[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 186 (Monday, September 27, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57709-57710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21618]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Service


National Toxicology Program (NTP); Notice of a Meeting of the NTP 
Board of Scientific Counselors

    Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of a meeting 
of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific Counselors 
on October 26, 2004, in the Rodbell Auditorium, Rall Building at the 
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 111 T.W. Alexander 
Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.
    The NTP Board of Scientific Counselors (``the NTP Board'') is 
composed of scientists from the public and private sector and provides 
primary scientific oversight to the NTP.

Agenda

    The meeting being held on October 26, 2004, begins at 8:30 a.m. and 
is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to adjournment with attendance 
limited only by the space available. Persons needing special assistance 
should contact the NTP Executive Secretary (contact information below) 
at least seven business days in advance of the meeting. A draft agenda 
with a tentative schedule is provided below. Primary agenda topics 
include: (1) NTP initiatives to enhance toxicology, (2) substances 
nominated to the NTP for study and recommendations of the NTP 
Interagency Committee for Chemical Evaluation and Coordination (ICCEC), 
(3) new approaches for statistical analyses for chronic tests, (4) a 
proposed process for evaluating chemicals with limited data sets by the 
Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, and (5) a 
research program on Caenorhabditis elegans. The NTP Board will also 
review three concept proposals for the conduct of research through the 
use of a contract mechanism. These concepts include: (1) The evaluation 
of chemicals for their potential to modulate immune responses, (2) 
chemical characterization of substances for testing in high-throughput 
screening and chronic assays, and (3) application of automated 
techniques to toxicity testing. Time is allotted during the meeting for 
the public to present comments to the NTP Board and NTP staff on any 
agenda topic.
    The agenda and background materials on agenda topics, as available, 
will be posted on the NTP Web site (http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov, 
see What's New) or available upon request to the NTP Executive 
Secretary (contact information below). The NTP is making plans to 
videocast the meeting through the Internet at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/video.htm. Following the meeting, summary minutes will be 
prepared and available through the NTP Web site and upon request to 
Central Data Management, NIEHS, P.O. Box 12233, MD E1-02, Research 
Triangle Park, NC 27709; telephone: 919-541-3419, fax: 919-541-3687, 
and e-mail: [email protected].

ICCEC Recommendations for Substances Nominated for Future NTP Studies

    Information about substances nominated to the NTP for toxicology 
and carcinogenicity studies and the ICCEC's recommendations were 
published in the Federal Register on August 20, 2004 (Vol. 69, No. 161, 
pages 51691-51693). This notice is available on the Web (http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/liason/04JuneICCECFR.html) along with the 
list of nominations (http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/NomPage/2004Noms.html) and supporting documents for each nomination (http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/NomPage/BkgrSum04June.html) or is available by 
contacting the NTP Executive Secretary (contact information below). 
This meeting provides an additional opportunity for the public to 
provide comment on these nominations and study recommendations to the 
NTP Board and NTP staff. Comments submitted to the NTP in response to 
the August 20, 2004, Federal Register notice are under consideration 
and do not need to be resubmitted or readdressed.

Public Comment Encouraged

    Public input at this meeting is invited and time is set aside for 
the presentation of public comments on any agenda topic. At least 7 
minutes will be allotted to each speaker and, if time permits, may be 
extended to 10 minutes. Each organization is allowed one time slot per 
agenda topic. Persons registering to make oral comments are asked to 
provide their name, affiliation, mailing address, phone, fax, e-mail, 
and sponsoring organization (if any). To

[[Page 57710]]

facilitate planning for the meeting, persons interested in providing 
formal oral comments are asked to notify Dr. Barbara Shane, NTP 
Executive Secretary, NIEHS, P.O. Box 12233, MD A3-01, Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27709; telephone: 919-541-0530; and e-mail: 
[email protected] by October 18, 2004. Persons may also submit 
written comments in lieu of making oral comments. Written comments 
should be sent to the NTP Executive Secretary and must be received by 
October 18, 2004, to enable review by the NTP Board and NTP staff prior 
to the meeting.
    Persons submitting written comments should include their name, 
affiliation, mailing address, phone, fax, e-mail, and sponsoring 
organization (if any) with the document. Individuals will also be able 
to register to give oral public comments on-site at the meeting. 
However, if registering on-site and reading from written text, please 
bring 30 copies of the statement for distribution to the NTP Board and 
NTP staff and to supplement the record.

Registration

    The NTP Board meeting is open to the public. Due to changes in 
security policies at the NIEHS, individuals who plan to attend are 
asked to pre-register with the NTP Executive Secretary (contact 
information above). The names of those registered will be given to the 
NIEHS Security Office in order to gain access to the campus. Persons 
attending who have not pre-registered may be asked to provide pertinent 
information about the meeting such as the title or host of the meeting 
before gaining access to the campus. All visitors (whether or not you 
are pre-registered) will need to be prepared to show 2 forms of 
identification (ID), for example, a driver's license and one other form 
of ID, such as company ID, government ID, or university ID.

NTP Board of Scientific Counselors

    The NTP Board is a technical advisory body comprised of scientists 
from the public and private sectors who provide primary scientific 
oversight to the overall program and its centers. Specifically, the NTP 
Board advises the NTP on matters of scientific program content, both 
present and future, and conducts periodic review of the program for the 
purposes of determining and advising on the scientific merit of its 
activities and their overall scientific quality. Its members are 
selected from recognized authorities knowledgeable in fields, such as 
toxicology, pharmacology, pathology, biochemistry, epidemiology, risk 
assessment, carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, molecular biology, behavioral 
toxicology and neurotoxicology, immunotoxicology, reproductive 
toxicology or teratology, and biostatistics. The NTP strives for 
equitable geographic distribution and minority and female 
representation on the NTP Board. Its members are invited to serve 
overlapping terms of up to four years and meetings are held once or 
twice annually for the NTP Board and its two standing subcommittees 
(the Report on Carcinogens Subcommittee and the Technical Reports 
Review Subcommittee).

    Dated: September 15, 2004.
Samuel Wilson,
Deputy Director, National Toxicology Program.

Preliminary Agenda

National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific Counselors

October 26, 2004
    National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Rodbell 
Auditorium, Rall Building, 111 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle 
Park, NC.

8:30 a.m. Welcome and Opening Comments.
    NTP Update.
    NTP Initiatives to Enhance Toxicology.
    Concept Review.
     Evaluation of Chemicals for Their Potential to Modulate 
Immune Responses.
     Chemical Characterization of Substances for Testing in NTP 
Studies.
     Application of Automated Techniques to Toxicity Testing.
12 p.m. Lunch.
12:45 p.m. NTP Testing Program.
     Study Nominations.
     New Approaches to Statistical Analyses for 2-year 
Toxicology and Carcinogenicity Studies.
     Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction--
Proposed Process for Evaluating Chemicals with Limited Data Sets.
     Research Program on Caenorhabditis elegans.
4:45 p.m. Adjourn.

[FR Doc. 04-21618 Filed 9-24-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P