[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 6, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26097-26099]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11694]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0214; FRL-9962-79]


FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel; Notice of Public Meeting; 
Request for Ad Hoc Expert Nominations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: There will be a 3-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to 
consider and review the ``Continuing Development of Alternative High-
Throughput Screens to Determine Endocrine Disruption, Focusing on 
Androgen Receptor, Steroidogenesis, and Thyroid Pathways''.

DATES: The meeting will be held on November 28, 2017 to November 30, 
2017, from approximately 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    Comments. Written comments should be submitted on or before 
September 28, 2017. FIFRA SAP may not be able to fully consider written 
comments submitted after this date. Requests to make oral comments 
should be submitted on or before November 7, 2017 by contacting the 
Designated Federal Official (DFO) listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT. For additional instructions, see Unit I.C. of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Nominations. Nominations of candidates to serve as ad hoc expert 
members of FIFRA SAP for this meeting should be provided on or before 
July 21, 2017.
    Webcast. This meeting may be webcast. Please refer to the FIFRA SAP 
Web site at https://www.epa.gov/sap for information on how to access 
the webcast. Please note that the webcast is a supplementary public 
process provided only for convenience. If difficulties arise resulting 
in webcasting outages, the meeting will continue as planned.
    Special accommodations. For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT at least 10 days prior to the meeting to allow EPA time to 
process your request.

ADDRESSES: Meeting: The meeting will be held at the Environmental 
Protection Agency, Conference Center, Lobby Level, One Potomac Yard 
(South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202.
    Comments. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0214, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute.
     Mail: OPP Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket 
Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 
20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand 
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the 
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Nominations, requests to present oral comments, and requests for 
special accommodations. Submit nominations to serve as ad hoc members 
of FIFRA SAP, requests for special accommodations, or requests to 
present oral comments to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Todd Peterson, DFO, Office of Science

[[Page 26098]]

Coordination and Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: 
(202) 564-6428; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may 
also be of interest to persons who are or may be required to conduct 
testing of chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug, and 
Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and FIFRA. Since other entities may also be 
interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific 
entities that may be affected by this action.

B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. If your comments contain any information that 
you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special 
instructions before submitting your comments.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.

C. How may I participate in this meeting?

    You may participate in this meeting by following the instructions 
in this unit. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, it is imperative that 
you identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0214 in the subject line 
on the first page of your request.
    1. Written comments. Written comments should be submitted, using 
the instructions in ADDRESSES and Unit I.B., on or before September 28, 
2017, to provide FIFRA SAP the time necessary to consider and review 
the written comments. FIFRA SAP may not be able to fully consider 
written comments submitted after September 28, 2017.
    2. Oral comments. The Agency encourages each individual or group 
wishing to make brief oral comments to FIFRA SAP to submit their 
request to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or 
before November 7, 2017, in order to be included on the meeting agenda. 
Requests to present oral comments will be accepted until November 7, 
2017 and, to the extent that time permits, the Chair of FIFRA SAP may 
permit the presentation of oral comments at the meeting by interested 
persons who have not previously requested time. Oral comments before 
FIFRA SAP are limited to approximately 5 minutes unless arrangements 
have been made prior to November 7, 2017. The request should identify 
the name of the individual making the presentation, the organization 
(if any) the individual will represent, and any requirements for 
audiovisual equipment. In addition, each speaker should bring 15 copies 
of his or her oral remarks and presentation slides (if required) for 
distribution to FIFRA SAP at the meeting by the DFO.
    3. Seating at the meeting. Seating at the meeting will be open and 
on a first-come basis.
    4. Request for nominations to serve as ad hoc expert members of 
FIFRA SAP for this meeting. As part of a broader process for developing 
a pool of candidates, both U.S. citizens and permanent residents who 
can demonstrate that they are actively seeking U.S. citizenship will be 
considered. For each meeting, FIFRA SAP staff routinely solicits from 
the public nominations of prospective expert candidates for service as 
ad hoc members of FIFRA SAP. Any interested person or organization may 
nominate qualified individuals to be considered as prospective 
candidates for a specific meeting. Individuals nominated for this 
meeting should have expertise in one or more of the following areas: 
Toxicology, physiology, biochemistry, endocrinology (clinical and 
research), epidemiology, with an emphasis on androgens, 
steroidogenesis, thyroid--particularly ways these endocrine systems can 
be disrupted and the means to detect disruption. Expertise in the 
development of computational models, high-throughput assays, as well as 
biostatistics and performance-based validation, are also desired. 
Nominees should be scientists who have sufficient professional 
qualifications, including training and experience, to be capable of 
providing expert comments on the scientific issues for this meeting. 
Nominees should be identified by name, occupation, position, address, 
email address, and telephone number. Nominations should be provided to 
the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before July 
21, 2017. The Agency will consider all nominations of prospective 
candidates for this meeting that are received on or before that date. 
However, final selection of ad hoc members for this meeting is a 
discretionary function of the Agency.
    The selection of scientists to serve on FIFRA SAP is based on the 
function of the Panel and the expertise needed to address the Agency's 
charge to the Panel. No interested scientists shall be ineligible to 
serve by reason of their membership on any other advisory committee to 
a Federal department or agency or their employment by a Federal 
department or agency, except EPA. Other factors considered during the 
selection process include availability of the potential Panel member to 
fully participate in the Panel's review, absence of any conflicts of 
interest or appearance of lack of impartiality, independence with 
respect to the matters under review, and lack of bias. Although 
financial conflicts of interest, the appearance of lack of 
impartiality, lack of independence, and bias may result in 
disqualification, the absence of such concerns does not assure that a 
candidate will be selected to serve on FIFRA SAP. Numerous qualified 
candidates are identified for each Panel. Therefore, selection 
decisions involve carefully weighing a number of factors including the 
candidates' areas of expertise and professional qualifications and 
achieving an overall balance of different scientific perspectives on 
the Panel. In order to have the collective breadth of experience needed 
to address the Agency's peer review charge for this meeting, the Agency 
anticipates selecting approximately 10 ad hoc scientists.
    FIFRA SAP members are subject to the provisions of 5 CFR part 
2634--Executive Branch Financial Disclosure, Qualified Trusts, and 
Certificates of Divestiture, as supplemented by EPA in 5 CFR part 6401. 
In anticipation of this requirement, prospective candidates for service 
on FIFRA SAP will be asked to submit confidential financial information 
which shall fully disclose, among other financial interests, the 
candidate's employment, stocks and bonds, and where applicable, sources 
of research support. EPA will evaluate the candidate's financial 
disclosure form to assess whether there are financial conflicts of 
interest, appearance of a lack of impartiality, or any prior 
involvement with the development of the documents under consideration 
(including previous scientific peer review) before the candidate is 
considered further for service on FIFRA SAP. Those who are selected 
from the pool of prospective candidates will be asked to attend the 
public meetings and to participate in the discussion of key issues and 
assumptions at these meetings. In addition, they will be asked

