[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61114-61115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-24417]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8728-7]


EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office: Request for Nominations 
of Candidates for a Panel To Provide Advice on EPA's Dioxin 
Reassessment

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 Panel to provide advice on EPA's reassessment of 
the health risks from dioxin and related compounds.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 5, 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 Staff, at 
[email protected] or (202) 343-9995. General information 
concerning the SAB can be found on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Any inquiry regarding EPA's dioxin reassessment 
activity should be directed to Dr. Peter W. Preuss, Director, EPA 
National Center for Environmental Assessment at [email protected] or 
(703) 347-8600. In addition, updated communication materials have been 
developed that provide further information on dioxin and EPA's dioxin 
reassessment activity. These materials are available on EPA's Web site 
at http://www.epa.gov/ncea under Headlines and also at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/lrd/dioxinqa.html.

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.
    In 1991, EPA announced that it would conduct a scientific 
reassessment of the potential health risks of exposure to dioxin and 
related compounds. The SAB provided independent peer review and advice 
on EPA's dioxin reassessment. The SAB first reviewed the draft dioxin 
reassessment in 1995 and the document was revised to address SAB 
comments. In 2000, the SAB reviewed the integrated summary, risk 
characterization, and other information on toxic equivalency of dioxin-
like compounds. Reports of the findings and recommendations of these 
SAB reviews are available on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab 
(see reports EPA-SAB-EC-95-021 and EPA-SAB-EC-01-006).
    In 2003, EPA produced an external review draft of the multi-year 
comprehensive reassessment of dioxin exposure and human health effects 
(http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=87843). This 
dioxin reassessment document, titled Exposure and Human Health 
Reassessment of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) and Related 
Compounds, consisted of three parts: (1) A scientific review of 
information relating to sources and exposures to TCDD and other dioxins 
in the environment; (2) detailed reviews of scientific information on 
the health effects of TCDD, other dioxins, and dioxin-like compounds; 
and (3) an integrated summary and risk characterization for TCDD and 
related compounds.
    In 2004, EPA asked the National Research Council of the National 
Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review the 2003 dioxin reassessment 
document. The NAS was charged with reviewing ``EPA's modeling 
assumptions (including those associated with dose-response curve and 
points-of-departure dose ranges and associated likelihood estimates 
identified for human health outcomes); EPA's quantitative uncertainty 
analysis; and EPA's selection of studies as a basis for its assessments 
and gaps in scientific knowledge.'' The NAS was also charged with 
addressing two points of controversy: (1) The scientific evidence for 
classifying dioxin as a human carcinogen, and (2) the validity of the 
nonthreshold low-dose linear dose-response model and the cancer slope 
factor calculated through the use of this model. In addition, EPA asked 
the NAS to comment on the usefulness of toxic equivalency factors 
(TEFs) and uncertainties associated with their use in risk assessment, 
as well as the uncertainty associated with EPA's approach to analysis 
of food sampling and human dietary intake data, taking into 
consideration the Institute of Medicine's report Dioxin and Dioxin-like 
Compounds in the Food Supply: Strategies to Decrease Exposure. In 2006, 
the NAS published its review titled Health Risks from Dioxin and 
Related Compounds: Evaluation of the EPA Reassessment. The NAS 
identified three areas that required substantial improvement to support 
a scientifically robust risk characterization. These three areas were: 
(1) Justification of approaches to dose-response modeling for cancer 
and non-cancer endpoints, (2) transparency and clarity in selection of 
key data sets for analysis, and (3) transparency, thoroughness, and 
clarity in quantitative uncertainty analysis. The NAS provided EPA with 
recommendations to address their key concerns. The full NAS report, 
including recommendations, is available

[[Page 61115]]

at http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11688.
    EPA is now beginning to prepare a response to the NAS review of the 
dioxin reassessment. The Agency has requested that the SAB form an 
expert panel to provide independent advice regarding the draft 
technical plan, the revised draft, and the final draft of the EPA 
response to the recommendations of the NAS.
    Expertise Sought: The SAB Staff Office requests nominations of 
recognized experts with specific experience and knowledge of dioxin in 
one or more of the following areas: (a) Epidemiology; (b) toxicology 
(with expertise in cancer, reproductive toxicology, developmental 
toxicology, immunotoxicology, dosimetry, toxicokinetics, mechanisms of 
action, or mixtures); (c) endocrinology; (d) lipid metabolism; (e) 
cardiovascular mechanisms of pathology; (f) risk assessment (with 
expertise in statistics, quantitative uncertainty analysis, or dose-
response modeling); and (g) exposure assessment (with expertise in 
bioavailability, weathering, or effects of partitioning in 
environmental media).
    How to Submit Nominations: Any interested person or organization 
may nominate qualified individuals to be considered for appointment on 
this SAB Panel. 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 ``Nomination of Experts'' 
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 vita; 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 panel 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.gov/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 Panel.
    For the SAB, a balanced panel 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 panel, 
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 Panel 
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.
    Prospective 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 
include 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. Ethics information, including EPA 
Form 3110-48, is available on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.

    Dated: October 6, 2008.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-24417 Filed 10-14-08; 8:45 am]
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