[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 60 (Monday, March 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16249-16250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6926]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7641-3]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations for 
Experts for the Perfluorooctanoic Acid Human Health Risk Assessment 
Review Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces 
the formation of a new SAB review panel known as the Perfluorooctanoic 
Acid Human Health Risk Assessment Review Panel (PFOA Review Panel), and 
is soliciting nominations for members of the Panel.

DATES: The deadline for submitting nominations is three (3) weeks from 
publication of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nominations should be submitted in 
electronic format through the Form for Nominating Individuals to Panels 
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board provided on the SAB Web site. The form can be accessed through a 
link on the blue navigational bar of the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab. To be considered, all nominations should include the 
information requested on that form. Anyone who is unable to access 
nominations on the SAB Web site can obtain a paper copy of the form by 
contacting Dr. Suhair Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), as 
indicated below.
    Any member of the public requiring further information regarding 
this Request for Nominations, or a paper nomination form, may contact 
Dr. Shallal by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9977, via e-mail at 
[email protected], or at the following address: Suhair Shallal, 
PhD., Science Advisory Board Staff Office, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (Mail Code 1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. General information about the SAB can be found in 
the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Summary: The EPA SAB Staff Office is announcing the formation of a 
new review panel and soliciting nominations for members of the panel. 
This panel is being formed to help provide advice to the Agency, as 
part of the SAB's mission, established by 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide 
independent scientific and technical advice, consultation, and 
recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the technical bases for EPA 
policies and regulations. The work of this panel is expected to 
continue until the review is complete. The SAB is a chartered Federal 
Advisory Committee that reports directly to the Administrator. The PFOA 
Review Panel will provide advice through the SAB. The PFOA Review Panel 
will comply with the openness provisions of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (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 (EPA-SAB-EC-COM-02-010), http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ecm02010.pdf.
    Background: EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics has 
been studying perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in order to understand the 
health and environmental impact of perfluorochemicals. PFOA is a 
synthetic (man-made) chemical and does not occur naturally in the 
environment. The term PFOA refers to not only perfluorooctanoic acid 
itself, but also its principal salts. The most commonly used chemical 
in this grouping is the ammonium salt, ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or 
APFO. PFOA is primarily used as a reactive intermediate, while its 
salts are used as processing aids in the production of fluoropolymers 
and fluoroelastomers and in other surfactant uses. Fluoropolymers are 
used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial applications. 
Although fluoropolymers are made using PFOA, the finished products 
themselves are not expected to contain PFOA. The EPA has completed its 
draft Risk Assessment of Potential Human Health Effects Associated with 
PFOA and Its Salts. The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) has been asked 
to review and comment on the scientific soundness of this assessment.
    Request for Nominations: The EPA SAB Staff Office requests 
nominations of experts to serve as Panel members on the PFOA Review 
Panel. Areas of expertise sought include at least the following: (a) 
Toxicology of perfluorinated compounds and mechanism of toxicity; (b) 
Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity; (c) Toxicokinetics; (d) 
Carcinogenesis; (e) Public Health; (f) Epidemiology; and (g) Human 
Health Risk Assessment.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to serve as 
panel members in the areas described above. The nominating form 
requests the following: (1) Contact information about the person making 
the nomination; (2) contact information about the nominee; (3) the 
disciplinary and specific areas of expertise of the nominee; (4) the 
nominee's resume; and (5) 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 Web site, or has questions concerning any aspect of the 
nomination process, may contact Dr. Shallal as indicated, above. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than three 
(3) weeks after publication of this notice.
    From the nominees identified by respondents to this notice and 
through other sources (termed the ``Widecast''), the SAB Staff Office 
will develop a smaller subset (known as the ``Short List'') for more 
detailed consideration. 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 Panel. 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 Short List also 
will be available from Dr. Shallal at the address listed above. 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 Office should consider in evaluating candidates for the Panel. 
For the EPA SAB, a balanced 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

[[Page 16250]]

responses to the Short List candidates will be considered in the 
selection of the Panel 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 panels.
    Those Short List candidates ultimately chosen to serve on the Panel 
will be appointed as Special Government Employees (SGEs). 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 an 
SGE 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. As an SGE, EPA SAB members are 
required to abide by the letter and spirit of the ethical regulations 
to which all U.S. Government employees must adhere. SGEs are required 
to take annual ethics training in order to serve on the SAB.

    Dated: March 23, 2004.
Richard Albores,
Acting Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 04-6926 Filed 3-26-04; 8:45 am]
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