[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40576-40577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16118]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8692-3]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of Upcoming 
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Particulate Matter Research 
Centers Program Advisory Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the SAB 
Particulate Matter (PM) Research Centers Program Advisory Panel to 
comment on the Agency's current PM research centers program and provide 
advice to EPA concerning future structures and strategic direction for 
the program.

DATES: The meeting dates are Wednesday, October 1, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. 
to 5:30 p.m. through Thursday, October 2, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 
p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the SAB Conference Center 
located at: 1025 F Street, NW., Room 3705, Washington, DC 20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information about this meeting must contact Mr. Fred 
Butterfield, Designated Federal Officer (DFO). Mr. Butterfield may be 
contacted at the EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
or via telephone/voice mail: 202-343-9994; fax 202-233-0643; or e-mail 
at [email protected]. General information about the EPA SAB, as 
well as any updates concerning the meeting announced in this notice, 
may be found on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

[[Page 40577]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. 
This SAB Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    Background: In 1998, the Congress directed EPA to establish as many 
as five university-based PM research centers as part of the Agency's 
expanded Office of Research and Development (ORD) PM research program. 
The first PM Research Centers were funded from 1999 to 2005 with a 
total program budget of $8 million annually (see: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/science/pm/centers.html). In the original Request for Applications 
(RFA), prospective centers were asked to propose an integrated research 
program on the health effects of PM, including exposure, dosimetry, 
toxicology and epidemiology. ORD's PM Research Centers program was 
initially shaped by recommendations from the National Research Council.
    In 2002, ORD requested that the Science Advisory Board conduct an 
interim review of EPA's PM Research Centers program, the report from 
which is found at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/
6374FD2B32EFE730852570CA007415FE/$File/ec02008.pdf. This review was 
instrumental in providing additional guidance to ORD for the second 
phase of the program (2005-2010). In 2004, ORD held a second 
competition for the PM Research Centers program. This RFA asked 
respondents to address the central theme of ``linking health effects to 
PM sources and components,'' and to focus on the research priorities of 
susceptibility, biological mechanisms, exposure-response relationships, 
and source linkages. From this RFA, five current centers are funded for 
2005-2010 with the total program budget at $40 million (see: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/outlinks.centers/centerGroup/19).
    EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), within 
ORD, requested that the SAB Staff Office form an expert panel to 
comment on the Agency's current PM Research Centers program and to 
advise EPA concerning the possible structures and strategic direction 
for the program as ORD considers funding a third round of air pollution 
research centers into the future, i.e., from 2010 to 2015. Therefore, 
in response to this request from NCER, the SAB Staff Office published a 
notice in the Federal Register (73 FR 5838) on January 31, 2008, which 
announced the formation of an SAB ad hoc panel for this advisory 
activity and requested public nominations of qualified experts to serve 
on this panel.
    The SAB Staff Office has established the SAB PM Research Centers 
Program Advisory Panel. This ad hoc Panel is comprised of nationally- 
and internationally-recognized, non-EPA scientists with extensive 
research program management expertise and experience related to 
airborne pollution (including PM) and the application of research 
results in reducing air pollution in protection of human health and the 
environment. Furthermore, these experts have had direct research 
experience related to airborne particulate matter. The roster and 
biosketches of this SAB Panel are posted on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    Technical Contacts: Any programmatic or technical questions 
concerning EPA's Airborne Particulate Matter Research Centers Program 
can be directed to Ms. Stacey Katz, NCER, at phone: 202-343-9855, or e-
mail: [email protected]; Ms. Gail Robarge, NCER, at phone: 202-343-
9857, or e-mail: [email protected]; or to Mr. Dan Costa, ORD's 
National Program Director for Air Research, at phone: 919-541-2532, or 
e-mail: [email protected].
    Availability of Meeting Materials: All Agency documents to be 
discussed during this advisory activity will be available on EPA's 
``Airborne Particulate Matter Research Centers--New (2005)'' Web page 
at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/outlinks.centers/centerGroup/19.
    The SAB meeting agenda and any other materials for this upcoming 
public advisory meeting will be available on the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/casac in advance of the meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB 
Panel to consider on the topics included in this advisory activity and/
or group conducting the activity. 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 
Mr. Butterfield, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail) at the contact 
information noted above, by September 24, 2008, to be placed on a list 
of public speakers for the meeting. Written Statements: Written 
statements should be received in the SAB Staff Office by September 24, 
2008, so that the information may be made available to the SAB Panel 
members for their consideration. Written statements should be supplied 
to the DFO electronically via e-mail (acceptable file formats: Adobe 
PDF, MS Word, WordPerfect, 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 Mr. Butterfield at the 
phone number or e-mail address noted above, preferably at least ten 
days prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to 
process your request.

    Dated: July 8, 2008.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-16118 Filed 7-14-08; 8:45 am]
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