[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 21, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54047-54048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25357]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8970-8]


EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations 
of Experts for the SAB Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures 
Review Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: The Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting 
public nominations of experts to form an SAB Ad Hoc Panel to review 
EPA's draft technical document entitled Development of a Relative 
Potency Factor (RPF) Approach for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) 
Mixtures.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 12, 2009 per 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact 
Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by 
telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9878; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or 
via e-mail at [email protected]. General information concerning the 
EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA SAB Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an 
electronic database containing descriptive and quantitative 
toxicological information on human health effects that may result from 
chronic exposure to various substances in the environment. This 
information supports human health risk assessments and includes hazard 
identification and dose-response data and derivations of oral reference 
doses (RfDs) and inhalation reference concentrations (RfCs) for 
noncancer effects and oral slope factors and oral and inhalation unit 
risks for cancer effects. IRIS is prepared and maintained by EPA's 
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the Office 
of Research and Development (ORD). NCEA's IRIS Program has developed a 
draft technical document entitled Development of a Relative Potency 
Factor (RPF) Approach for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) 
Mixtures for cancer risk from exposure to PAH mixtures. The relative 
potency factor approach assumes that individual PAH potencies relative 
to an index compound (i.e., benzo[a]pyrene, [BaP]) are added together 
to yield a cancer risk estimate for the whole mixture. ORD has 
requested that the SAB conduct a review of this draft document.
    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 Staff Office will form an expert Panel to review 
ORD's draft IRIS PAH Mixtures document. The SAB Panel will comply with 
the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and all 
appropriate SAB procedural policies. Upon completion, the Panel's 
report will be submitted to the chartered SAB for final approval for 
transmittal to the EPA Administrator. The PAH Mixtures Review Panel is 
being asked to comment on the scientific soundness of the Agency's 
draft IRIS document.
    Availability of the Review Materials: The EPA draft IRIS document 
to be reviewed by the PAH Mixtures Review Panel will be made available 
by ORD at the following URL: http://epa.gov/ncea (under ``Recent 
Additions''). For questions concerning the review materials, please 
contact Dr. Lynn Flowers, at (703) 347-8537, or [email protected].
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is requesting 
nominations of nationally recognized experts with expertise in one or 
more of the following areas, particularly with respect to PAH Mixtures: 
chemistry; general toxicology; toxicokinetics; carcinogenesis and mode 
of action; genetic toxicology; dose response assessment; biostatistics; 
risk assessment, specifically for chemical mixtures; and application of 
the relative potency factor methodology.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for possible 
service on the PAH Mixtures Review Panel in the areas of expertise 
described above. Nominations should be submitted in electronic format 
(which is preferred over hard copy) following the

[[Page 54048]]

instructions for ``Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc 
Committees Being Formed'' provided on the SAB Web site. The 
instructions 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 grants and/or contracts; 
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 Mr. Aaron Yeow, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
November 12, 2009. EPA values and welcomes diversity. In an effort to 
obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations of 
women and men of all racial and ethnic groups.
    The EPA SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of nominations. 
The names and biosketches of qualified nominees identified by 
respondents to the Federal Register notice and additional experts 
identified by the SAB Staff will be posted on the SAB Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this ``Short List'' of 
candidates will be accepted for 21 calendar days. The public will be 
requested to provide relevant information or other documentation on 
nominees that the SAB Staff Office should consider in evaluating 
candidates.
    For the EPA SAB Staff Office, a balanced subcommittee or review 
panel includes 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. In 
establishing the PAH Mixtures Review Panel, the SAB Staff Office will 
consider public comments on the ``Short List'' of candidates, 
information provided by the candidates themselves, and background 
information independently gathered by the SAB Staff Office. Selection 
criteria to be used for Panel membership include: (a) Scientific and/or 
technical expertise, knowledge, and experience (primary factors); (b) 
availability and willingness to serve; (c) absence of financial 
conflicts of interest; (d) absence of an appearance of a lack of 
impartiality; and (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and 
advisory panels; and, for the Panel as a whole, (f) diversity of, and 
balance among scientific expertise and viewpoints.
    The SAB Staff Office's evaluation of an absence of financial 
conflicts of interest will include a review of 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 http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf.
    The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects 
subcommittees and review panels is described in the following document: 
Overview of the Panel Formation Process at the Environmental Protection 
Agency Science Advisory Board (EPA-SAB-EC-02-010), which is posted on 
the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.

    Dated: October 14, 2009.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-25357 Filed 10-20-09; 8:45 am]
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