[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 103 (Friday, May 27, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30939-30940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13241]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9312-6]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of 
Experts for SAB Libby Amphibole Asbestos Review Panel

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 technical experts to serve on an 
Asbestos expert panel under the auspices of the SAB to conduct a peer 
review of EPA's Draft Toxicological Review of Libby Amphibole Asbestos.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by June 17, 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 Dr. Diana Wong, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff 
Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2049, 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. For questions concerning the Libby Amphibole Asbestos 
Assessment, please contact Dr. Danielle DeVoney, of EPA's National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), by phone (703) 347-8558, or 
via e-mail at [email protected]; or Dr. Bob Benson, of EPA Region 
8, by phone (303) 312-7070, or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: The SAB was established pursuant 
to the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration 
Authorization (ERDDAA) Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide 
independent scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator on 
the technical basis for EPA actions. The EPA's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the Office of Research and 
Development (ORD) has requested the SAB to review EPA's draft Draft 
Toxicological Review of Libby Amphibole Asbestos In Support of Summary 
Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). The draft 
assessment evaluates cancer and noncancer health hazards and exposure-
response of Libby amphibole asbestos. Libby amphibole asbestos, found 
in vermiculite ore deposits near Libby, MT, is comprised of a mixture 
of related mineral forms of amphibole asbestos: Primarily winchite, 
richtorite and tremolite with trace amounts of magnesioriebeckite, 
edenite, and magnesio-arfvedsonite. In response to ORD's request, the 
SAB Staff Office will form an expert panel to review the draft 
assessment. 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 Panel will provide advice 
through the chartered SAB and comply with the provisions of FACA and 
all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    Request For Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking public 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists 
with demonstrated expertise and experience in the following areas 
related to asbestos, including: Mineralogy, industrial hygiene, air 
sampling and detection methods, exposure assessment, occupational 
medicine, pulmonary medicine, radiology on asbestos related disease, 
pulmonary pathology, epidemiology, toxicology, statistical modeling, 
risk assessment, and uncertainty analysis.
    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. Diana Wong, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than June 
17, 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 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

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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 23, 2011.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-13241 Filed 5-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P