[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 15 (Monday, January 25, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4028-4029]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01349]


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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9941-57-OA]


Request for Nominations of Candidates for EPA's Science Advisory 
Board 2016-2018 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards 
Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office invites nominations of scientific 
experts from a diverse range of disciplines to be considered for 
appointment to the SAB's 2016-2018 Scientific and Technological 
Achievement Awards (STAA) Committee described in this notice.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
February 16, 2016.

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: 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 STAA 
Committee is an ad hoc subcommittee of the SAB that provides advice 
through the chartered SAB on recommendations for awards under EPA's 
STAA program. The SAB and the 2016-2018 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 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 
to serve on the SAB 2016-2018 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 2016-2018 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 and engineers 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 2016-2018 STAA 
Committee identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted in 
electronic format (preferred over hard copy) using the ``Nomination of 
Experts'' link at the bottom of the SAB homepage 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 
February 16, 2016. 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

[[Page 4029]]

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 committees; and, (f) for the committee 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://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/WebFiles/OverviewPanelForm/$File/ec02010.pdf.

    Dated: January 13, 2016.
 Thomas Brennan,
 Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-01349 Filed 1-22-16; 8:45 am]
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