[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 27 (Thursday, February 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6797-6798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3005]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9629-6]


Request for Nominations of Experts for EPA Science Advisory Board 
Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is 
requesting nominations of experts to be considered for service on an 
SAB Committee to make recommendations on EPA's Scientific and 
Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) for 2012-2015.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by March 1, 2012 per the 
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; by fax at 
(202) 565-2098 or via email at [email protected]. General 
information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at the EPA SAB Web site 
at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. EPA's STAA was 
established in 1980 to recognize Agency scientists and engineers who 
published their work in the peer-reviewed literature. The STAA Program 
is an Agency-wide competition to promote and recognize scientific and 
technological achievements by EPA employees. The STAA program is 
administered and managed by EPA's Office of Research and Development 
(ORD). Each year the SAB has been asked to review EPA's STAA 
nominations and make recommendations to the Administrator for monetary 
awards. The SAB Staff Office is announcing the formation of a

[[Page 6798]]

new STAA Committee that will serve for the next three years.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is soliciting 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and 
engineers with a multidisciplinary background in the areas of: 
Ecological research; energy and the environment; environmental control 
systems and technology; environmental monitoring and measurement 
methods; environmental policy and decision-making studies; 
environmental risk management and restoration; environmental 
sustainability and innovation; environmental transport and fate; human 
health effects research and human health risk assessment; homeland 
security; industry and the environment; integrated environmental risk 
assessment and other environmental research.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested 
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals in the areas 
of expertise described above. 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,'' http://www.epa.gov/sabprovided on the SAB Web site. If you 
wish to nominate yourself or another expert, please follow the 
instructions that 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. The bio-sketches and resume or curriculum 
vita of nominees identified by respondents to this Federal Register 
notice, and additional experts identified by the SAB Staff, will be 
made available to the public upon request.
    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 March 
1, 2012. 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: January 30, 2012.
Thomas Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2012-3005 Filed 2-8-12; 8:45 am]
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