[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59621-59622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-20851]


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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9951-65-OA]


Request for Nominations of Experts To Augment the Science 
Advisory Board Ecological Processes and Effects Committee To Provide 
Advice on Methods for Deriving Water Quality Criteria for the 
Protection of Aquatic Life

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SAB Staff Office is 
requesting public nominations of scientific experts to augment the SAB 
Ecological Processes and Effects Committee (EPEC) for review of a draft 
EPA document entitled ``Scope and Approach for Revising USEPA's 
Guidelines for Deriving National Water Quality Criteria to Protect 
Aquatic Life.''

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by September 20, 2016 per the 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations 
may contact the Designated Federal Officer, as identified below. 
Nominators unable to submit nominations electronically as described 
below may contact the Designated Federal Officer for assistance. 
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, consultation, 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 Ecological Process and Effects Committee (EPEC) is 
a subcommittee of the SAB that provides advice through the chartered 
SAB on technical issues related to EPA environmental programs and the 
supporting science and research to protect, sustain, and restore the 
health of ecosystems. The SAB and the EPEC, augmented with additional 
experts, will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate 
SAB Staff Office procedural policies. The augmented EPEC will provide 
advice through the chartered SAB on scientific and technical issues 
related to the Agency's proposed methods for revising and updating 
water quality criteria, as described in the Agency's draft scoping 
document, entitled ``Scope and Approach for Revising USEPA's Guidelines 
for Deriving National Water Quality Criteria to Protect Aquatic Life.'' 
This draft document provides an overview of the framework EPA proposes 
to use for the phased revision of the 1985 Guidelines for Deriving 
Numerical Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic 
Organisms and Their Uses by outlining the planned scope and approach of 
the Guidelines revision process and introducing new and alternative 
methods to be considered for deriving aquatic life criteria based on 
the latest and most appropriate science available.
    EPA's Office of Water (OW) requested an SAB consultation (i.e., 
early advice) on their draft approach for updating and revising the 
EPA's 1985 methodology for deriving national Ambient Water Quality 
Criteria to protect aquatic life, as described in the draft scoping 
document. The SAB Staff Office is seeking experts to augment the SAB 
EPEC for this advisory activity. EPA's OW has also requested reviews of 
two subsequent and related draft documents: ``Draft Expedited 
Methodologies for Deriving Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of 
Aquatic Life'' and ``Draft Revised USEPA Guidelines for Deriving 
Numeric Water Quality Criteria for the Protection of Aquatic Life.'' 
These draft documents are currently scheduled for completion as drafts 
in late 2017 and mid-2019.
    Technical Contact for EPA's Draft Report: For information 
concerning the draft EPA report, ``Scope and Approach for Revising 
USEPA's Guidelines for Deriving National Water Quality Criteria to 
Protect Aquatic Life,'' please contact Mike Elias, Ecological Risk 
Assessment Branch, Health and Ecological Criteria Division, Office of 
Water, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460, 
phone (202) 566-0120 or via email at [email protected].
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists 
with demonstrated expertise and research to augment the EPEC for the 
consultation and subsequent reviews of methods for revising Water 
Quality Criteria. For this effort, the SAB Staff Office seeks experts 
in one or more of the following areas: Aquatic toxicology; 
ecotoxicology; aquatic ecology; ecological risk assessment; ecological 
effects modeling; and statistics, especially as applied to developing 
robust computational methods for estimating acute and chronic effects 
of water pollutants on aquatic life and aquatic-dependent wildlife. 
Additional information about this advisory activity is available on the 
SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/1985%20WQ%20Criteria%20Guidelines%20Revision?OpenDocument. Questions 
regarding this advisory activity should be directed to Iris Goodman, 
Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice 
mail at (202) 564-2164, by fax at (202) 565-2098, or via email at 
[email protected].
    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 augmented EPEC 
panel described above. Nominations should be submitted in electronic 
format (preferred over hard copy) using the online nomination form 
under the ``Nomination of Experts'' category at the bottom of the SAB 
home page at http://www.epa.gov/sab. To receive full consideration, 
nominations should include all of 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 Iris Goodman as indicated above in this notice. Nominations 
should be

[[Page 59622]]

submitted in time to arrive no later than September 20, 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 for 
the EPEC Augmented for Review of Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria 
Methods on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab (see links under 
``Public Input on Membership'' at the bottom of the SAB home page). 
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 panel 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. In forming the augmented 
EPEC, 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 panel 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 Environmental Protection Agency Special 
Government Employees'' (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: August 24, 2016.
Christopher S. Zarba,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-20851 Filed 8-29-16; 8:45 am]
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