[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68350-68352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-26081]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7841-9]


Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Science Advisory Board 
(SAB) Staff Office Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) 
Ozone Review Panel; Additional Opportunity To Submit Nominations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) 
Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is reopening the public 
nomination process for experts to serve on the Clean Air Scientific 
Advisory Committee (CASAC) Ozone Review Panel (Panel), and is hereby 
soliciting additional nominations for this Panel.

DATES: New nominations should be submitted by December 8, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact 
Mr. Fred Butterfield, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science 
Advisory Board Staff, at telephone/voice mail: (202) 343-9994; or via 
e-mail at: [email protected]. General information concerning the 
CASAC or the SAB can be found on the EPA Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: The CASAC, which comprises seven 
members appointed by the EPA Administrator, was established under 
section 109(d)(2) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) as an 
independent scientific advisory committee, in part to provide advice, 
information and recommendations on the scientific and technical aspects 
of issues related to air quality criteria and NAAQS under sections 108 
and 109 of the Act. The CASAC is a Federal advisory committee chartered 
under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., 
App.
    The SAB Staff Office previously announced in the Federal Register 
in June 2003 (68 FR 35212, June 12, 2003) the formation of the CASAC 
Ozone Review Panel, to conduct reviews of

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EPA's updated ambient air quality criteria and the science-based 
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and other 
photochemical oxidants. The Ozone Review Panel will consist of the 
seven members of the statutory (chartered) CASAC and additional experts 
as necessary to provide advice and recommendations related to the 
science of ozone and other photochemical oxidants. The Ozone Review 
Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB 
Staff Office procedural policies.
    In response to the June 12, 2003 notice in the Federal Register, 
the SAB Staff Office has received nominations for additional scientific 
experts and has previously published a ``Short List'' of candidates on 
the SAB Web site (http://www.epa.gov/sab) for the purpose of soliciting 
public comments. Given the lengthy period of time that has elapsed 
since its first announcement, the SAB Staff Office is reopening the 
public nomination process for experts to serve on this Panel. 
Nominator's Assessment of Expertise. When submitting nominations to the 
CASAC Ozone Review Panel, please explicitly indicate the specific areas 
of expertise the candidate could contribute. The CASAC requests 
nominees who are recognized, national-level experts in one or more of 
the following disciplines:
    (a) Atmospheric Science. Expertise in physical/chemical properties 
of ozone and other photochemical oxidants, their precursor substances, 
and atmospheric processes involved in the formation, transport, and 
degradation of ozone and other photochemical oxidants in the 
atmosphere, including interaction with global climate and stratospheric 
ozone. Also, expertise in the evaluation of natural and man-made 
(anthropogenic) sources and emissions of precursors of tropospheric 
ozone and other photochemical oxidants, pertinent monitoring/
measurement methods for such substances, and spatial/temporal trends in 
atmospheric concentrations of them.
    (b) Exposure and Risk Assessment/Modeling. Expertise in measuring 
human population exposure to ozone and/or in modeling human exposure to 
ambient and indoor pollutants. Also, expertise in human health risk 
analysis modeling for ozone or other pollutants causing respiratory 
and/or other non-cancer health effects.
    (c) Ecological Effects and Resource Valuation. Expertise in 
evaluation of: patterns of exposure to ozone and/or other photochemical 
oxidants of ornamental and/or agricultural plants and/or natural 
ecosystems and their components; effects of ozone and other 
photochemical oxidants on natural ecosystems (especially terrestrial) 
and their components (both flora and fauna), ranging from biochemical/
sub-cellular effects and identification of indicators of 
pathophysiological effects at the individual plant level, to effects on 
species and populations, on up to include impacts on increasingly more 
complex (e.g., landscape) levels of ecosystem organization. Also, 
expertise in (i) ecosystem risk assessment and (ii) ecological resource 
valuation/economics.
    (d) Dosimetry. Expertise in conducting and/or evaluation of the 
dosimetry of animal and human subjects, and animal-to-human dosimetry 
extrapolations, including identification of factors determining 
differential patterns of inhalation and/or deposition/uptake in 
