[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 94 (Monday, May 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27554-27555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11695]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9152-4]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of 
Experts for the SAB Arsenic 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 panel to review EPA's 
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment for inorganic 
arsenic (noncancer).

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by June 7, 2010 per instructions 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact 
Dr. Sue Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory 
Board (1400F), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via 
telephone/voice mail (202) 343-9977; 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: EPA is revising an assessment for arsenic in 
support of EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). The 
National Research Council (NRC) published reports on the health effects 
of arsenic in 1999 and 2001. Since 2001, information has been developed 
for dermal hyperpigmentation, keratosis, and epidemiology of inorganic 
arsenic that may impact EPA's 1988 values. The IRIS Program is 
preparing an assessment which will incorporate available noncancer 
health effects information for inorganic arsenic, as well as new risk 
assessment methods. ORD has requested that the SAB conduct the external 
peer review of its revised draft assessment.

[[Page 27555]]

    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 Toxicological Review of Inorganic Arsenic (noncancer). 
The Arsenic Review Panel is being asked to comment on the scientific 
soundness of the Agency's draft assessment. 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.
    Availability of the Review Materials: The EPA draft IRIS 
Toxicological Review of Inorganic Arsenic (noncancer) will be made 
available by ORD at the following URL http://epa.gov/ncea (under 
``Recent Additions''). Availability of the draft Toxicological Review 
will be announced in a separate Federal Register Notice. For questions 
concerning the review materials, please contact Dr. Janice S. Lee, at 
(919) 541-9458, or [email protected].
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is requesting 
nominations of nationally recognized experts with expertise and 
research experience with inorganic arsenic in one or more of the 
following areas: Epidemiology; clinical medicine; dermatology; 
toxicology and mechanisms of action; toxicokinetics; and risk 
assessment and biostatistics.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for possible 
service on the Arsenic Review Panel in the areas of expertise described 
above. 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 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 Dr. Shallal, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than June 7, 
2010. 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 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, may be influenced by work history and affiliation), and the 
collective breadth of experience to adequately address the charge. In 
establishing the Inorganic Arsenic (noncancer) Review Panel, the SAB 
Staff Office will consider public comments on the 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; (e) skills working in advisory committees and panels for 
the Panel as a whole, and (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: May 10, 2010.
Anthony Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-11695 Filed 5-14-10; 8:45 am]
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