[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3702-3704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01496]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0602; FRL-9972-27]
FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel; Nominations to the FIFRA
Scientific Advisory Panel; Request for Comments
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides the names, addresses, and professional
affiliations of persons recently nominated by the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to serve on
the Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) established under section 25(d) of
the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Brief
biographical sketches for the nominees are posted on the EPA website at
https://www.epa.gov/sap. The Panel was created on November 28, 1975,
and converted from a discretionary to a statutory Panel by amendment to
FIFRA, dated October 25, 1988. The Agency, at this time, anticipates
selecting four new members to serve on the panel as a result of
membership terms that will expire in 2018. Public comments on the
current nominations are invited, as these comments will be used to
assist the Agency in selecting the new chartered Panel members.
DATES: Comments identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0602,
must be received on or before February 26, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2017-0602, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not
electronically submit any information you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamue L. Gibson, M.S., DFO, Office of
Science Coordination and Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW,
[[Page 3703]]
Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-7642; 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,
however, 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. If you have any questions
regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity,
consult the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.
II. Background
Purpose of FIFRA SAP
The FIFRA SAP serves as a scientific peer review mechanism of EPA's
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) and is
structured to provide independent 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 2, FIFRA Statutory
Requirement). The FIFRA SAP is composed of a permanent panel consisting
of seven members who are appointed by the EPA Administrator from
nominees provided by the NIH and the NSF. FIFRA established a Science
Review Board (SRB) consisting of at least 60 scientists who are
available to FIFRA SAP on an ad hoc basis to assist in reviews
conducted by FIFRA SAP. 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.
Members of FIFRA SAP are scientists who have sufficient professional
qualifications, including training and experience, to provide expert
advice and recommendations to the Agency.
The Agency, at this time, anticipates selecting four new members to
serve on the panel as a result of membership terms that will expire in
2018. The Agency requested that NIH and NSF nominate experts for
selection from the fields of human health risk assessment, including
expertise in human exposure and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic
(PBPK) modeling, and expertise in toxicology and veterinary pathology;
specifically, carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental
toxicology, and neurotoxicity. The Agency also noted that experts with
specific experience in risk assessment and dose response analysis are
preferred.
Nominees should be well published and current in their fields of
expertise. FIFRA further stipulates that the Agency publish the name,
address and professional affiliation of the nominees in the Federal
Register.
III. Charter
A Charter for the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, dated October
17, 2016, was issued in accordance with the requirements of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, 86 Stat. 770 (5 U.S.C. Appl.
I).
A. Qualifications of Members
Members are scientists who have sufficient professional
qualifications, including training and experience, to provide expert
comments on the impact of pesticides on human health and the
environment. No persons shall be ineligible to serve on the Panel 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 the EPA). The Administrator appoints individuals to
serve on the Panel for staggered terms of up to 3 years. Panel members
are subject to the provisions of 5 CFR part 2635, Standards of Ethical
Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, which include rules
regarding conflicts of interest. Each nominee selected by the
Administrator, before being formally appointed, is required to submit a
confidential statement of employment and financial interest, which
shall fully disclose, among other financial interests, the nominee's
sources of research support, if any.
In accordance with section 25(d)(1) of FIFRA, the Administrator
shall require nominees to the Panel to furnish information concerning
their professional qualifications, including educational background,
employment history, and scientific publications.
B. Applicability of Existing Regulations
With respect to the requirements of section 25(d) of FIFRA that the
Administrator promulgate regulations regarding conflicts of interest,
the Charter provides that EPA's existing regulations applicable to
Special Government Employees, which include advisory committee members,
will apply to the members of the Scientific Advisory Panel. These
regulations appear in 5 CFR part 2635. In addition, the Charter
provides for open meetings with opportunities for public participation.
C. Process of Obtaining Nominees
In accordance with the provisions of section 25(d) of FIFRA, EPA on
April 17, 2017, requested that the NIH and the NSF nominate scientists
to fill vacancies occurring on the Panel. The Agency requested
nominations of experts in the fields of human health risk assessment,
including expertise in human exposure and physiologically-based
pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling, and expertise in toxicology and
veterinary pathology; specifically, carcinogenicity, reproductive and
developmental toxicology, and neurotoxicity. The Agency also noted that
experts with specific experience with risk assessment and dose response
analysis are preferred. NIH and NSF responded providing the Agency with
a total of 37 nominees. Copies of the responses, with the listed
nominees, are available in the public docket referenced in unit I.B.1.
of this notice. Of the 37 nominees, 17 are interested and available to
actively participate in SAP meetings (see Section IV. Nominees). One
nominee, Dr. David Jett of NIH, is currently serving as a member of the
FIFRA SAP and therefore is not listed. Of the current 37 nominees, the
following 19 individuals are not available:
1. John Balmes, M.D., University of California-Berkeley, San
Francisco, CA
2. David Bellinger, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
3. Nora Besansky, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
4. Kim Brouwer, Pharm.D., Ph.D., University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
5. David Crews, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
6. David Eaton, Ph.D., University of
[[Page 3704]]
Washington, Seattle, WA
7. Mary Beth Genter, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati College of
Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
8. Robyn Gilden, Ph.D., RN, University of Maryland School of
Nursing, Baltimore, MD
9. John Groopman, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
10. Ramesh Gupta, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.A.B.T., Murray State University,
Murray, KY
11. Bruce Hammock, Ph.D., University of California-Davis, Davis, CA
12. Paul Howard, Ph.D., (Retired), Food and Drug Administration,
Chardon, OH
13. Germaine Buck Louis, Ph.D. M.S., Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD
14. Melissa Perry, Sc.D., M.H.S., George Washington University,
Washington, DC
15. Lisa Peterson, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
16. Frank Raushel, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
17. Rick Relyea, Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
18. Justin Teeguarden, Ph.D., Pacific Northwest Laboratories,
Richland, WA
19. Sarah Woodley, Ph.D., Duquesne University, Pittsburg, PA
IV. Nominees
Following are the names, addresses, and professional affiliations
of current nominees being considered for membership on the FIFRA SAP.
The Agency anticipates selecting four individuals to fill vacancies
occurring in 2018. Brief biographical sketches for the nominees are
posted on the EPA website at https://www.epa.gov/sap.
1. Jonathan W. Boyd, Ph.D., West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
2. Robert E. Chapin, Ph.D., Pfizer Global Research and Development,
Groton, CT
3. Weihsueh A. Chiu, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, College Station,
TX
4. George B. Corcoran, Ph.D., Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
5. Nikolay M. Filipov, Ph.D., University of Georgia, Athens, GA
6. Paul M. Foster, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health, Durham, NC
7. John T. Greenamyre, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburg,
Pittsburg, PA
8. William C. Griffith, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, WA
9. William K. Karasov, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Madison, WI
10. Francisco J. Leyva, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.M., National Institutes of
Health, Rockville, MD
11. Michael A. Malfatti, Ph.D., Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory, Livermore, CA
12. Daniel K. Nomura, Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley,
Berkeley, CA
13. David Peden, Ph.D., University of North Carolina School of
Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
14. Beate R. Ritz, M.D., Ph.D., University of California-Los
Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
15. Christopher P. Weis, Ph.D., National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD
16. Clifford P. Weisel, Ph.D., Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
17. Raymond S.H. Yang, Ph.D., Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.; 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.
Dated: January 11, 2018.
Stanley Barone Jr.,
Acting Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-01496 Filed 1-25-18; 8:45 am]
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