[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 240 (Friday, December 14, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64341-64342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27155]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0605; FRL-9987-41]


Request for Comments on the Experts Nominated To Be Considered 
for Ad Hoc Participation and Possible Membership on the Toxic 
Substances Control Act (TSCA), Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals 
(SACC)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: EPA is requesting public review and welcomes comments on the 
scientific experts nominated to be considered for ad hoc participation 
and possible membership on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) 
Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC). Nominations that were 
received in response to a prior notice are being considered for ad hoc 
participation on an as needed basis for the TSCA SACC's peer reviews of 
the EPA's risk evaluations for chemical substances addressed under the 
TSCA. In addition, all nominees are under consideration for TSCA SACC 
membership to fulfill short term needs when a vacancy occurs on the 
chartered Committee.

DATES: Submit comments on or before January 14, 2019.

[[Page 64342]]


ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2018-0605, 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: Document Control Office (7407M), Office of Pollution 
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental Protection Agency, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Todd Peterson, DFO, Office of 
Science 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, 
however, be of interest to persons who are or may be required to 
conduct testing and risk evaluations of chemical substances under the 
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). 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. List of Nominees and Affiliations

    Brief biographical sketches of nominees to be considered for ad hoc 
participation and possible membership on the TSCA SACC are posted on 
the TSCA SACC website at http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review or may be 
obtained from the OPPT Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.

C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments regarding nominees 
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. Comments regarding nominees to be considered for ad hoc 
participation and possible membership on the TSCA SACC. As part of the 
broader process for developing a pool of candidates, the Office of 
Science Coordination and Policy (OSCP) staff solicited nominations from 
the public and stakeholder communities of prospective candidates for 
service as ad hoc reviewers and possibly members of TSCA SACC 
(``Request for Nominations of Experts To Consider for ad hoc 
Participation and Possible Membership on the Toxic Substances Control 
Act (TSCA), Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC)'', Federal 
Register 83:178 (September 13, 2018) p. 46487).
    The list of nominees to be considered for ad hoc participation and 
possible membership on the TSCA SACC will be posted on the TSCA SACC 
website at http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review or may be obtained from 
the OPPT Docket at http://www.regulations.gov. EPA requests that the 
public provide information on the nominees that will assist the Agency 
when selecting ad hoc participants and members for the TSCA SACC.
    All comments must be provided to the docket number EPA-HQ-OPPT-
2018-0605 on or before January 14, 2019. Please follow the instructions 
for electronic submission of comments to the docket available at http://www.regulations.gov. Questions should be directed to the DFO listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before January 14, 2019.

II. Background

    The Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) was established 
by EPA in 2016 under the authority of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical 
Safety for the 21st Century Act, Public Law 114-182, 140 Stat. 448 
(2016), and operates in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (FACA) of 1972. The SACC supports activities under the Toxic 
Substances Control Act (TSCA), 15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq., the Pollution 
Prevention Act (PPA), 42 U.S.C. 13101 et seq., and other applicable 
statutes. The SACC provides independent scientific advice and 
recommendations to the EPA on the scientific and technical aspects of 
risk assessments, methodologies, and pollution prevention measures and 
approaches for chemicals regulated under TSCA.
    The SACC is comprised of experts in: Toxicology; environmental risk 
assessment; exposure assessment; and related sciences (e.g., synthetic 
biology, pharmacology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, biochemistry, 
biostatistics, PBPK modeling, computational toxicology, epidemiology, 
environmental fate, and environmental engineering and sustainability). 
The SACC currently consists of 26 members. When needed, the committee 
will be assisted in their reviews by ad hoc reviewers with specific 
expertise in the topics under consideration.
    Through a prior Federal Register notice (``Request for Nominations 
of Experts to Consider for ad hoc Participation and Possible Membership 
on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Science Advisory Committee 
on Chemicals (SACC)'' (83 FR 46487, September 13, 2018), EPA sought 
nominations to create a pool of experts who can be available to the 
SACC to assist in reviews conducted by the Committee. EPA anticipates 
selecting experts from this pool, as needed, to assist the SACC in 
their review of EPA's risk evaluations for the chemical substances 
addressed under the TSCA: 1,4-Dioxane, Asbestos; Cyclic Aliphatic 
Bromide Cluster (HBCD); 1-Bromopropane; Perchloroethylene; 
Trichloroethylene; Carbon Tetrachloride; Methylene Chloride; and n-
Methylpyrolidone.
    In addition, EPA anticipates selecting from this pool of experts, 
as needed, to appoint SACC members to fulfill short term needs when a 
vacancy occurs on the Committee due to resignation or reasons other 
than expiration of a term.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2625 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. Appendix 2 et seq.

    Dated: December 7, 2018.
Stanley Barone, Jr.,
Acting Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-27155 Filed 12-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P