[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 212 (Thursday, November 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54923-54924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23904]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9985-71-OA]


Request for Nominations for a Science Advisory Board Panel To 
Review the EPA's Draft All-Ages Lead Model (AALM) Software and Model 
Documents

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific 
experts to form a Panel to review EPA's Draft All-Ages Lead Model 
(AALM) software and model documents. The AALM is a tool for rapidly 
evaluating the impact of possible sources of lead on blood and other 
tissue levels in humans from birth to 90 years of age. The AALM 
predicts lead concentration in body tissues and organs for a 
hypothetical individual, based on a simulated lifetime of lead 
exposure.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 23, 2018 per the 
instructions below.

[[Page 54924]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this notice and request for nominations 
may contact Ms. Iris Goodman, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA 
Science Advisory Board Staff Office (1400R), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
by telephone at (202) 564-2164 or at [email protected].
    General information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at the EPA 
SAB website 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 SAB 
AALM Review Panel will provide advice through the chartered SAB on 
scientific and technical issues related to the current version of the 
AALM model. The SAB and this Panel will comply with the provisions of 
FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    The U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) in 
collaboration with Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention 
(OCSPP) developed the AALM to provide a tool for rapidly evaluating the 
impact of possible sources of lead on blood and other tissue levels in 
humans from birth to 90 years of age. The AALM predicts lead 
concentration in body tissues and organs for a hypothetical individual, 
based on a simulated lifetime of lead exposure.
    The AALM is an outgrowth of the Integrated Exposure Uptake 
Biokinetic (IEUBK) Model for Lead in Children. The IEUBK model was 
designed to assess changes in blood lead of children over periods of no 
less than a month. The AALM was developed to cover childhood and adult 
lead exposures and allows users to assess the effects of intermittent 
lead exposures of a day or more as well as stable exposure conditions.
    EPA's ORD and OCSPP coordinated efforts to advance lead biokinetic 
modeling and produced the current version of the AALM software and 
documentation. The SAB Staff Office is forming an expert panel under 
the auspices of the Chartered SAB, the SAB AALM Review Panel, to 
evaluate the new version of the AALM.
    Technical Contact for EPA's draft report: For information 
concerning EPA's AALM software, and model documents, please contact Dr. 
James Brown by email at [email protected] or phone at 919-541-0765.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists 
with demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas: (1) 
Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic modeling, particularly with 
regard to lead, (2) physiological processes related to lead 
distribution, mechanisms of transport, accumulation, concentrations at 
the organ/tissue level, residence times (or other measures of potential 
impact), and elimination of absorbed lead, (3) processes of the human 
uptake and/or absorption of ingested lead, (4) lead exposure pathway 
assessment, and/or (5) environmental or occupational lead exposure 
analyses.
    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 SAB AALM 
Review Panel identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted 
in electronic format (preferred) following the instructions for 
``Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees Being 
Formed,'' provided on the SAB website (see the ``Nomination of 
Experts'' link under ``Current Activities'' at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
    To receive full consideration, 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 website, should 
contact the DFO, Iris Goodman, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
November 23, 2018. EPA values and welcomes diversity. All qualified 
candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of sex, race, disability, 
or ethnicity.
    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 Office, will be posted in a List of 
Candidates for the panel on the SAB website 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 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. In forming the expert panel, the SAB Staff Office will 
consider public comments on the Lists 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.

    Dated: October 9, 2018.
Khanna Johnston,
Deputy Director, Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2018-23904 Filed 10-31-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P