[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 34 (Monday, February 22, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7592-7593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3358]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9114-7]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public 
Teleconference of the Chartered 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 notice for the chartered SAB to hold a public teleconference on 
March 24, 2010 to conduct quality reviews of three draft reports.

DATES: The public teleconference will be held on March 24, 2010 from 1 
p.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The public teleconference will be conducted by telephone 
only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to 
obtain general information concerning this public teleconference should 
contact Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA 
Science Advisory Board (1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice mail (202) 343-9981; fax 
(202) 233-0643; or e-mail at [email protected]. General information 
concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the SAB Web 
site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, 5 U.S.C., App. 2 (FACA), notice is hereby given that the EPA 
Science Advisory Board will hold a public teleconference to conduct 
quality reviews of three draft SAB Panel reports: (1) The SAB Drinking 
Water Committee's draft Review of EPA's Microbial Risk Assessment 
Protocol; (2) the SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee's 
draft Review of Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria Derivation; 
and (3) the draft Report of the Risk and Technology Methods Review 
Panel. The SAB was established pursuant to 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 under FACA. The SAB will comply with the 
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    Background: (1) The SAB Drinking Water Committee's Draft Review of 
EPA's Microbial Risk Assessment Protocol. EPA's Office of Water (OW) 
conducts microbial risk assessments (MRA) as part of its responsibility 
for protecting human health and the environment from contaminants in 
water. OW has requested the SAB conduct a review of the draft 
``Protocol for Microbial Risk Assessment for Support Human Health 
Protection for Water-Based Media'' and provide recommendations on how 
to improve the overall approach, the applicability of the protocol, the 
reasonableness of the protocol, the clarity of the protocol, the 
completeness and robustness of the protocol, and the ease of use of the 
protocol for conducting water-based

[[Page 7593]]

microbial risk assessments. Background information about this advisory 
activity can be found on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/MRA%20Protocol?OpenDocument.
    (2) SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee's Draft Review 
of Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria Derivation: Nutrient 
enrichment is one of the leading causes of surface water quality 
impairment in the United States. The adoption of numeric nutrient 
criteria in state water quality standards for the protection of aquatic 
life is a high priority for EPA's Office of Water. EPA's OW has 
requested SAB review of the Agency's draft Technical Guidance on 
Empirical Approaches for Numerical Nutrient Criteria Development. This 
draft guidance would supplement EPA's published technical guidance for 
developing numeric nutrient water quality by using empirically-derived 
stressor-response relationships as the basis for developing numeric 
nutrient endpoints for water quality standards.
    Background information about this advisory activity can be found on 
the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/Empirical%20Criteria%20Guidance?OpenDocument.
    (3) The Draft Report of the Risk and Technology Methods Review 
Panel: Section 112(f)(2)(A) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAA) 
requires EPA to evaluate whether emission standards that were 
previously adopted under the technology-based, Maximum Achievable 
Control Technology (MACT) program provide an ample margin of safety to 
protect public health and prevent adverse environmental effects (taking 
into consideration costs, energy, safety, and other relevant factors). 
Within eight years of the promulgation of a MACT standard for the 
source category, EPA is mandated by the CAA to assess the risks to 
determine whether additional standards are needed. EPA's Office of Air 
and Radiation requested the SAB to review the draft assessments which 
evaluate the potential risks to human health and the environment from 
two source categories (petroleum refinery and Portland kiln cement) 
that remain after compliance with MACT. Background information about 
this advisory activity can be found on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/RTR%20Risk%20Assessments%20(P2%2C%20G3)?OpenDocument.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: The agenda and other materials 
in support of the teleconference will be placed on the SAB Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/sab in advance of the teleconference.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB to 
consider during this teleconference. Oral Statements: In general, 
individuals or groups requesting time to make an oral presentation at a 
public SAB teleconference will be limited to three minutes, with no 
more than one-half hour for all speakers. Those interested in being 
placed on the public speakers list should contact Dr. Nugent at the 
contact information provided above by March 17, 2010. Written 
Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff 
Office by March 17, 2010. 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/ Windows98/2000/XP format). Submitters are asked to provide 
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. Angela Nugent at 
(202) 343-9981 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact her preferably at least 10 days prior to the 
teleconference, to give EPA as much time as possible to process your 
request.

    Dated: February 4, 2010.
Anthony Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-3358 Filed 2-19-10; 8:45 am]
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