[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80050-80051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-32031]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9241-7]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of 
Experts To Augment the SAB Drinking Water Committee (DWC)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is 
requesting public nominations of experts to augment the SAB Drinking 
Water Committee (DWC) to review technical studies examining the 
effectiveness of partial lead service line replacements.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by January 11, 2011 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. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff 
Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2050; by fax at (202) 565-
2098 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: 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.
    Exposure to lead through drinking water results primarily from the 
corrosion of lead pipes and plumbing materials. EPA's Office of Water 
(OW) promulgated the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) to minimize the amount 
of lead in drinking water. The LCR requires water systems that are not 
able to limit lead corrosion through treatment to replace service lines 
(pipes connecting buildings to water distribution mains) that are made 
from lead. Water systems must replace the portion of the lead service 
line owned by the system and offer to replace the customer's portion at 
the customer's cost. When customers do not replace their portion of the 
service line, the situation is called a ``partial lead service line 
replacement.'' OW has requested the SAB to review and provide advice on 
recent studies examining the effectiveness of partial lead service line 
replacements. SAB's advice will guide EPA's determination of whether 
the scientific foundation for the regulatory requirement allowing the 
use of partial lead service line replacement may need to be modified in 
light of more recent scientific studies. The SAB Staff Office will 
augment the DWC, which provides advice to the EPA Administrator through 
the chartered SAB on the technical aspects of EPA's national drinking 
water standards program, to review these studies.

Request for Nominations

    To augment expertise on the SAB DWC, the SAB Staff Office is 
seeking nominations of recognized experts with demonstrated expertise 
and research in one or more of the following areas related to lead: 
environmental engineering, drinking water exposure assessment, 
epidemiology, statistics, and risk assessment.
    Availability of the review materials: The review materials will be 
made available on the SAB Web site. For questions concerning the review 
materials, please contact Mr. Matt Robinson at (202) 564-2802, or 
[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 Mr. Aaron Yeow, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than January 
11, 2011. 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

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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: December 14, 2010.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-32031 Filed 12-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P