[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33416-33417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13188]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL--9819-3]


Notification of a Public Meeting of the Science Advisory Board 
Environmental Justice Technical Guidance Review Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a 
public meeting of the SAB Environmental Justice Technical Guidance 
Review Panel to provide advice through the chartered SAB on the 
agency's Draft Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice 
in Regulatory Analysis (May 1, 2013).

DATES: The Environmental Justice Technical Guidance (EJTG) Review Panel 
public meeting will be held on Wednesday June 19, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. 
to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) and on Thursday June 20, 2013 from 9:00 
a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at The EPA Potomac Yards 
Conference Center, One Potomac Yard, 2777 S. Crystal Drive, Room S-
1204/06, Arlington, VA 22202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public who wants 
further information concerning the public meeting may contact Dr. Sue 
Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), via telephone at (202) 564-
2057 or email at [email protected]. General information concerning 
the SAB can be found on the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental Research, 
Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDDAA), codified at 
42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent scientific and technical advice 
to the Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and 
regulations. The SAB is a Federal Advisory Committee chartered under 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., App. 2. The SAB 
will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff 
Office procedural policies. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, notice is 
hereby given that the SAB Environmental Justice Technical Guidance 
Review Panel will hold a public meeting to discuss the agency's draft 
technical document that provides information on how to consider 
environmental justice in regulatory analysis. This SAB panel will 
provide advice to the Administrator through the chartered SAB.

Background

    The EPA has released for public comment its Draft Technical 
Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis 
(May 1, 2013) (see https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/05/09/2013-11165/technical-guidance-for-assessing-environmental-justice-in-regulatory-analysis) The purpose of this draft guidance is to provide 
EPA analysts with technical information on how to consider 
environmental justice (EJ) in regulatory analyses. This draft guidance 
takes into account the EPA's past experience in integrating 
environmental justice into the rulemaking process, and supports the 
EPA's ongoing commitment to ensuring the fair treatment and meaningful 
involvement of all people with respect to the development, 
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and 
policies. The EPA is seeking the advice of the SAB on the scientific 
soundness of the guidance provided in this document.
    This draft guidance complements the EPA's Interim Guidance on 
Considering Environmental Justice During the Development of an Action, 
(http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/resources/policy/considering-ej-in-rulemaking-guide-07-2010.pdf), issued in July 2010, which 
provides direction on when EJ should be considered during

[[Page 33417]]

the rulemaking process. In contrast, the Draft Technical Guidance for 
Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis begins to 
address the issue of how to analytically consider EJ in regulatory 
analysis.
    The SAB Staff Office announced to the public through a Federal 
Register notice published on February 14, 2011 (76 FR 8366) and a 
second Federal Register notice published on June 3, 2011 (76 FR 32202) 
that it was soliciting nominations of nationally and internationally 
recognized scientists to serve on this panel. Additional background on 
this SAB advisory activity is provided in these notices and at the 
following URL http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/EJ%20Technical%20Guidance?OpenDocument.
    Technical Contacts: Any technical questions concerning EPA's draft 
technical document should be directed to Kelly Maguire at 202.566.2273 
or by email at [email protected].
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Prior to the meeting, the review 
documents, agenda and other materials will be accessible through the 
calendar link on the blue navigation bar at http://www.epa.gov/sab/.
    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. 
Interested members of the public may submit relevant written or oral 
information on the topic of this advisory activity, and/or the group 
conducting the activity, for the SAB to consider during the advisory 
process. Input from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if 
it provides specific scientific or technical information or analysis 
for SAB committees to consider or if it relates to the clarity or 
accuracy of the technical information. Members of the public wishing to 
provide comment should contact the DFO directly. Oral Statements: In 
general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a 
public meeting will be limited to five minutes. Interested parties 
should contact Dr. Sue Shallal, DFO, in writing (preferably via email) 
at the contact information noted above by June 12, 2013, to be placed 
on the list of public speakers for the meeting. Written Statements: 
Written statements should be supplied to the DFO via email at the 
contact information noted above by June 12, 2013 for the meeting so 
that the information may be made available to the Committee members for 
their consideration. Written statements should be supplied in one of 
the following electronic formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, 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. 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. Sue Shallal at (202) 
564-2057 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact Dr. Shallal preferably at least ten days 
prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time as possible to process 
your request.

    Dated: May 22, 2013.
 Thomas H. Brennan,
 Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-13188 Filed 6-3-13; 8:45 am]
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