[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42801-42802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16832]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8696-5]


EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations 
of Experts for a Science Advisory Board Committee To Provide Advice on 
Future Development of EPA's Report on the Environment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) 
Science Advisory Board (SAB or the Board) Staff Office is soliciting 
nominations of nationally recognized scientists for consideration of 
membership on an SAB committee to provide advice on future development 
of EPA's Report on the Environment (ROE).

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by August 13, 2008 per the 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding this Request 
for Nominations please contact Dr. Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal 
Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, 
or via telephone/voice mail (202) 343-9995; fax (202) 233-0643; or e-
mail at [email protected]. General information concerning the EPA 
SAB can be found on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: The SAB (42 U.S.C. 4365) is a chartered Federal 
Advisory Committee that provides independent scientific and technical 
peer review, advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA 
Administrator on the technical basis for EPA actions. As a Federal 
Advisory Committee, the SAB conducts business in accordance with the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. C) and related 
regulations. Generally, SAB meetings are announced in the Federal 
Register, conducted in public view, and provide opportunities for 
public input during deliberations. Additional information about the SAB 
and its committees can be obtained on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    EPA recently published its 2008 Report on the Environment 
(hereinafter referred to as ROE 2008). This report is available on the 
EPA Office of Research and Development Web site at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=190806. In the ROE 2008, 
EPA presents environmental and human health indicator information to 
represent the status of and trends in the condition of the nation's 
environment. The ROE will be used by EPA to: (1) Inform strategic 
planning, priority setting, and decision making across the Agency, and 
(2) provide information to enable the public to assess whether EPA is 
succeeding in its overall mission to protect human health and the 
environment. Individual chapters in the ROE 2008 provide information on 
the condition of air, water, and land environments. The air chapter 
focuses outdoor and indoor air quality and greenhouse gases. The water 
chapter addresses the condition of surface waters, watersheds, ground 
water, wetlands, coastal waters, drinking water, recreational waters, 
and consumable fish and shellfish. The land chapter contains indicator 
information on land cover, land use, wastes on land, chemicals used on 
land, and contaminated land. Two other chapters in the ROE 2008 focus 
on human health and ecological condition. The human health chapter 
provides indicator information on human disease and disease conditions 
and environmental exposure to pollutants. The ecological condition 
chapter provides indicator information on the extent and distribution 
of ecological systems, diversity and biological balance of ecological 
systems, ecological processes, critical physical and chemical 
attributes, and exposure to pollutants. The environmental indicators in 
the ROE 2008 were selected to answer broad questions deemed to be of 
critical importance to EPA's mission. The ROE 2008 incorporates SAB 
comments on earlier drafts of the ROE dated 2003 and 2007. The findings 
and recommendations of these previous SAB reviews are available on the 
SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab (see reports EPA-SAB-05-004 and 
EPA-SAB-08-007). EPA expects to modify future editions of the ROE based 
on long-term recommendations in the SAB review of the draft 2007 ROE. 
This notice specifically requests nominations for candidates to serve 
on a new SAB committee that will provide advice to EPA over the next 
few years on how to: (1) Address previous SAB recommendations to 
improve future versions of the ROE, and (2) make the ROE more useful to 
EPA in informing planning and decision making and providing information 
to the public. The Committee will ultimately review the

[[Page 42802]]

