[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71701-71702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29637]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9230-7]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of 
Experts for the Review of a Draft Microbial Risk Assessment Guideline: 
Pathogenic Microorganisms in Food and Water

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 form an SAB 
panel to review a draft interagency Microbial Risk Assessment 
Guideline: Pathogenic Microorganisms in Food and Water (the Guideline) 
which provides a flexible framework for conducting microbial risk 
assessment that may be applied by different agencies with various 
statutory authorities.

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 Mr. Thomas Carpenter, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB 
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-4885, by fax at 
(202) 565-2098, 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 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are leading the 
Interagency Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA) Guideline Workgroup to 
develop a Guideline to improve transparency in how Federal agencies 
conduct MRA and promote consistency in terms of approaches and methods. 
The Guideline is intended to be a resource for U.S. Federal Government 
risk assessors, their contractors, and the general risk assessment 
community.
    The draft Guideline is focused on infectious diseases associated 
with the gastrointestinal tract and fecal/oral transmission through 
food and water but has utility to a broader variety of scenarios. It 
applies to human pathogens including viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and 
fungi. In addition to issues in common with chemical risk assessment 
the document addresses issues that are unique to MRA such as secondary 
transmission, variation in immune status, and fluctuation in microbial 
populations.
    The EPA Office of the Science Advisor's Risk Assessment Forum has 
requested the SAB to review the draft Microbial Risk Assessment 
Guideline: Pathogenic Microorganisms in Food and Water to assess the 
appropriateness of the Guideline to provide technical guidance and its 
efficacy as a resource in conducting MRA. The SAB Staff Office will 
consider nominations received in response to this FR Notice, members of 
the Science Advisory Board, and the USDA National Advisory Committee on 
Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) to form an expert panel 
under the auspices of the SAB to review the draft MRA Guideline.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and 
risk assessors with demonstrated expertise and research or management 
experience in one or more of the following areas: Microbiology, 
infectious disease, food safety, exposure assessment, biostatistics, 
public health, risk assessment and risk communication. We are 
particularly interested in scientists and risk assessors with direct 
experience in the design, management, and implementation of public 
health protection programs that have included development of approaches 
to assess exposure reduction to food- and water-borne pathogens.
    Availability of the review materials: Information on the Guideline 
is available on the EPA Risk Assessment Forum Web site http://www.epa.gov/raf/microbial.htm. For questions concerning the MRA 
Guideline, please contact Dr. Kathryn Gallagher, Executive Director, 
Risk Assessment Forum, Office of the Science Advisor US EPA, Mail Code, 
8105R, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW., Washington, DC 20460, (phone) 202-
564-1398 (fax) 202-564-2070 or 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.

[[Page 71702]]

    Persons having questions about the nomination procedures, or who 
are unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web site, should 
contact Mr. Thomas Carpenter. 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 16, 2010.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-29637 Filed 11-23-10; 8:45 am]
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