[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71702-71703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29635]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9230-9]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of 
Experts for Review of EPA's Draft Technical Report Pertaining to 
Uranium and Thorium In-Situ Leach Recovery and Post-Closure Stability 
Monitoring

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is 
requesting public nominations for technical experts to augment the 
SAB's Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) to review and provide advice 
on EPA's draft scientific and technical report on Health and 
Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill 
Tailings.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by December 15, 2010 per 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations 
may contact Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), 
SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2064, or via e-
mail at [email protected]. General information concerning the 
EPA Science Advisory Board can be found at the EPA SAB Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: The SAB (42 U.S.C. 4365) is a chartered Federal 
Advisory Committee that provides independent scientific and technical 
peer review, advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA 
Administrator on the technical basis for EPA actions. As a Federal 
Advisory Committee, the SAB conducts business in accordance with the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and related 
regulations. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    EPA is conducting a review of its regulatory standards in 40 CFR 
Part 192--Health and Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium and 
Thorium Mill Tailings. In accordance with UMTRCA section 206, EPA is 
authorized to develop standards for the protection of public health, 
safety, and the environment from radiological and non-radiological 
hazards associated with residual radioactive materials. The Agency is 
currently undertaking a review to determine if the existing standards, 
last revised by EPA in 1995, should be updated. The expectation is that 
In-Situ Leach Recovery (ISL/ISR) operations will be the most common 
type of new uranium extraction facility in the U.S.. These facilities 
can affect groundwater. Accordingly, EPA is seeking scientific advice 
and relevant technical criteria to establish standards and procedures, 
including the relevant period of monitoring for ISL/ISR facilities, 
once uranium extraction operations are completed, in order to provide 
reasonable assurances of aquifer stability and groundwater protection.
    The EPA Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA) has requested the 
SAB to review a draft technical document pertaining to ISL/ISR post 
closure stability monitoring and evaluate what criteria, including site 
characteristics and integrity features, as well as other relevant 
factors and specific procedures that should be considered, to establish 
a specific period of monitoring for ISL/ISR facilities, once uranium 
extraction operations are completed. Among the issues to be considered 
is whether a time frame can be established, whether specific site 
characteristics, features or benchmarks can be used to aid in 
establishing a post-closure monitoring time period, and if there are 
other technical approaches EPA should consider in order to provide 
reasonable assurances of aquifer stability and groundwater protection.

[[Page 71703]]

    The SAB Staff Office will form an expert panel by augmenting the 
RAC to review the EPA's draft technical report, which will be used as a 
basis to evaluate the technical and scientific issues pertaining to 
standards in 40 CFR part 192--Health and Environmental Protection 
Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and 
engineers with demonstrated expertise and experience in one or more of 
the following areas: environmental statistics, geochemistry, geology, 
geostatistics, hydrogeology, environmental monitoring, and radiation 
health science.
    Technical Contact: Technical background information pertaining to 
Uranium In-Situ Leach Recovery--Post-Closure Stability Monitoring can 
be found at the following hotlink: http://epa.gov/radiation/tenorm/index.html, and, information pertaining to EPA's regulatory standards 
in 40 CFR part 192--Health and Environmental Protection Standards for 
Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings can be found at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opei/rulegate.nsf/byRIN/2060-AP43?opendocument. For 
questions concerning this topic, please contact Dr. Mary E. Clark of 
the U.S. EPA, ORIA by telephone at (202) 343-9348, fax at (202) 243-
2395, or e-mail at [email protected].
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals in the areas 
of expertise described above for possible service on this expert Panel. 
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 below.
    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 grant and/or contract 
support; 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. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, DFO, as indicated above in this 
notice. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
December 15, 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 bio-sketches of qualified nominees identified by 
respondents to this Federal Register notice, and additional experts 
identified by the SAB Staff, will be posted in a List of Candidates 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 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 forming this expert 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; and (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and 
advisory panels; and, (f) for the Panel as a whole, diversity of 
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: November 18, 2010.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-29635 Filed 11-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P