[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 161 (Monday, August 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48546-48547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13744]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8211-5]


Notification of a Public Meeting of the Science Advisory Board 
Environmental Economics Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is 
announcing a public meeting of the SAB Environmental Economics Advisory 
Committee (EEAC) to discuss the valuation of mortality risk reduction.

DATES: The meeting will be held from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (EST) on September 
14, 2006 and from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (EST) on September 15, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the SAB Conference Center 
located at 1025 F Street, NW., Suite 3700, Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding the public meeting may contact Dr. Holly 
Stallworth, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), U.S. EPA Science Advisory 
Board Staff Office by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9867, or via e-
mail at [email protected]. The SAB mailing address is: U.S. EPA, 
Science Advisory Board (1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. General information about the SAB, as well as any 
updates concerning the meeting announced in this notice, may be found 
in the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab. The technical contact 
for EPA's work on valuing mortality risk reduction is Dr. Chris Dockins 
who may be reached at (202) 566-2286 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the SAB 
Environmental Economics Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting 
to discuss appropriate methods for valuing mortality risks in the 
context of cost-benefit analysis. The EEAC will be augmented by 
economists from the chartered Science Advisory Board as well as the 
Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis. The SAB was 
established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent scientific and 
technical advice to the Administrator on the technical basis for Agency 
positions and regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee 
chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 
5 U.S.C., App. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    Background: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a 
value of statistical life (VSL) to express the benefits of mortality 
risk reductions in monetary terms for use in benefit cost analyses of 
its rules and regulations. EPA has used the same central default value 
(adjusted for inflation) in its primary analyses since 1999 when the 
Agency updated its Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2000). 
Prior to the release of the Guidelines, EPA sought advice from the 
Science Advisory Board's Environmental Economics Advisory Committee 
(SAB-EEAC) on the appropriateness of this estimate and its derivation. 
In 2000, EPA also consulted with the SAB-EEAC on the appropriateness of 
making adjustments to VSL estimates to capture risk and population 
characteristics associated with fatal cancer risks. On May 12-13, 2004, 
the Environmental Economics Advisory Committee held a consultation to 
discuss the robustness of estimates from the mortality risk valuation 
literature.
    EPA is now in the process of revising and updating its Guidelines 
and as such would like additional guidance on its approach to valuing 
mortality risk reductions. The EEAC has been asked to review two papers 
related to this topic. The first paper (posted at http://yosemite.epa.gov/EE/epa/eerm.nsf/vwRepNumLookup/EE-0494?OpenDocument) 
addresses the application of meta analysis techniques to the derivation 
of estimates for mortality risk reduction. A second paper discusses 
appropriate and available methods for valuing mortality risk reductions 
when affected populations have varying life expectancies. This paper 
will be posted at http://yosemite.epa.gov/EE/epa/eerm.nsf/vwRepNumLookup/EE-0495?OpenDocument.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Materials in support of this 
meeting will be placed on the SAB Web Site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/ 
in advance of this meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB to 
consider during the advisory process.
    Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting an 
oral presentation at a public meeting will be limited to five minutes 
per speaker, with no more than a total of one hour for all speakers. 
Interested parties should contact Dr. Stallworth, DFO, at the contact 
information noted above, by August 31, 2006, to be placed on the public 
speaker list for the September 14-15, 2006 meeting.
    Written Statements: Written statements should be received in the 
SAB Staff Office by August 31, so that the information may be made 
available to the SAB for their consideration prior to this meeting. 
Written statements

[[Page 48547]]

should be supplied to the DFO in the following formats: one hard copy 
with original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail to 
[email protected] (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, 
WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/
Windows 98/2000/XP format).
    Meeting Access: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Stallworth at (202) 
343-9867 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact Dr. Stallworth, preferably at least 10 days 
prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process 
your request.

    Dated: August 11, 2006.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Associate Director for Science, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 
Office.
 [FR Doc. E6-13744 Filed 8-18-06; 8:45 am]
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