next version of the ROE expected to be published in 2012.
    Expertise Sought: The SAB Staff Office requests nominations of 
recognized experts from a wide range of scientific and engineering 
disciplines with experience and expertise in: designing, implementing, 
applying and/or communicating indicator information and data at 
regional and national scales to evaluate the condition of air, water, 
and/or land environments, human health, and/or ecological condition to 
inform planning, policy, and decision making. Nominations of experts in 
various disciplines are requested including: (a) Environmental 
scientists and engineers with knowledge of the sources, fate, and 
transport of air pollutants and outdoor and indoor air quality 
indicators; (b) aquatic biologists, ecologists, hydrologists, chemists, 
oceanographers and microbiologists with expertise in assessing the 
condition of surface water, ground water, drinking water, wetlands, 
coastal waters, and/or recreational waters; (c) environmental 
scientists, ecologists, soil scientists, and environmental engineers 
with expertise in the use of indicators (e.g., land cover, land use, 
wastes on land, chemicals used on land, and contaminated land) to 
assess the condition of land; (d) health scientists (e.g., in the 
fields of public health, epidemiology, medicine, and risk assessment) 
with expertise in assessing human exposure to environmental pollutants, 
health risks associated with environmental pollutants, and/or 
indicators for assessing human health condition; e) ecologists with 
expertise in the use of indicators to assess the ecological effects of 
exposure to pollutants and the condition of whole ecosystems; (f) 
statisticians with expertise in analysis of environmental information 
to determine the status of and trends in environmental condition; and 
(g) decision scientists, social scientists, communication scientists, 
and environmental economists with expertise in using and/or 
communicating environmental indicator information and formulating 
environmental policy.
    How to Submit Nominations: Any interested person or organization 
may nominate qualified individuals to be considered for appointment on 
this SAB committee. Candidates may also nominate themselves. 
Nominations should be submitted in electronic format (which is 
preferred over hard copy) following the instructions for ``Nominating 
Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees Being Formed'' 
provided on the SAB Web site. The form can be accessed through the 
``Public Involvement in Advisory Committee'' link on the blue 
navigational bar on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab. To 
receive full consideration, nominations should include all of the 
information requested.
    EPA's SAB Staff Office requests contact information about: the 
person making the nomination; contact information about the nominee; 
the disciplinary and specific areas of expertise of the nominee; the 
nominee's curriculum vitae; sources of recent grant and/or contract 
support; and a biographical sketch of the nominee indicating current 
position, educational background, research activities, and recent 
service on other national advisory committees or national professional 
organizations.
    Persons having questions about the nomination procedures, or who 
are unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web site, should 
contact Dr. Thomas Armitage, DFO, at the contact information provided 
above in this notice. Non-electronic submissions must follow the same 
format and contain the same information as the electronic.
    The SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of the nomination and 
inform nominees of the committee for which they have been nominated. 
From the nominees identified by respondents to this Federal Register 
notice (termed the ``Widecast'') and other sources, the SAB Staff 
Office will develop a smaller subset (known as the ``Short List'') for 
more detailed consideration. The Short List will be posted on the SAB 
Web site at: http://www.epa.govc/sab and will include, for each 
candidate, the nominee's name and biosketch. Public comments on the 
Short List will be accepted for 21 calendar days. During this comment 
period, the public will be requested to provide information, analysis, 
or other documentation on nominees that the SAB Staff Office should 
consider in evaluating candidates for the Committee.
    For the SAB, a balanced committee is characterized by inclusion of 
candidates who possess the necessary domains of knowledge, the relevant 
scientific perspectives (which, among other factors, can be influenced 
by work history and affiliation), and the collective breadth of 
experience to adequately address the charge. Public responses to the 
Short List candidates will be considered in the selection of the 
Committee, along with information provided by candidates and 
information gathered by SAB Staff independently concerning the 
background of each candidate (e.g., financial disclosure information 
and computer searches to evaluate a nominee's prior involvement with 
the topic under review). Specific criteria to be used in evaluation of 
an individual Committee member include: (a) Scientific and/or technical 
expertise, knowledge, and experience (primary factors); (b) absence of 
financial conflicts of interest; (c) scientific credibility and 
impartiality; (d) availability and willingness to serve; and (e) 
ability to work constructively and effectively in committees.
    Short List candidates will be required to fill-out the 
``Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Special Government 
Employees Serving on Federal Advisory Committees at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency'' (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential 
form allows Government officials to determine whether there is a 
statutory conflict between that person's public responsibilities (which 
includes membership on an EPA Federal advisory committee) and private 
interests and activities, or the appearance of a lack of impartiality, 
as defined by Federal regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded 
from the following URL address at: http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf.

    Dated: July 17, 2008.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
 [FR Doc. E8-16832 Filed 7-22-08; 8:45 am]
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