[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 18 (Friday, January 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4319-4320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1823]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9623-6]


Notification of Two Public Teleconferences of the Science 
Advisory Board Ecological Processes and Effects Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two public teleconferences 
of the SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee (EPEC). The SAB 
EPEC will provide advice on the EPA Risk Assessment Forum (RAF) 
document, ``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-Making at 
EPA, 2011 RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan (August, 11, 2011).''

DATES: The SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee will conduct 
public teleconferences on February 22, 2012 and February 23, 2012. The 
teleconferences will begin at 12:00 noon and end at 4 p.m. (Eastern 
Time) on each day.

ADDRESSES: The public teleconferences will be conducted by telephone 
only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding the public teleconferences may contact 
Dr. Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff 
Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2155 or via email 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 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 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. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, 
notice is hereby given that the SAB EPEC, augmented with other experts, 
will hold two public teleconferences to provide advice through the 
chartered SAB on the EPA Risk Assessment Forum (RAF) document, 
``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-Making at EPA, 2011 
RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan (August, 11, 2011).'' The SAB 
Committee will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate 
SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    In response to recommendations in a 2007 SAB Report, ``Advice to 
EPA on Advancing the Science and Application of Ecological Risk 
Assessment in Environmental Decision-Making'' (EPA-SAB-08-002), the EPA 
Risk Assessment Forum in the Office of the Science Advisor held an EPA 
ecological assessment colloquium and developed an action plan titled, 
``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-Making at EPA, 2011 
RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan (August, 11, 2011).'' The action 
plan proposes initiatives to improve the quality, scope, and 
application of the EPA's ecological assessments. Initiatives outlined 
in the action plan address high priority recommendations in the EPA 
colloquium report, ``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-
Making at EPA: A Path Forward'' (EPA/100/R-10/004). EPA's Office of the 
Science Advisor has requested that the SAB Ecological Processes and 
Effects Committee review the Agency's ecological assessment action plan 
and related background documents, and provide advice on the technical 
merit and implementation of proposed initiatives. The SAB EPEC will be 
augmented with experts who participated in the SAB 2007 review.
    Availability of the review materials: The agenda and material in 
support of this meeting will be available on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. For technical questions and information concerning 
EPA's review document, ``Integrating Ecological Assessment and 
Decision-Making at EPA, 2011 RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan 
(August, 11, 2011),'' please contact Mr. Lawrence Martin of EPA's Risk 
Assessment Forum by phone (202) 564-6497 or via email at 
[email protected].
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Public comment for 
consideration by EPA's federal advisory committees and panels has a 
different purpose from public comment provided to EPA program offices. 
Therefore, the process for submitting comments to a federal advisory 
committee is different from the process used to submit comments to an 
EPA program office. Federal advisory committees and panels, including 
scientific advisory committees, provide independent advice to EPA. 
Members of the public can submit relevant comments pertaining to EPA's 
charge, meeting materials and/or the group conducting the activity. 
Input from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if it 
consists of comments that provide specific scientific or technical 
information or analysis for the SAB Committee to consider or if it 
relates to the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. 
Members of the public wishing to provide comment on the February 22, 
2012 public teleconference should contact the Designated Federal 
Officer for the relevant advisory committee directly. Oral Statements: 
In general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation will 
be limited to five minutes per speaker. Interested parties should 
contact Dr. Thomas Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via email), at 
the contact information noted above, by February 15, 2012 to be placed 
on the list of public speakers for February 22, 2012. Written 
Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff 
Office by February 15, 2012 so that the information may be made 
available to the SAB Committee for their consideration. Written 
statements should be supplied to the DFO in electronic format via email 
(acceptable file formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS 
PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format). It 
is the SAB Staff Office general policy to post written comments on the 
Web page for the advisory meeting or teleconference.

[[Page 4320]]

Submitters are requested to provide an unsigned version of each 
document because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents with 
signatures on its Web sites. Members of the public should be aware that 
their personal contact information, if included in any written 
comments, may be posted to the SAB Web site. Copyrighted material will 
not be posted without explicit permission of the copyright holder.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Thomas Armitage at 
the phone number or email address noted above, preferably at least ten 
days prior to the teleconference, to give EPA as much time as possible 
to process your request.

    Dated: January 20, 2012.
 Vanessa T. Vu,
 Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2012-1823 Filed 1-26-12; 8:45 am]
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