[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 170 (Thursday, September 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54466-54467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22438]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9458-5]


Request for Nominations of Experts for the Science Advisory 
Board's Animal Feeding Operation Emission 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 
expert panel under the auspices of the SAB to conduct a peer review of 
EPA's development of air emission estimating methodologies for animal 
feeding operations.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by September 22, 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. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB 
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2134, 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 EPA's air emission estimating methodologies for 
animal feeding operations, please contact Mr. Larry Elmore of EPA's 
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards by phone at (919) 541-
5433, or via e-mail 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 Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) has requested 
the SAB to review EPA's draft air emission estimating methodologies 
(EEMs) for animal feeding operations (AFOs). EPA developed the draft 
methodologies to address requirements of a voluntary air compliance 
consent agreement signed in 2005 between EPA and nearly 14,000 broiler, 
dairy, egg layer, and swine AFO operations. The goals of the agreement 
are to reduce air pollution, monitor AFO emissions, promote a national 
consensus on methodologies for estimating emissions from AFOs, and 
ensure compliance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
(CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act 
(EPCRA).
    The pollutants monitored under the agreement include: Ammonia, 
hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds. 
As part of the agreement, EPA is charged with developing EEMs for 
broiler, dairy, egg layer, and swine AFO sectors. EPA has requested the 
SAB to provide advice on

[[Page 54467]]

scientific issues associated with EPA's development of the EEMs.
    In response to EPA's request, the SAB Staff Office will form an 
expert panel to review EPA's development of AFO air EEMs. 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 procedures.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking public 
nominations of nationally recognized experts with demonstrated 
expertise and experience in the following areas related to AFO air 
emission estimation methods: Air emissions from broiler, dairy, egg 
layer, and/or swine production animal feeding operations; air 
monitoring and detection methods; exposure assessment; environmental 
statistics; emission and statistical modeling; 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 (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 at the SAB Web site 
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 resume or 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. Edward Hanlon, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
September 22, 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; (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 a 
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: August 26, 2011.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-22438 Filed 8-31-11; 8:45 am]
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