[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62258-62259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17804]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8233-5]


EPA Science Advisory Board; Notification of a Public Telephone 
Conference of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public telephone conference of the 
Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) to be briefed on the status 
of the Agency's Standard Analytical Methods (SAM) and WaterSentinel 
(WS) projects and upcoming projects by the National Homeland Security 
Research Center in the Office of Research and Development.

DATES: November 13, 2006, the meeting will begin at 12 p.m. and end by 
3 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: Telephone conference call only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to 
obtain general information concerning this teleconference should 
contact Ms. Vivian Turner, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA 
Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/
voice mail (202) 343-9697; fax (202) 233-0643; or e-mail at: 
[email protected]. General information concerning the EPA Science 
Advisory Board and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee can be 
found on the EPA Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the EPA SAB HSAC 
will hold a public teleconference to be briefed on the status of the 
Agency's Standard Analytical Methods (SAM) and WaterSentinel (WS) 
projects and upcoming projects by the National Homeland Security 
Research Center in the Office of Research and Development. 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. As a subcommittee of the SAB, the HSAC will comply with 
the provisions of FACA and all appropriate EPA and SAB Staff Office 
procedural policies.

Background

    The purpose of the public teleconference is: (1) To obtain Agency 
feedback on the HSAC's comments presented to the Agency on its SAM and 
WS Programs discussed at the consultation held on January 30-31, 2006; 
and (2) to be briefed on three upcoming HSAC projects, including 
Provisional Advisory Levels (PALS), the Emergency Consequence 
Assessment Tool (ECAT), and Preliminary Microbial Risk Assessment 
Methodologies.

Standard Analytical Methods (SAM) and WaterSentinel (WS)

    On January 30-31, 2006 the HSAC provided a consultation with the 
Agency on its SAM and WS projects (Federal Register Notice dated 
December 19, 2005, Volume 70, Number 242, pages 75173-75174). The SAM 
project standardizes the analytical methods for use by all laboratories 
when responding to incidents that require rapid analysis. The WS 
program is being developed by the EPA in partnership with drinking 
water utilities and other key stakeholders. This initiative involves 
designing, deploying, and evaluating a model contamination warning 
system for drinking water security. The Agency will provide updates to 
the HSAC on WS and SAM.

Provisional Advisory Levels (PALs)

    Health-based exposure guidelines to identify acceptable re-entry 
levels following a terrorist attack of natural disaster are not 
available for most chemical and biological agents. The National 
Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) is developing health-based 
exposure levels for the general public, including the susceptible and 
sensitive subpopulations of all age groups. In particular, the 
developed PALs will address the limitations of other derived exposure 
values. For example, PALs can fill the critical exposure gap between 
acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) and short-term RfC/RfD exposure 
values.
    The PALs can be applied for national emergency programs, community 
planning, and public health protection. Specifically, PALs are 
appropriate for establishing health-based criteria for re-entry into 
buildings, reuse of drinking water, and cleanup of contaminated 
facilities.

Emergency Consequence Assessment Tool (ECAT)

    The NHSRC is developing an interactive online risk assessment 
software tool designed to provide health advisors and other emergency 
response officials with rapid access to critical information during an 
environmental emergency or training exercise. ECAT is designed to (1) 
Assess and provide site-specific numeric estimates of health risks 
(where feasible) for selected chemical, biological, and radiological 
threat agents, (2) identify what response actions might be appropriate 
to mitigate health risks, and (3) provide guidance on how to 
effectively communicate key risk messages to the public.

Preliminary Microbial Risk Assessment Methodologies

    The NHSRC conducts research in support of safe buildings, secure 
water systems and the rapid assessment of risk. The question ``How 
clean is safe?'' has confronted several EPA program offices. Recent 
national homeland security interests have increased demand for answers 
to this question. Because consensus methodologies for evaluating 
biological contaminants and establishing cleanup levels are not 
available, NHSRC is developing a biological risk assessment 
methodology. NHSRC has compiled a Compendium of Prior and Current 
Microbial Risk Assessment Methods. This Compendium has been used to 
develop a Microbial Risk Assessment Framework for Incident Response to 
Bioagents. The preliminary framework considers inhalation, ingestion, 
and dermal exposure pathways and is designed as a two-tier process to 
support risk management decisions for evacuation

[[Page 62259]]

and site re-entry. A Tier I Site Assessment supports rapid decisions, 
such as when evacuating populations within hours of an incident is 
required. Tier II provides an incident-based site assessment approach 
and requires site-specific data to support re-entry decisions. The Tier 
II consists of Hazard Identification, Dose-Response Assessment and 
Exposure Assessment, which are combined to characterize risk to exposed 
population(s) at a site.

Availability of Meeting Materials

    The draft agenda and other materials will be posted on the SAB Web 
site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/ prior to the meeting.

Procedures for Providing Public Input

    Interested members of the public may submit relevant written or 
oral information for these SAB committees to consider during the 
advisory process. Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups 
requesting an oral presentation at a public SAB teleconference will be 
limited to three minutes per speaker, with no more than a total of one-
half hour for all speakers. Interested parties should contact Ms. 
Vivian Turner, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail), by November 6, 
2006, at the contact information noted above, to be placed on the 
public speaker list for this meeting. Written Statements: Written 
statements should be received in the SAB Staff Office by November 2, 
2006, so that the information may be made available to the HSAC for its 
consideration prior to this meeting. Written statements should be 
supplied to the DFO in the following formats: One hard copy with 
original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file 
format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, 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. Vivian Turner at (202) 343-9697 or 
[email protected]. To request accommodation of a disability, please 
contact Ms. Turner preferably at least ten days prior to the meeting, 
to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

    Dated: October 17, 2006.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Associate Director for Science, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 
Office.
[FR Doc. E6-17804 Filed 10-23-06; 8:45 am]
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