[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 18, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41696-41697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19759]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8946-7]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of an Upcoming 
Meeting of the Science Advisory Board; Ecological Processes and Effects 
Committee

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 
Ecological Processes and Effects Committee to conduct a review of EPA's 
draft guidance document, Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria 
Derivation.

DATES: The meeting dates are Wednesday, September 9, 2009 from 9 a.m. 
to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time), Thursday, September 10, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. 
to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) and Friday, September 11, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. 
to 12 noon (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Marriott at Metro Center 
Hotel, 775 12th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005.

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 Any inquiry regarding EPA's draft 
guidance document, Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria 
Derivation, should be directed to Ms. Ifeyinwa Davis of EPA's Office of 
Water at [email protected] or (202) 566-1096. 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 Ecological 
Processes and Effects Committee will hold a public meeting to conduct a 
peer review of EPA's draft guidance document, Empirical Approaches for 
Nutrient Criteria Derivation. 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. 
2. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate 
SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    Background: EPA's Office of Water (OW) is responsible for deriving 
national recommended water quality criteria that serve as guidance to 
States to assist them in establishing water

[[Page 41697]]

quality standards. Nutrients (i.e., nitrogen and phosphorus) have been 
one of the leading causes of surface water quality impairment in the 
U.S. Therefore, development of numeric nutrient criteria and assisting 
States in the adoption of numeric nutrient criteria into their water 
quality standards is a high priority for OW. EPA published peer 
reviewed technical guidance for developing nutrient criteria for lakes 
and reservoirs in April 2000, rivers and streams in July 2000, 
estuaries and coastal marine waters in October 2001, and Wetlands in 
June 2008. These guidance documents are available at the following Web 
site at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/nutrient/guidance/index.html. The basic analytical approaches for nutrient criteria 
derivation described in these previously published guidance documents 
include: (1) The reference condition approach, (2) stressor-response 
analysis, and (3) mechanistic modeling. Because many states are 
currently pursuing the use of empirically-derived stressor-response 
relationships as the basis for developing numeric nutrient endpoints 
for water quality standards, OW has developed the draft guidance 
document, Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria Derivation, to 
augment EPA's published guidance manuals. OW has asked the Science 
Advisory Board to review the draft guidance document and comment on the 
technical soundness of proposed empirical approaches as the basis for 
future development of numeric nutrient criteria.
    On April 27, 2009 the SAB Staff Office published a Federal Register 
Notice (74 FR 19084-19085) requesting public nominations of scientists 
in fields such as ecology, biology, environmental science, risk 
assessment, statistics, and zoology to augment the SAB Ecological 
Processes and Effects Committee. In particular, the SAB Staff Office 
requested nominations of scientists with specialized knowledge and 
expertise in the use of empirically-derived stressor-response 
relationships to develop nutrient assessment endpoints. The augmented 
Ecological Processes and Effects Committee will conduct the review of 
EPA's draft Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria Derivation.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: The meeting agenda, SAB 
Committee roster, charge to the Committee, and other meeting material 
will be posted on the SAB Web site at http://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. Interested parties should contact Dr. Armitage, DFO, in 
writing (preferably via e-mail) at the contact information noted above 
by September 1, 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 no later than September 4, 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: August 11, 2009.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-19759 Filed 8-17-09; 8:45 am]
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