respiratory tract regions that may contribute to differential 
susceptibility of human population subgroups to ozone and other 
photochemical oxidants.
    (e) Toxicology. Expertise in conducting and/or evaluation of 
experimental laboratory animal studies of the potential health effects 
of ozone and/or other photochemical oxidants on respiratory and non-
respiratory (e.g., lung defense/other immune function mechanisms) 
endpoints.
    (f) Controlled Human Exposure. Expertise in conducting and/or 
evaluation of controlled human exposure studies of the effects of ozone 
and other photochemical oxidants on healthy and compromised (having 
pertinent preexisting chronic disease, e.g., asthma) human adults and 
children, including medical doctors (M.D.) with experience in the 
clinical treatment of asthma.
    (g) Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Expertise in epidemiological 
evaluation of the effects of exposures to ozone and other photochemical 
oxidants and/or other ambient air co-pollutants on human population 
groups, including effects on mortality and/or morbidity (e.g., 
respiratory symptoms, lung function decrements, asthma medication use, 
respiratory-related hospital admissions) endpoints. Also, expertise in 
associated biostatistics and/or health risk analysis.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to add 
expertise to the CASAC Ozone Review Panel in the areas of expertise 
described above. 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, which can be accessed through a link on the blue 
navigational bar on the SAB Web page. To be considered, all nominations 
must include the information required on that form. Please note that 
there is no need to resubmit a nomination for an individual who has 
previously been nominated for the CASAC Ozone Review Panel.
    Anyone who is unable to submit nominations using this form, and any 
questions concerning any aspects of the nomination process may contact 
Mr. Fred Butterfield, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
December 8, 2004.
    To be considered, all nominations must include: (a) a current 
biography, curriculum vitae (C.V.) or resume, which provides the 
nominee's background, experience and qualifications for the Panel; and 
(b) a brief biographical sketch (``biosketch''). The biosketch should 
be no longer than one page and must contain the following information 
for the nominee:
    (I) Current professional affiliations and positions held;
    (ii) Area(s) of expertise, and research activities and interests;
    (iii) Leadership positions in national associations or professional 
publications or other significant distinctions;
    (iv) Educational background, especially advanced degrees, including 
when and from which institutions these were granted;
    (v) Service on other advisory committees, professional societies, 
especially those associated with issues under discussion in this 
review; and
    (vi) Sources of recent (i.e., within the preceding two years) grant 
and/or other contract support, from government, industry, academia, 
etc., including the topic area of the funded activity.
    Please note that even if there is no responsive information (e.g., 
no recent grant or contract funding), this must be indicated on the 
biosketch (by ``N/A'' or ``None''). Incomplete biosketches will result 
in nomination packages not being accepted.
    The EPA SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of the 
nomination. From the nominees identified by respondents to this notice 
(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 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

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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 Office should consider in evaluating 
candidates for the Panel.
    For the EPA SAB Staff Office, a balanced subcommittee or review 
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 independently-gathered by the 
SAB Staff Office 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 member of the Panel include: (a) 
Scientific and/or technical expertise, knowledge, and experience 
(primary factors); (b) availability and willingness to serve; (c) 
absence of financial conflicts of interest; (d) scientific credibility 
and impartiality; and (e) skills working in advisory committees, 
subcommittees and review panels. CASAC Ozone Review Panel members will 
likely be asked to attend two to three public, face-to-face meetings 
and several public teleconference meetings per year over the 
anticipated two- to-five-year course of the Panel's activity.
    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 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.
    The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects 
subcommittees and review panels is described in the following document: 
Overview of the Panel Formation Process at the Environmental Protection 
Agency Science Advisory Board (EPA-SAB-EC-02-010), which is on the SAB 
Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.

    Dated: November 18, 2004.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 04-26081 Filed 11-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P