[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 93 (Monday, May 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25830-25831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9625]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


National Toxicology Program (NTP); Liaison and Scientific Review 
Office (LSRO); Meeting of the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors

AGENCY: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), 
National Institutes of Health (NIH), HHS.

ACTION: Announcement of a meeting and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of a 
meeting of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific 
Counselors. The NTP Board of Scientific Counselors (NTP Board) is 
composed of scientists from the public and private sectors and provides 
primary scientific oversight to the Director for the NTP and evaluates 
the scientific merit of the NTP's intramural and collaborative 
programs.

DATES: The NTP Board meeting will be held on June 23, 2005. In order to 
facilitate planning for this meeting, persons wishing to make an oral 
presentation are asked to notify the Executive Secretary for the NTP 
Board by June 13, 2005 (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT below). 
Written comments should also be received by June 13, 2005, to enable 
review by the NTP Board and NIEHS/NTP staff prior to the meeting.

ADDRESSES: The NTP Board meeting will be held in the Rodbell 
Auditorium, Rall Building at the National Institute of Environmental 
Health Sciences, 111 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 
27709. A copy of the preliminary agenda, committee roster, and any 
additional information, when available, will be posted on the NTP Web 
site (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ select ``Advisory Boards and 
Committees'') and provided upon request from the NTP (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT below).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Public comments and any other 
correspondence should be submitted to Dr. Barbara Shane, Executive 
Secretary for the NTP Board (NTP Liaison and Scientific Review Office, 
NIEHS, P.O. Box 12233, MD A3-01, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; 
telephone: 919-541-4253, fax: 919-541-0295; or e-mail: 
[email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Primary agenda topics include: (1) An update 
of NTP activities including identification of two newly formed working 
groups of the NTP Board, the Nanotechnology Working Group (NWG) and the 
High Throughput Screening Working Group (HTSWG), (2) a summary of the 
June 16-17, 2005 workshop on ``Animal Models for the NTP Rodent Cancer 
Bioassay: Strains and Stocks--Should We Switch?'' (see http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ select ``Meetings and Workshops''), (3) testing 
recommendations for substances nominated to the NTP for study (see 
http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ select ``Nominations to the Testing 
Program''), (4) a report from the NTP Board's Technical Reports Review 
Subcommittee for the meeting held on December 9, 2004 (see http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ select ``Advisory Boards and Committees''), (5) 
implications of Office of Management and Budget peer review guidelines 
(Federal Register, Volume 70, Number 10, pages 2664-2677) for the NTP, 
and (6) a process to review NTP Briefs on reproductive hazards prepared 
by the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction. 
Time is allotted during the meeting for the public to present comment 
to the NTP Board and NTP staff on these agenda topics. Please note that 
this meeting provides a second opportunity for the public to provide 
comment on testing recommendations for substances nominated to the NTP. 
Comments submitted to the NTP in response to the May 5, 2005 Federal 
Register notice on this topic (Federal Register, Volume 70, Number 86, 
pages 23877-23880) will be considered at the Board meeting and do not 
need to be resubmitted.

Preliminary Agenda

    NTP Board of Scientific Counselors--June 23, 2005. National 
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Rodbell Auditorium, Rall 
Building 111 T.W. Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; (A 
photo ID is required to access the NIEHS campus).

8:30 a.m.

     Call to Order and Introductions
     Welcome and Remarks from the National Institute of 
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology 
Program (NTP)
     Update on NTP Activities

--Public Comment

     Report on the Workshop ``Animal Models for the NTP Rodent 
Cancer Bioassay: Strains and Stocks--Should We Switch?''
     NTP Study Nominations and Recommendations

--Public Comment

12:30 p.m.
Lunch Break
1:30 p.m.

     NTP Board of Scientific Counselors Technical Reports 
Review Subcommittee

--Public Comment

     Office of Management and Budget Peer Review Guidelines: 
Implications for the NTP

--Public Comment

     Process for Peer Review of NTP Briefs from the Center for 
the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction

--Public Comment
5 p.m.
Adjourn

Attendance and Registration

    The meeting is scheduled for June 23, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. to 
adjournment and is open to the public with attendance limited only by 
the space available. Individuals who plan to attend are encouraged to 
register online at the NTP Web site by June 13, 2005, to facilitate 
access to the NIEHS campus. Please note that a photo ID is required to 
access the NIEHS campus. The NTP is making plans to videocast the 
meeting through the Internet at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/external/video.htm. Persons needing special assistance, such as sign language 
interpretation, or other reasonable accommodation in order to attend, 
are asked to notify the Executive Secretary for the NTP Board at least 
7 business

[[Page 25831]]

days in advance of the meeting (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
above).

Availability of Meeting Materials

    A copy of the preliminary agenda, committee roster, and any 
additional information, when available, will be posted on the NTP Web 
site or may be requested in hardcopy from the NTP Executive Secretary 
for the (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above). Following the 
meeting, summary minutes will be prepared and made available on the NTP 
Web site.

Request for Comments

    Public input at this meeting is invited and time is set aside for 
the presentation of public comments on any agenda topic. Each 
organization is allowed one time slot per agenda topic. At least 7 
minutes will be allotted to each speaker, and if time permits, may be 
extended to 10 minutes. Registration for oral comments will also be 
available on-site, although time allowed for presentation by on-site 
registrants may be less than that for pre-registered speakers and will 
be determined by the number of persons who register at the meeting.
    Persons registering to make oral comments are asked, if possible, 
to send a copy of their statement to the Executive Secretary for the 
NTP Board (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT above) by June 13, 2005, 
to enable review by the NTP Board and NIEHS/NTP staff prior to the 
meeting. Written statements can supplement and may expand the oral 
presentation. If registering on-site and reading from written text, 
please bring 40 copies of the statement for distribution to the NTP 
Board and NIEHS/NTP staff and to supplement the record. Written 
comments received in response to this notice will be posted on the NTP 
Web site. Persons submitting written comments should include their 
name, affiliation, mailing address, phone, fax, e-mail, and sponsoring 
organization (if any) with the document.

Background Information on the 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. NTP Board meetings are held 
annually or biannually.

    Dated: May 4, 2005.
Samuel H. Wilson,
Deputy Director, National Toxicology Program.
[FR Doc. 05-9625 Filed 5-13-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P