[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70867-70868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28157]


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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9919-84-OA]


Request for Nominations of Candidates for EPA's Science Advisory 
Board 2015; Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites 
nominations of scientific experts from a diverse range of disciplines 
to be considered for appointment to the Science Advisory Board's (SAB) 
2015 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Committee 
described in this notice.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
December 19, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the 
SAB's STAA Committee membership appointment process and schedule, 
please contact Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB 
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2134; 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: Established by statute, the SAB (42 U.S.C. 4365) is a 
chartered Federal Advisory Committee that provides independent 
scientific and technical peer review, advice 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 and the 2015 STAA Committee will comply with the 
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    The EPA established the STAA in 1980 to recognize Agency scientists 
and

[[Page 70868]]

engineers who published their work in the peer-reviewed literature. The 
STAA Program is an agency-wide competition to promote and recognize 
scientific and technological achievements by EPA employees. The STAA 
program is administered and managed by the EPA's Office of Research and 
Development (ORD). Each year the SAB has been asked to review the EPA's 
STAA nominations and make recommendations to the Administrator for 
monetary awards. The SAB Staff Office is seeking nominations of experts 
for the SAB 2015 STAA Committee, which operates under the auspices of 
the SAB.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of experts to form the SAB 2015 STAA Committee in the 
following disciplines as they relate to human health and the 
environment: Air pollution exposure; chemistry and geochemistry; 
chemical engineering; civil and environmental engineering; ecology; 
environmental economics; groundwater and surface water contaminant fate 
and transport; human health effects and risk assessment; hydrology and 
hydrogeology; monitoring and measurement methods for air and water; 
risk management; transport and fate of contaminants; water quality; and 
water and wastewater treatment processes. The SAB Staff Office is 
especially interested in scientists with expertise described above who 
have knowledge and experience in air quality; aquatic and ecological 
toxicology; chemical safety; climate change; community environmental 
health; dosimetry and inhalation toxicology; drinking water; ecological 
modeling; ecological risk assessment; ecosystem services; energy and 
the environment; epidemiology; green chemistry; homeland security; 
human health dosimetry; mechanisms of toxicity and carcinogenicity; 
metabolism; statistics; sustainability; toxicokinetics; toxicology; 
waste and waste management; and water re-use.
    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 the 2015 STAA 
Committee identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted in 
electronic format (preferred over hard copy) following the instructions 
for Nomination to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees, provided on 
the SAB Web site (see the ``Nomination of Experts'' link on the blue 
navigational bar at http://www.epa.gov/sab). To receive full 
consideration, nominations should include 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 Mr. Edward Hanlon as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
December 19, 2014. 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 the 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 should consider in evaluating 
candidates.
    For the EPA SAB Staff Office a balanced review committee 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. 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 committee 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 loss of 
impartiality; (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and 
advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel as a whole, diversity of 
expertise and scientific points of view.
    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 loss 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 members 
for 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: November 20, 2014.
Thomas Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-28157 Filed 11-26-14; 8:45 am]
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