[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23587-23588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10180]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9299-2]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office Request for Nominations of 
Candidates for a SAB Panel on Accounting for Carbon Dioxide 
(CO2) Emissions From Biogenic Sources

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) 
Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is soliciting nominations of 
nationally and internationally recognized scientists for an SAB Expert 
Panel to provide independent advice to EPA on a draft greenhouse gas 
accounting methodology for biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) 
emissions from stationary sources.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by May 18, 2011 per the 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding this Request 
for Nominations, please contact Dr. Holly Stallworth, Designated 
Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board Staff, at 
[email protected] or (202) 564-2073. General information 
concerning the SAB can be found on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Any inquiry regarding EPA's draft greenhouse gas 
accounting methodology for biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) 
emissions should be directed to Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, Office of Air and 
Radiation, Office of Atmospheric Programs, Climate Change Division at 
[email protected] or (202) 343-9361.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Background: The SAB was established pursuant 
to the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration 
Authorization Act (ERDAA), codified at 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 chartered under the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., App.2. EPA's Office of Air and 
Radiation has requested the EPA Science Advisory Board to conduct a 
review of the scientific and technical issues associated with a draft 
assessment of methodologies for accounting for CO2 emissions 
from biogenic sources. Biogenic CO2 emissions are defined as 
emissions of CO2 from a stationary source directly resulting 
from the combustion or decomposition of biologically-based materials 
other than fossil fuels.
    On December 23, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) issued a series of rules that put the necessary regulatory 
framework in place to ensure that (1) industrial facilities can get 
Clean Air Act permits covering their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 
when needed and (2) facilities emitting GHGs at levels below those 
established in the Tailoring Rule do not need to obtain federal Clean 
Air Act permits. In the Tailoring Rule, EPA did not take action on a 
request from some commenters to exclude biogenic carbon dioxide 
(CO2) emissions. On January 12, 2011, through a letter from 
the Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation to 
the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) [http://www.epa.gov/nsr/ghgdocs/McCarthytoMartella.pdf], EPA announced it was going to take a 
series of steps to address the treatment of biogenic CO2 
emissions from stationary sources, including deferring for three years 
the application of the PSD and Title V permitting requirements to 
biogenic CO2 emissions (proposed March 21, 2011, 76 FR 
15249), and a detailed study of the scientific and technical issues 
associated with accounting for biogenic CO2 emissions from 
stationary sources.
    This EPA study will include a review of the technical information, 
and it will also include the development of accounting options for 
biogenic CO2 emissions from stationary sources. EPA's review 
of technical information will include an assessment of the accounting 
approaches described in EPA's proposed ``Deferral for CO2 
Emissions from Bioenergy and Other Biogenic Sources under the 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Programs'' 
(76 FR 15249). The four broad types of accounting approaches are: case-
by-case analysis of individual source-specific permit applications; 
categorical exclusion of biogenic CO2 emissions from PSD 
permitting; exclusion of biogenic CO2 emissions from PSD 
permitting contingent upon the U.S. land-use sector's remaining a ``net 
sink''; and differential treatment of feedstock via approaches 
reflecting feedstock-specific attributes. Following this review, EPA 
plans to develop a set of appropriate accounting procedures, taking 
into account the approaches outlined above (i.e., the range of broad 
types of options from case by case analysis to categorical exclusion) 
for biogenic CO2 emissions that satisfy the principles of 
predictability, practicality, and scientific soundness.
    The SAB thus will serve as the ``independent scientific panel'' 
cited in the January 2011 letter and March 2011 proposed deferral. The 
SAB Panel will conduct an independent review of the scientific and 
technical issues associated with EPA's assessment of accounting 
methodologies for biogenic CO2 emissions. The public will 
have opportunities to provide comments for the SAB consideration.
    Information on EPA actions related to biogenic carbon dioxide 
(CO2) emissions from stationary sources may be found at 
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/biogenic_emissions.html and 
http://www.epa.gov/NSR/actions.htm1#mar11.
    Expertise Sought: In response to OAP's request, the SAB Staff 
Office is forming an expert panel under the auspices of the SAB to 
conduct this review. The SAB Staff Office requests nominations of 
recognized experts with

[[Page 23588]]

specific experience and knowledge in one or more of the following 
areas:
     Forestry, agriculture, and land-use change, specifically 
the effects of land management practices on the terrestrial biosphere.
     Inventory, measurement and carbon accounting methodologies 
for national greenhouse gas inventories, or other relevant emissions 
and sequestration quantification guidelines in use.
     Land use economics, ecological relationships between land 
use and climate change and/or estimates of biomass supply and demand.
     Environmental science and climate change, particularly 
with a multi-disciplinary perspective.
     Engineering, particularly with respect to the design and 
operation of solid-fuel-fired boilers and related air pollution control 
systems for the power and industrial sectors, including pulp and paper 
applications.
     Design and implementation of regulatory programs at local, 
state and federal scales, with specific reference to developing and/or 
implementing monitoring and accounting approaches for agriculture, land 
use, land-use change and forestry.
    How To Submit Nominations: Any interested person or organization 
may nominate qualified individuals to be considered for appointment on 
this SAB Panel. Candidates may also nominate themselves. 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 at http://www.epa.gov/sab. The form 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 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. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 18, 2011.
    Persons having questions about the nomination procedures, or who 
are unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web site, should 
contact Dr. Holly Stallworth, DFO, at the contact information provided 
above in this notice. Non-electronic submissions must follow the same 
format and contain the same information as the electronic.
    The SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of the nomination and 
inform nominees of the panel for which they have been nominated. From 
the nominees identified by respondents to this Federal Register notice 
(termed the ``Widecast'') and other sources, the SAB Staff Office will 
develop a smaller subset (known as the ``Short List'') for more 
detailed consideration. The Short List will be posted on the SAB Web 
site at http://www.epa.gov/sab and will include, for each candidate, 
the nominee's name and biosketch. Public comments on the Short List 
will be accepted for 21 calendar days. During this comment period, the 
public will be requested to provide information, analysis, or other 
documentation on nominees that the SAB Staff Office should consider in 
evaluating candidates for the Panel.
    For the SAB, a balanced panel is characterized by inclusion of 
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. Public responses to the 
Short List candidates will be considered in the selection of the panel, 
along with information provided by candidates and information gathered 
by SAB Staff independently concerning the background of each candidate 
(e.g., financial disclosure information and computer searches to 
evaluate a nominee's prior involvement with the topic under review). 
Specific criteria to be used in evaluation of an individual Panel 
member include:
    (a) Scientific and/or technical expertise, knowledge, and 
experience (primary factors); (b) absence of financial conflicts of 
interest; (c) scientific credibility and impartiality; (d) availability 
and willingness to serve and (e) ability to work constructively and 
effectively in committees.
    Prospective candidates will be required to fill-out 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. Ethics information, including EPA 
Form 3110-48, is available on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.

    Dated: April 20, 2011.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-10180 Filed 4-26-11; 8:45 am]
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