[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 187 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55512-55513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22539]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8721-1]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office Notification of a Meeting of 
the Science Advisory Board

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a 
public face-to-face meeting of the chartered SAB to: discuss future 
environmental science issues within the context of EPA's research 
directions and priorities, and conduct quality reviews of up to three 
Draft SAB reports.

DATES: The meeting dates are Monday, October 27, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. 
to 5 p.m. through Tuesday, October 28, 2008, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 
p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Mayflower Hotel, 1127 
Connecticut Avenue, NW., Washington, DC; phone (202) 347-4430.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to 
obtain further information about this meeting may contact Mr. Thomas O. 
Miller, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), by mail at EPA SAB Staff 
Office, (1400F), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, 
DC 20460; by telephone at (202) 343-9982; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or 
by 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 
on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to 
provide independent scientific and technical advice, consultation, and 
recommendations to the EPA 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: 1. Future Science and Research. On October 27, 2008, 
the EPA Science Advisory Board will hold a one day meeting entitled 
Looking to the Future. During this meeting, the SAB will hear from, and 
interact with, outside experts on: (i) The environmental implications 
of biofuels, and (ii) the implications for environmental health 
sciences and human health risk assessment of epigenomics research. 
Exploration of biofuels and epigenomics research is intended to provide 
the chartered SAB with an inter-disciplinary introduction to these 
topics, and to stimulate their thinking generally about future advice 
to strengthen EPA's response to emerging science issues, especially how 
EPA might implement inter-disciplinary approaches that incorporate 
significant emerging research.
    In 2007, the chartered SAB committed to provide ongoing advice on 
strategic research directions for EPA and how they can be implemented. 
This activity complements the SAB's traditional review of EPA's annual 
research budget. The first day's seminar-style meeting will be followed 
by a half-day advisory meeting on October 28, when the chartered SAB 
will discuss possible implications of the October 27 meeting for 
ongoing SAB advice on EPA research directions.
    2. Review of Draft SAB Reports: (a) Quality Review of the Draft SAB 
Advisory on Aquatic Life Criteria. EPA's Office of Water asked the 
Science Advisory Board for advice on the scientific merits of a white 
paper that identifies and addresses technical issues in deriving 
aquatic life criteria for emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals 
and personal care products exhibiting endocrine disrupting activity or 
other toxic mechanisms. The EPA SAB Ecological Processes and Effects 
Committee (EPEC) augmented with additional experts conducted this 
review. Additional information on this review can be obtained on the 
EPA SAB Web site at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/MOA%20criteria%20methodology.
    (b) Quality Review of the Draft Advisory on the Drinking Water 
Contaminant Candidate List 3. EPA's Office of Water asked the SAB to 
review EPA's draft Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 3 (CCL 3). 
The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments (SDWA) require EPA to (1) 
publish every five years a list of currently unregulated contaminants 
in drinking water that may pose risks and (2) make determinations on 
whether or not to regulate at least five contaminants from that list on 
a staggered five year cycle. The list must be published after 
consultation with the scientific community, including the SAB, after 
notice and opportunity for public comment, and after consideration of 
the occurrence database established under section 1445(g) of the SDWA. 
The unregulated contaminants considered for the list must include, but 
are not limited to, substances referred to in section 101(14) of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (CERCLA), and substances registered under the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Additional 
information on this

[[Page 55513]]

review can be obtained on the EPA SAB Web site at: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/CCL3.
    (c) Quality Review of the Draft SAB Advisory on Acrylamide. EPA's 
National Center for Environmental Assessment, within the Office of 
Research and Development, has been updating the human health hazard and 
dose-response assessment for Acrylamide. EPA's Office of Research and 
Development requested that the Science Advisory Board review its draft 
assessment entitled ``Toxicological Review of Acrylamide,'' a polymer 
used primarily in waste water treatment, paper and pulp processing, and 
mineral processing. The EPA SAB established the Acrylamide Review Panel 
to conduct this review. Additional information on this review can be 
obtained on the EPA SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/Acrylamide-IRIS-Asst.
    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. Oral Statements: The total time available for public comments 
for topics to be discussed at this October 28, 2008 meeting of the SAB 
will be one hour. Fifteen minutes will be allocated for each of the 
quality reviews to be conducted and for the general discussion session 
on strategic research directions. Individuals or groups requesting an 
oral presentation at a public meeting on October 28, 2008 will be 
limited to three minutes per speaker. Each person making an oral 
statement should consider providing written comments as well as their 
oral statement so that the points presented orally can be expanded upon 
in writing. Interested parties should contact Mr. Miller, DFO, at the 
contact information provided above, by October 17, 2008, to be placed 
on the public speaker list for the October 28, 2008 meeting. Written 
Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff 
Office by October 20, 2008, so that the information may be made 
available to the SAB for their consideration prior to this meeting. 
Written statements should be supplied to the DFO 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 Accommodations: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Mr. Thomas Miller at 
(202) 343-9982, or via e-mail at [email protected]. To request 
accommodation of a disability, please contact Mr. Miller, preferably at 
least 10 days prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as 
possible to process your request.

    Dated: September 18, 2008.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-22539 Filed 9-24-08; 8:45 am]
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