by the EES relate to the Agency's review 
document ``Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act 1990--2020: Revised 
Analytical Plan For EPA's Second Prospective Analysis'and are 
identified below:
    A. Does the Council support the plans described in chapter 7 for 
(a) qualitative characterization of the ecological effects of Clean Air 
Act-related air pollutants, (b) an expanded literature review, and (c) 
a quantitative, ecosystem-level case study of ecological service flow 
benefits? If there are particular elements of these plans which the 
Council does not support, are there alternative data or methods the 
Council recommends?
    2. Initial plans described in chapter 7 reflect a preliminary EPA 
decision to base the ecological benefits case study on Waquoit Bay in 
Massachusetts. Does the Council support these plans? If the Council 
does not support these specific plans, are there alternative case study 
designs the Council recommends?
    Document Availability: Links to EPA's past studies of the costs and 
benefits of the CAA, and to review material for the Council and its 
Subcommittees can be found at the following Web site, maintained by 
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation at: http://www.epa.gov/oar/sect812/. 
A link to the review document ``Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act 
1990-2020: Revised Analytical Plan For EPA's Second Prospective 
Analysis' can be found at http://www.epa.gov/air/sect812/mainbody51203.pdf.
    SAB Staff Office Request for Nominations: Any interested person or 
organization may nominate qualified individuals for membership on the 
EES. Individuals should have expertise in one or more of the following 
areas: (a) Ecosystem Effects Related to Air Pollution, and (b) 
Assessment of Ecological Effects for Benefits Analyses.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations or for Submitting 
Information: Any interested person or organization may nominate 
qualified individuals to serve as subcommittee members in the areas 
described above. The nominating form requests contact

[[Page 53164]]

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; and a general biosketch of the 
nominee indicating education, expertise, past research, recent service 
on other advisory committees or with professional associations, and 
recent grant and/or contract support.
    Anyone who is unable to submit nominations through the SAB website, 
or has questions concerning any aspect of the nomination process, may 
contact Dr. Angela Nugent as indicated above in this FR notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
September 19, 2003.
    The EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office will acknowledge 
receipt of any nominations received. From the nominees identified by 
respondents to this Federal Register notice and through other sources 
(termed the ``Widecast''), SAB Staff Office will determine whether 
individuals will need to be added to the existing ``Short List'' of 
candidates to be considered for the EES. Criteria used by the SAB Staff 
Office in developing this ``Short List'' are given at the end of the 
following paragraph. The SAB Staff Office will contact individuals who 
are considered for inclusion in the ``Short List'' to determine whether 
they are willing to serve on the Subcommittee. Any revisions to 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. The revised ``Short List'' also will be 
available from Dr. Nugent at the address listed above.
    The public is requested to provide to the DFO information, 
documentation, or analysis about individuals listed on the ``Short 
List'' of candidates for the EES posted on the SAB Web site. The SAB 
Staff Office will consider this information in making the selection of 
subcommittee members. The public is requested also to provide 
additional nominations for the Subcommittee following the procedures 
identified below.
    For the EPA SAB, a balanced 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 Subcommittee members, along 
with information provided by candidates and information gathered by EPA 
SAB Staff Office 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 individual nominees 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.
    Those ``Short List'' candidates ultimately chosen to serve on the 
Subcommittee will be appointed as Special Government Employees. 
Therefore, all ``Short List'' candidates will 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 allows Government officials to determine whether there is a 
statutory conflict between that person's public responsibilities as a 
Special Government Employee 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.

    Dated: August 27, 2003.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 03-22933 Filed 9-8-03; 8:45 am]
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