[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15012-15013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05500]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9787-9]


Request for Nominations of Experts for a Science Advisory Board 
Panel To Review EPA's Draft Science Synthesis Report on the 
Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office requests 
public nominations of scientific experts to form an SAB panel to review 
the Agency's draft science synthesis report on the connectivity of 
streams and wetlands to downstream waters.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by March 29, 2013 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 Dr. Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB 
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2155, 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:
    Background: 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. The EPA's Office of 
Research and Development (ORD) is developing a draft report 
synthesizing the peer-reviewed scientific literature pertaining to 
biological, chemical, and hydrologic connectivity of waters, and the 
effects that small streams, wetlands, and open waters have on larger 
downstream waters such as rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. ORD has 
asked the SAB to conduct a peer review of the agency's draft report. 
The SAB Staff Office is forming an expert panel under the auspices of 
the Chartered SAB to conduct this review.
    Technical Contact for EPA's Draft Report: For information 
concerning the EPA draft report, please contact Dr. Laurie Alexander, 
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and 
Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 8623P, 
Washington, DC 20460, phone (703) 347-8630 or via email at 
[email protected].
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office requests nominations 
of recognized experts in one or more of the following disciplines: (a) 
Hydrologists, geologists, and fluvial geomorphologists with expertise 
in the hydrology and formation of large rivers, small streams, 
wetlands, surface-groundwater interactions, sediment transport, or 
hydrologic connectivity of waters; (b) ecologists with expertise in 
stream ecology or wetland ecology, particularly with respect to 
freshwater stream-wetland connectivity, or wetland ecosystem function; 
(c) biologists with expertise in population dynamics and dispersal of 
freshwater organisms, fisheries, aquatic entomology, amphibian biology, 
or the biologic connectivity of freshwater systems; and (d) water 
chemists and biogeochemists with expertise in nutrient dynamics or 
pollutant fate and transport in watersheds.
    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 vitae; 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. Thomas Armitage, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than March 
29, 2013. 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 biosketches 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

[[Page 15013]]

should consider in evaluating candidates.
    For the EPA SAB Staff Office a balanced 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 include 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://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.
    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: February 25, 2013.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-05500 Filed 3-7-13; 8:45 am]
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