[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 133 (Friday, July 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40100-40101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16308]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9913-44-OA]
Notification of Two Public Teleconferences 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 EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces
two public teleconferences of the SAB Panel to provide comments to the
chartered SAB on the adequacy of the scientific and technical basis of
the proposed rule titled Definition of Waters of the United States
under the Clean Water Act.
DATES: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity
Report will conduct public teleconferences on August 20, 2014 and
August 21, 2014. Each of the teleconferences will begin at 1:00 p.m.
and end at 5:00 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 teleconferences 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 teleconferences 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 two
public teleconferences to provide comments to the chartered SAB on
adequacy of the scientific and technical basis of the proposed rule
titled Definition of Waters of the United States under the Clean Water
Act. This proposed rule was published by the EPA and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers on April 21, 2014 (79 FR 22188).
Background: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body
Connectivity Report was established to conduct a peer review of the EPA
draft report 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). The report was written
to inform development of a rule proposed by the EPA and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to clarify the definition of waters of the United
States under the Clean Water Act (79 FR 22188). The Panel was charged
with reviewing the overall clarity and technical accuracy of the EPA
draft report, whether it included and correctly summarized the most
relevant peer-reviewed scientific literature, and whether the findings
and conclusions were supported by the available science. To conduct the
peer review, the Panel held a face-to-face meeting on December 16-18,
2013 [Federal Register Notice dated September 24, 2013 (78 FR 58536)],
public teleconferences on April 28 and May 2, 2014 [Federal Register
Notice dated April 1, 2014 (79 FR 18293)], and a public teleconference
on June 19, 2014 [Federal Register Notice dated May 23, 2014 (79 FR
29760)]. Information about this activity may be found at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/Watershed%20Connectivity%20Report?OpenDocument.
The ERDDAA requires the EPA to make available to the SAB proposed
criteria documents, standards, limitations, or regulations provided to
any other federal agency for formal review and comment together with
the relevant scientific and technical information on which the proposed
action is based. The SAB may then make available to the Administrator
its advice and comments on the adequacy of the scientific and technical
basis of the proposed actions. The purpose of the upcoming
teleconferences is for the SAB Panel to develop comments to the
chartered SAB on the adequacy of the scientific and technical basis of
the proposed rule cited above. Comments from the Panel will inform a
letter to the EPA Administrator, to be prepared by the chartered SAB,
on the adequacy of the scientific and technical basis of the proposed
rule titled Definition of Waters of the United States under the Clean
[[Page 40101]]
Water Act. The two Panel teleconferences will be conducted as one
complete meeting, beginning on August 20, 2014 and continuing on August
21, 2014. Information about this advisory activity may be found at
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/WOUS-adv%26com?OpenDocument.
Availability of Meeting Materials: Teleconference agendas and any
other meeting materials will be placed on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab in advance of the teleconferences. The proposed rule
titled Definition of Waters of the United States under the Clean Water
Act is available on the EPA Web site at http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-04/documents/fr-2014-07142.pdf. For questions and
information concerning the proposed rule please contact Ms. Donna
Downing, Office of Water (4502-T), Environmental Protection Agency,
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone (202)
566-2428 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 August 13, 2014 to be placed on the list of
public speakers for August 20, 2014. 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 August 13, 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-2014-0010 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-2014-0010, 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
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-2014-0010. Please
ensure that your comments are submitted by August 13, 2014. Comments
received after that date will be marked late and may not be provided to
the SAB Panel for consideration before the August 20, 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: June 30, 2014.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-16308 Filed 7-10-14; 8:45 am]
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