[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 242 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75173-75174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7505]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8010-3]


Notification of a Partially Closed Consultation of the Science 
Advisory Board's Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces a 
partially closed consultation of the HSAC.

DATES: The consultation will take place on January 30-31, 2006.

ADDRESSES: This consultation will take place at the EPA's SAB 
Conference Center located at the Woodies Building, 1025 F Street, NW., 
Room 3705, Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information regarding this announcement may contact Ms. 
Vivian Turner, Designated Federal Officer, by telephone: (202) 343-9697 
or by e-mail at: [email protected]. The SAB Mailing address is: 
U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC, 20460. General 
information about the SAB, as well as any updates concerning the 
consultation announced in this notice, may be found in the SAB Web site 
at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA's Office of Water (OW) and Office of 
Research and Development (ORD) have requested a consultation with the 
SAB's Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) to obtain the 
individual advice of the HSAC members on the development of EPA's 
WaterSentinel (WS) program and Standard Analytical Methods (SAM). The 
WS program is being developed by the EPA in partnership with drinking 
water utilities and other key stakeholders in response to Homeland 
Security Presidential

[[Page 75174]]

Directive 9. The initiative involves designing, deploying, and 
evaluating a model contamination warning system for drinking water 
security. Another essential component is the need for standardized 
analytical methods (SAM) to be used by all laboratories for responding 
to incidents that require rapid analysis. The EPA and other Federal 
parties, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 
Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the 
Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Geological Survey, have 
evaluated the suitability of existing methodologies and selected a set 
of methods for use by EPA and contract laboratories to analyze 
environmental samples in times of national emergency. The methods are 
limited to chemical, biological, radiochemical, and biotoxin analytes 
in environmental media. The purpose of the consultation is to seek 
early advice from the individual members of the SAB HSAC regarding the 
proposed approach, design, adequacy and the future implementation for 
the WS program and the scientific soundness and adequacy of SAM.
    The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent 
scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator. The SAB 
formed the HSAC as a subcommittee of the Chartered SAB to provide 
independent scientific and technical advice on matters pertaining to 
the environmental and health consequences of terrorism in response to 
an EPA request. Background on the HSAC and its charge was provided in a 
Federal Register Notice published on July 30, 2003 (68 FR 44761-44762). 
For this consultation, the HSAC will be augmented with experts from 
other SAB committees or individuals previously identified on the HSAC 
``Short List'' (see, http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/hsacadhoc.html).
    It is EPA's policy to follow the provisions of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (FACA) for subcommittees of its chartered advisory 
committees. Accordingly, in accordance with FACA, EPA has determined 
that a portion of the SAB's HSAC consultation on WS will be closed to 
the public pursuant to section 552b(c)(9)(B) of the Government in the 
Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B)), which allows closure of a 
meeting if the ``premature disclosure of [the information to be 
discussed] would * * * be likely to significantly frustrate 
implementation of a proposed agency action * * *.'' This discussion 
will involve sensitive national security information relating to 
specific water sector vulnerabilities and emergency response tactics, 
including sensitive information relating to intentional contamination 
events. Also, EPA will present detailed findings about the emergency 
response capabilities of public health agencies and water utilities. 
The disclosure of this sensitive national security information would 
significantly frustrate the Agency's efforts to protect the nation's 
drinking water systems. Therefore, pursuant to section 10(d) of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, 10(d), I 
have determined that the topics identified above will concern matters 
that, if prematurely disclosed, would significantly frustrate 
implementation of proposed agency actions. Accordingly, pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 552b(c)(9)(B), this portion of the meeting will be closed to the 
public.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: The agenda and other meeting 
materials for this consultation will be available prior to the meeting 
date on the SAB Web site: http://www.epa.gov/sab. EPA's technical 
documents on the WS program may be found at: http://www.cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/index.cfm. EPA's technical documents on SAM may 
be found at: http://www.epa.gov/ordnhsrc/pubs/reportSAM092905.pdf.
    Procedures for Providing Public Comment: The SAB Staff Office 
accepts written public comments of any length, and will accommodate 
oral public comments whenever possible.
    Oral Comments: Requests to provide oral comments must be in writing 
(e-mail, fax or mail) and received by Ms. Turner no later than January 
20, 2006 to reserve time on the January 30-31, 2006 meeting agenda. 
Opportunities for oral comments will be limited to five minutes per 
speaker.
    Written Comments: Written comments should be received in the SAB 
Staff Office by January 20, 2006 so that the comments may be made 
available to the members of the HSAC for their consideration. Comments 
should be supplied to Ms. Turner at the contact information provided 
above, in the following formats: One hard copy (original signature 
optional), or one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format: 
Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, Word, or Rich Text files (in IBM-PC/
Windows 98/2000/XP format)).
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Ms. Turner at the phone 
number or e-mail noted above, preferably at least 10 days prior to the 
consultation, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your 
request.

    Dated: December 13, 2005.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E5-7505 Filed 12-16-05; 8:45 am]
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