[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 117 (Wednesday, June 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34738-34739]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14244]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9912-44-OA]


Notification of a Joint Public Meeting and Joint Teleconferences 
of the Chartered Science Advisory Board and Chartered Board of 
Scientific Counselors and a Briefing Teleconference for New SAB Members

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a joint public meeting of the 
Chartered SAB and the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) 
Chartered Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) to develop strategic 
advice on ORD's research activities, six joint SAB-BOSC public 
teleconference calls to prepare for the face-to-face meeting, and one 
public teleconference to orient new SAB members to ORD's work.

DATES: The joint SAB-BOSC public meeting will be held on Thursday, July 
24, 2014 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday, July 25, 2014 from 
8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET. There will be six joint SAB-BOSC 
teleconferences, one for each ORD research program. The joint SAB-BOSC 
teleconferences will be held: (1) For the Human Health Risk Assessment 
program on July 1, 2014, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET); 
(2) for the Air, Climate and Energy program on July 3, 2014, from 10:00 
a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET; (3) for the Chemical Safety for Sustainability 
program on July 3, 2014, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET; (4) for the 
Homeland Security program on July 7, 2014, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 
ET; (5) for the Sustainable and Health Communities program on July 10, 
2014, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET; and (6) for the Safe and 
Sustainable Water Resources program on July 17, 2014, from 1:00 p.m. to 
3:00 p.m. ET.
    The teleconference to provide an overview of ORD's mission and role 
for SAB members will be held on June 24, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 
p.m. ET.

ADDRESSES: All the teleconferences will be held by teleconference only. 
The face-to-face meeting will be held at the Washington Marriott 
Georgetown, 1221 22nd Street, Washington, DC 20037.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public who wishes 
further information concerning the meetings may contact Dr. Angela 
Nugent, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board 
(1400R), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice mail (202) 564-2218, fax 
(202) 202-565-2098; 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:

Background

    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 BOSC was established by the EPA to provide advice, 
information, and recommendations regarding the ORD research program. 
The SAB and BOSC are Federal Advisory Committees chartered under the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C., App. 2. Pursuant to 
FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby given that the chartered SAB and 
chartered BOSC will hold preparatory teleconferences and a joint 
meeting to develop advice on future directions for ORD's research 
programs. The SAB and BOSC will comply with the provisions of FACA and 
all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    ORD research programs are structured to understand environmental 
problems and inform sustainable solutions to meet EPA's strategic 
goals. The research programs comprise six program areas: Air, Climate, 
and Energy; Safe and Sustainable Water Resources; Sustainable and 
Healthy Communities; Chemical Safety for Sustainability; Human Health 
Risk Assessment; and Homeland Security.
    ORD requested that the SAB work jointly with the BOSC in 2011 to 
provide early advice on ORD strategic research directions. In response, 
the SAB and BOSC provided a report, Office of Research and Development 
(ORD) New Strategic Research Directions: A Joint Report of the Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) and ORD Board of Scientific Councilors (BOSC), 
EPA-SAB-12-001. After receiving this advisory report, ORD requested 
additional advice from the SAB and BOSC on ORD's research 
implementation plans, efforts to strengthen program integration and 
efforts to strengthen and measure innovation. In response, the SAB and 
BOSC provided a report, Implementation of ORD Strategic Research Plans: 
A Joint Report of the

[[Page 34739]]

Science Advisory Board and ORD Board of Scientific Counselors (EPA-SAB-
12-012).
    ORD is now requesting the SAB and BOSC to provide advice to inform 
the agency's development of Strategic Research Action Plans to cover 
the period 2016-2019. To address this request, the SAB and BOSC have 
planned a series of meetings: (1) A face-to-face meeting on this topic 
on July 24-25, 2014; (2) teleconferences devoted to each of the six ORD 
research so that ORD can brief SAB and BOSC members on ORD programs and 
so that SAB and BOSC members can discuss ORD's charge to their 
committees and preparations for the July 24-25, 2014 public meeting; 
and (3) a teleconference for ORD to provide a general background 
briefing on ORD's mission and role for new SAB members on June 24, 
2014.

Availability of Meeting Materials

    A meeting agenda and other materials for the meeting will be placed 
on the SAB Web site at http://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. Members of the 
public can submit relevant comments for a federal advisory committee to 
consider as it develops advice for 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 and BOSC to consider during the advisory process. Input from 
the public to the SAB and BOSC will have the most impact if it provides 
specific scientific or technical information or analysis for them 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 to 
make an oral presentation at a public meeting will be limited to five 
minutes and individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation at a 
public teleconference will be limited to three minutes. Each person 
making an oral statement should also consider providing written 
comments so that the points presented orally can be expanded upon in 
writing. Interested parties should contact Dr. Angela Nugent, DFO, in 
writing (preferably via email) at the contact information noted above 
by July 17, 2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers for the 
joint SAB-BOSC public meeting. Parties interested in providing oral 
statements at any of the teleconferences should contact Dr. Angela 
Nugent seven days in advance of the scheduled teleconference. Written 
Statements: Written statements for the joint public meeting should be 
supplied to Dr. Angela Nugent, DFO, via email at the contact 
information noted above by July 17, 2014 so that the information may be 
made available to the Panel members for their consideration. Parties 
interested in providing written comment for consideration at any of the 
teleconferences should contact Dr. Angela Nugent seven days in advance 
of the scheduled teleconference.
    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 
advisory meetings or teleconferences. 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. Nugent at the phone number or email 
address noted above, preferably at least ten days prior to the meeting, 
to give EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

    Dated: June 11, 2014.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-14244 Filed 6-17-14; 8:45 am]
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