[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8128-8129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02495]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9776-3]


Request for Nominations of Experts to the EPA Office of Research 
and Development's Board of Scientific Counselors

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking 
nominations for technical experts to serve on its Board of Scientific 
Counselors (BOSC), a federal advisory committee to the Office of 
Research and Development (ORD). Submission of nominations is preferred 
via the BOSC Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/osp/bosc/nomination.htm.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by April 1, 2013, per 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public needing 
additional information regarding this Notice and Request for 
Nominations may contact Mr. Greg Susanke, Office of Science Policy, 
Office of Research and Development, Mail Code 8104-R, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
via phone/voice mail at: (202) 564-9945; via fax at: (202) 565-2911; or 
via email at: [email protected]. General information concerning the 
BOSC can be found at the following Web site: http://www.epa.gov/osp/bosc.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The BOSC is a chartered Federal Advisory Committee that was 
established by the EPA to provide independent scientific and technical 
peer review, advice, consultation, and recommendations about ORD. As a 
Federal Advisory Committee, the BOSC conducts business in accordance 
with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. 2) and 
related regulations.
    The BOSC is comprised of an Executive Committee and six supporting 
subcommittees currently being formed. Each of these subcommittees will 
focus on one of ORD's research programs: Air, Climate, and Energy 
Research Program; Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research Program; 
Homeland Security Research Program; Human Health Risk Assessment 
Research Program; Safe and Sustainable Water Resources Research 
Program; and Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program. 
Please visit http://www.epa.gov/ord/research-programs.htm to learn more 
about these programs.
    Members of the BOSC are recognized experts in various scientific, 
engineering, and social science fields. EPA will consider nominees from 
academia, industry, business, public and private research institutes or 
organizations, government (federal, state, local, and tribal) and non-
government organizations, and other relevant interest areas. Members 
are appointed by the EPA Administrator for a period of three years and 
serve as special government employees. 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.

Expertise Sought

    EPA's BOSC Staff Office is seeking nominations of nationally and 
internationally recognized scientists and engineers having experience 
and expertise in one or more of the following areas:

 Atmospheric Science
    --aerosol chemistry
    --aerosol physical science
    --air quality modeling
    --atmospheric chemistry
    --atmospheric physics
 Biology
    --biogeochemistry
    --cell biology
    --endocrinology (endocrine disruptors)
    --microbiology/molecular biology
    --pharmacokinetics
    --systems biology
 Chemistry
    --analytical chemistry
    --combustion chemistry
    --environmental chemistry
    --green chemistry
    --physical chemistry
    --water chemistry
 Climate Change/Global Change
    --adaption
    --modeling
    --variability
    --greenhouse gas technology assessment
 Ecology
    --aquatic ecology (freshwater, wetland)
    --ecosystem services
    --hydrology/hydraulics (watershed modeling)
    --plant/forestry ecology
    --water resources
    --soil biogeochemistry
    --system ecology
    --landscape ecology
    --urban ecology
 Engineering
    --biochemical engineering
    --bioenvironmental engineering
    --civil engineering (drinking water treatment and distribution, 
stormwater treatment, wastewater treatment, storm-, and wastewater 
infrastructure)
    --chemical engineering
    --combustion engineering
    --environmental engineering (decontamination, clean-up, management)
    --industrial engineering
    --mechanical engineering
 Information Science
    --information technology
    --information visualization
    --research communication
    --spatial analysis
    --uncertainty analysis
 Nanotechnology
 Public Health
    --children's health
    --community health
    --environmental health
    --epidemiology/molecular epidemiology
    --exposure science (assessment, predictive)
 Risk Assessment (cumulative risk assessment, mixtures risk 
assessment, ecological risk assessment, human health risk assessment)
 Sustainability
    --community/urban level planning and sustainability
    --industrial (industrial ecology, life cycle analysis, technology 
policy,

[[Page 8129]]

systems engineering)
    --energy
    --energy and water relationship
 Toxicology
    --computational toxicology (computational biology, genomics, 
proteomics, metabonomics, computational chemistry, high-throughput 
bioassays, informatics, bioinformatics, predictive toxicology)
    --ecotoxicology
    --developmental/reproductive toxicology
    --immunotoxicology
    --molecular toxicology
    --neurotoxicology
    --pulmonary/cardiovascular toxicology
    --carcinogenesis
 Science Policy/Public Policy
    --science policy
    --public policy
    --environmental justice
    --science program evaluation
 Social Science
    --community disaster recovery and resiliency
    --economics (ecological economics, environmental economics, natural 
resource economics, human health economics)
    --socioeconomics
    --sociology
 Behavioral Science
    --psychology
    --ecopsychology
    --environmental psychology
    --conservation psychology
    --social neuroscience
    --risk perception
    --risk/crisis communication
    --community decision making
 Decision Science
    --decision analysis
    --value of information
    --decision support system

Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations

    Any interested person or organization may nominate themselves or 
qualified individuals in the areas of expertise described above. 
Nominations should be submitted via the BOSC Web site (which is 
preferred over hard copy) at: http://www.epa.gov/osp/bosc/nomination.htm. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no 
later than April 1, 2013. To receive full consideration, nominations 
should include all of the information requested. EPA's BOSC 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; subcommittee preference; 
the nominee's curriculum vita and/or resume; and additional information 
that would be useful for considering the nomination such as background 
and qualifications (e.g., current position, educational background, 
expertise, research areas), experience relevant to one or more of ORD's 
research programs, service on other advisory committees and 
professional societies, and availability to participate as a member of 
the committee/subcommittee. Persons having questions about the 
nomination procedures, or who are unable to submit nominations through 
the BOSC Web site, should contact Mr. Greg Susanke, as indicated above 
in this notice.

Selection Criteria

    The BOSC is a balanced and diverse expert committee. The committee 
and each of its subcommittees possess necessary domains of expertise, 
depth and breadth of knowledge, and diverse and balanced scientific 
perspectives. Nominations will be evaluated on the basis of several 
criteria including: (a) Scientific and/or technical expertise, 
knowledge, and experience; (b) availability to serve and willingness to 
commit time to the committee (approximately one to three meetings per 
year including both face-to-face meetings and teleconferences); (c) 
absence of financial conflicts of interest; (d) absence of an 
appearance of a lack of impartiality; (e) skills working on committees 
and advisory panels; and (f) background and experiences that would 
contribute to the diversity of viewpoints on the committee/
subcommittees, e.g., workforce sector, geographical location, social, 
cultural, and educational backgrounds, and professional affiliations.
    The BOSC 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 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/osp/bosc/pdf/EPA_3110-48.pdf.

    Dated: January 29, 2013.
Fred S. Hauchman,
Director, Office of Science Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-02495 Filed 2-4-13; 8:45 am]
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