[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29760-29761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12026]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9911-31-OA]


Notification of a Public Teleconference of the Science Advisory 
Board Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity Report

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference of the SAB 
Panel to discuss its draft advisory report concerning the EPA document 
titled Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A 
Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September, 2013 
External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B).

DATES: The public teleconference will be held on Thursday, June 19, 
2014 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern Time).
    Location: The public teleconferences will be conducted by telephone 
only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to 
obtain information concerning the public teleconference may contact Dr. 
Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory 
Board Staff Office (1400R), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone at (202) 
564-2155 or via email at [email protected]. General information 
concerning the SAB as well as any updates concerning the teleconference 
announced in this notice may 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 Panel for 
the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity Report will hold a public 
teleconference to discuss its draft advisory report concerning the EPA 
document titled Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream 
Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September, 
2013 External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B). This SAB panel will 
provide advice to the Administrator through the chartered SAB.
    Background: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body 
Connectivity Report previously held a face-to-face meeting on December 
16-18, 2013 to conduct a peer review of the EPA document titled 
Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and 
Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September, 2013 External Review 
Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B) [Federal Register Notice dated September 24, 
2013 (78 FR 58536-58537)]. The Panel also held public teleconferences 
on April 28, 2014 and May 2, 2014 to discuss its draft advisory report 
[Federal Register Notice dated April 1, 2014 (79 FR 18293-18294)]. 
Specifically, the Panel has been asked to evaluate: The clarity and 
technical accuracy of the EPA document, whether it includes the most 
relevant peer reviewed literature, whether the literature has been 
correctly summarized, and whether the findings and conclusions in the 
Report are supported by the available science. The purpose of the 
upcoming teleconference is for the SAB Panel to continue discussing its 
draft advisory report.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Teleconference agenda, the SAB 
Panel's draft advisory report, and any other meeting materials will be 
placed on the SAB Web at http://www.epa.gov/sab in advance of the 
teleconference. For technical questions and information concerning the 
EPA document, Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream 
Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September, 
2013 External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B), 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, telephone (703) 347-8630 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 comments for a federal advisory committee to consider 
as it develops advice for EPA. Input from the public to the SAB will 
have the most impact if it provides specific scientific or technical 
information or analysis for SAB panels to consider or if it relates to 
the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. Members of the 
public wishing to provide oral statements to the SAB Panel should 
contact the DFO directly. Oral Statements: In general, individuals or 
groups requesting an oral presentation at a public teleconference will 
be limited to three minutes. Interested parties should contact Dr. 
Thomas Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via email) at the contact 
information noted above by
    June 16, 2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers. Written 
Statements: Members of the public wishing to provide written comments 
may submit them to the EPA Docket electronically via 
www.regulations.gov by email, by mail, or by hand delivery/courier. 
Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the written 
statements section of this notice. Written statements should be 
received in the EPA Docket by June 16, 2014 so that the information may 
be made available to the SAB Panel for its consideration. Written 
statements should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582 
and submitted to the Docket at www.regulations.gov by one of the 
following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]: Include the docket number in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 28221T), Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is (202) 566-1752.
     Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA 
headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334, EPA West Building, 1301 
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744. Deliveries are only accepted during the

[[Page 29761]]

docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582. Please 
ensure that your comments are submitted by June 16, 2014. Comments 
received after that date will be marked late and may not be provided to 
the SAB Panel for consideration before the June 19, 2014 
teleconference. It is EPA's policy to include all comments received in 
the public docket without change and to make the comments available on-
line at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless a comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov 
or email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an email directly to EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket 
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact 
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you 
submit. If EPA cannot read your comments due to technical difficulties 
and cannot contact you for clarification, the SAB Panel may not be able 
to consider your comments. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters and any form of encryption and be free of any 
defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov 
index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly 
available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either electronically at 
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Thomas Armitage at 
(202) 564-2155 or [email protected]. To request accommodation of 
a disability, please contact Dr. Armitage preferably at least ten days 
prior to the teleconference to give EPA as much time as possible to 
process your request.

    Dated: May 14, 2014.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-12026 Filed 5-22-14; 8:45 am]
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