[[Page 26099]]

to review and to help finalize the meeting minutes. The list of FIFRA 
SAP members participating at this meeting will be posted on the FIFRA 
SAP Web site at https://www.epa.gov/sap or may be obtained from the OPP 
Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.

II. Background

A. Purpose of FIFRA SAP

    FIFRA SAP serves as the primary scientific peer review mechanism of 
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) and is 
structured to provide scientific advice, information and 
recommendations to the EPA Administrator on pesticides and pesticide-
related issues as to the impact of regulatory actions on health and the 
environment. FIFRA SAP is a Federal advisory committee established in 
1975 under FIFRA that operates in accordance with requirements of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix). FIFRA SAP is 
composed of a permanent panel consisting of seven members who are 
appointed by the EPA Administrator from nominees provided by the 
National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. The 
FIFRA SAP is assisted in their reviews by ad hoc participation from the 
Science Review Board (SRB). As a scientific peer review mechanism, 
FIFRA SAP provides comments, evaluations, and recommendations to 
improve the effectiveness and quality of analyses made by Agency 
scientists.

B. Public Meeting

    The United States EPA's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program uses 
appropriate validated test systems and other scientifically-relevant 
information to screen and test for endocrine disrupting chemicals. 
Since the issuance of the Federal Register Notice (entitled, ``Use of 
High Throughput Assays and Computational Tools; Endocrine Disruptor 
Screening Program; Notice of Availability and Opportunity for 
Comment'') on June 19, 2015 (FRL-9928-69), EPA has continued the 
development of high throughput assays and computational tools for both 
the detection of the potential to disrupt the endocrine system, as well 
as to estimate levels of exposure. The focus of this meeting is the 
SAP's review and comment on the Agency's proposed high-throughput 
computational model of androgen receptor pathway activity as an 
alternative to the current Tier 1 androgen receptor assay (OCSPP 
890.1150: Androgen Receptor Binding Rat Prostate Cytosol). 
Additionally, the SAP will assess the Agency's progress in the 
development of a high-throughput model of steroidogenesis to be used as 
an alternative to the current Tier 1 steroidogenesis assay (OCSPP 
890.1550: Steroidogenesis Human Cell Line--H295R); and proposed adverse 
outcome pathway-based framework for screening chemicals for potential 
thyroid disruption. The use of these methods will accelerate the pace 
of screening, reduce animal testing, and significantly decrease costs 
associated with screening.

C. FIFRA SAP Documents and Meeting Minutes

    EPA's background paper, charge/questions to FIFRA SAP, and related 
supporting materials will be available on or before August 14, 2017. In 
addition, a list of candidates under consideration as prospective ad 
hoc panelists for this meeting will be available for public comment by 
August 22, 2017 (see link for listing of nominees to appear on August 
4, 2017 at: https://www.epa.gov/sap). Comments should be provided to 
the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before 
September 6, 2017). Your comments will be placed in the public docket 
by the DFO. You may obtain electronic copies of most meeting documents, 
including FIFRA SAP composition (i.e., members and ad hoc members for 
this meeting) and the meeting agenda, at http://www.regulations.gov and 
the FIFRA SAP Web site at https://www.epa.gov/sap.
    FIFRA SAP will prepare meeting minutes summarizing its 
recommendations to the Agency approximately 90 days after the meeting. 
The meeting minutes will be posted on the FIFRA SAP Web site or may be 
obtained from the OPP Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et. seq.; 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.

    Dated: May 26, 2017.
Stanley Barone, Jr.,
Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017-11694 Filed 6-5-17; 8:45 am]
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