[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27315-27316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13477]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8914-6]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of an Upcoming 
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Committee on EPA's Report on the 
Environment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public meeting of the SAB 
Advisory Committee on EPA's Report on the Environment. The Committee 
will conduct a consultation on proposed approaches to developing future 
versions of EPA's Report on the Environment.

DATES: The meeting dates are Tuesday, June 30, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 5 
p.m. (Eastern Time) and Wednesday, July 1, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 
noon. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the SAB Conference Center, 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 Dr. Thomas 
Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO). Dr. Armitage 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) 343-9995; fax (202) 233-0643; or e-
mail at: [email protected]. Any inquiry regarding future 
development of EPA's Report on the Environment should be directed to 
Dr. Denice Shaw of EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment 
at [email protected] or (703) 347-8628. 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the SAB Advisory 
Committee on EPA's Report on the Environment will hold a public meeting 
to provide consultative comment on proposed approaches to developing 
future versions of EPA's Report on the Environment (ROE). The SAB was 
established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide

[[Page 27316]]

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. 2. The SAB will comply 
with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office 
procedural policies.
    Background: In May 2008, EPA published its 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 presented environmental and human health indicator 
information to represent the status of and trends in the condition of 
the Nation's environment. EPA intends to use the ROE 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. Two 
other chapters focus on human health and ecological condition.
    The SAB reviewed previous drafts of the ROE dated 2003 and 2007. 
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-05-004 
and EPA-SAB-08-007). Many SAB comments were incorporated into the ROE 
2008, and EPA expects to modify future editions of the ROE based on the 
long-term recommendations provided by the SAB in its review of the 
draft ROE 2007. EPA also intends to more directly align information in 
future editions of the ROE with the goals and objectives in the 
Agency's Strategic Plan. Therefore, EPA's Office of Research and 
Development has requested that the SAB provide additional advice over 
the next few years on how to: (1) Address previous SAB recommendations 
to improve future editions of the ROE, and (2) make the ROE more useful 
to the Agency in informing planning and decision making and providing 
information to the public. To provide this additional advice, the SAB 
Staff Office formed the ad hoc SAB Advisory Committee on EPA's Report 
on the Environment. The purpose of the upcoming meeting of this 
Committee is to provide consultative advice on a white paper that 
addresses restructuring the ROE in response to previous SAB comments 
and recommendations. Background information on the process of forming 
the SAB Advisory Committee on EPA's Report on the Environment was 
provided in a Federal Register Notice published on July 23, 2008 (73 FR 
42801-42802). The roster and biosketches of Committee members are 
posted on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: An EPA discussion paper along 
with the meeting agenda, charge to the SAB Committee, and other meeting 
material will be posted on the SAB Web site at https://www.epa.gov/sab 
in advance of the meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information on the topic of 
this advisory activity, and/or the group conducting the activity, for 
the SAB to consider during the advisory process. 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 Dr. Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via e-mail) at 
the contact information noted above by June 23, 2009 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 June 23, 2009 
so that the information may be made available to the SAB Committee 
members for their consideration. 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). Submitters are requested to 
provide two versions of each document submitted with and without 
signatures, because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents 
with signatures on its Web sites.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Armitage 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: June 2, 2009.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-13477 Filed 6-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P