[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39833-39835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17150]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPP-2019-0448; FRL-9997-71]
Nominations to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act 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 to serve on the Scientific
Advisory Panel (SAP) established under section 25(d) of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Panel was
created on November 28, 1975, and made a permanent Panel by amendment
to FIFRA, dated October 25, 1988. The Agency, at this time, anticipates
selecting three new members to serve on the panel because of membership
terms that will expire during the next year. Public comments on the
current nominations are invited, as these comments will be used to
assist the Agency in selecting the new members for the chartered
Scientific Advisory Panel.
DATES: Comments identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2019-0448,
must be received on or before September 11, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2019-0448, 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: Steven Knott, M.S., Designated Federal
Officer (DFO), Office of Science Coordination and Policy (7201M),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington,
DC 20460-0001; telephone number: (202) 564-0103; 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. Given 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
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. The 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). 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
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation
(NSF). FIFRA established a Science Review Board (SRB) consisting of at
least 60 scientists who are available to the FIFRA SAP on an ad hoc
basis to assist in reviews conducted by the FIFRA SAP. As a scientific
peer review mechanism, the FIFRA SAP provides comments, evaluations,
and recommendations to improve the
[[Page 39834]]
effectiveness and quality of analyses made by Agency scientists.
Members of the 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 three new members
to serve on the panel because of membership terms that will expire
during the next year. The Agency requested that NIH and NSF nominate
experts for selection from the fields of ecological and human health
risk assessment with specific expertise in mathematical biostatistics,
ecotoxicology and environmental fate and transport of chemicals, and
neurotoxicity (including developmental neurotoxicity). The Agency also
noted that experts with specific experience in cheminformatics,
bioinformatics, and genomics are preferred. Nominees should be well
published and current in their fields of expertise.
III. Charter
A Charter for the FIFRA SAP, dated October 17, 2018, was issued in
accordance with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act,
Public Law 92-463, 86 Stat. 770 (5 U.S.C. Appendix). The Charter
provides for open meetings with opportunities for public participation.
IV. Nominees
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 FIFRA SAP
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 the Standards of Ethical
Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 Code of Federal
Regulations Part 2635, conflict of interest statutes in Title 18 of the
United States Code, and related regulations. 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 FIFRA SAP to furnish information
concerning their professional qualifications, including educational
background, employment history, and scientific publications. FIFRA
further stipulates that the Agency publish the name, address, and
professional affiliation of the nominees in the Federal Register.
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,
FIFRA SAP members are subject to the provisions of the Standards of
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 Code of
Federal Regulations Part 2635, conflict of interest statutes in Title
18 of the United States Code, and related regulations.
C. Process of Obtaining Nominees
In accordance with the provisions of section 25(d) of FIFRA, EPA,
on February 25, 2019, requested that the NIH and the NSF nominate
scientists to fill vacancies occurring on the FIFRA SAP. The Agency
requested nominations of experts in the fields of ecological and human
health risk assessment with specific expertise in mathematical
biostatistics, ecotoxicology and environmental fate and transport of
chemicals, and neurotoxicity (including developmental neurotoxicity).
The Agency also noted that experts with specific experience in
cheminformatics, bioinformatics, and genomics are preferred. NIH and
NSF responded, providing the Agency with a total of 35 nominees. Two
nominees, Dr. Dana Barr of Emory University and Dr. Marion Ehrich of
Virginia Tech, are recent members of the FIFRA SAP and, therefore, were
not considered further for membership at this time. Of the remaining 33
nominees, 15 are interested and available to actively participate in
FIFRA SAP meetings (see Section IV.D.). The following 18 individuals
are not available:
1. David Allison, Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
2. Asa Bradman, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley,
California.
3. Alex Buerkle, Ph.D., University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.
4. Atul Butte, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, San
Francisco, California.
5. Lucio Costa, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington.
6. Rebecca Doerge, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
7. Elaine Faustman, Ph.D.., University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington.
8. Jodi Flaws, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
Illinois.
9. Brandon Gaut, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine,
California.
10. Phillipe Grandjean, M.D., Harvard University, Boston,
Massachusetts.
11. Linda Lee, Ph.D., Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
12. Mary Kay O'Rourke, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona.
13. Virginia Rauh, Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, New York.
14. Rick Relyea, Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New
York.
15. Diane Rohlman, Ph.D., University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
16. Jason Rohr, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
Indiana.
17. Caroline Tanner, Ph.D., University of California, San
Francisco, California.
18. Cari Vanderpool, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign, Illinois.
D. Interested and Available Nominees
Following are the names, addresses, and professional affiliations
of current nominees being considered for membership on the FIFRA SAP.
Selected biographical data for each nominee is available in the public
docket at www.regulations.gov (ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2019-0448) and
through the FIFRA SAP website at https://www.epa.gov/sap. The Agency
anticipates selecting three individuals to fill vacancies occurring
during the next year.
1. Jeffrey Bloomquist, Ph.D.: Professor, Entomology and Nematology
Department, Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida,
Gainesville, Florida.
2. Maria Braga, D.D.S., Ph.D.: Professor, Department of Anatomy,
Physiology and Genetics, Uniformed Services University of the Health
Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
3. Joseph Braun, R.N., M.S.P.H., Ph.D.: Associate Professor,
Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
4. Celia Chen, Ph.D.: Director, Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund
Research Program and Research Professor, Department of Biological
Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
5. Susan Fisher, Ph.D.: Professor Emerita, Department of
Entomology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
6. Jean Harry, M.S., Ph.D.: Group Leader, Neurotoxicology
Laboratory, National Toxicology Program, National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
[[Page 39835]]
7. Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D.: Professor, Department of Integrative
Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California.
8. Lucille Lange, Ph.D.: Research Psychologist, US Army Medical
Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Aberdeen Proving Ground,
Maryland.
9. James Lauderdale, Ph.D.: Associate Professor, Department of
Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
10. Maureen Lichtveld, M.D., M.P.H.: Professor and Chair,
Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public
Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans,
Louisiana.
11. Lorenz Neuwirth, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor, Department of
Psychology and the Neuroscience Research Institute, State University of
New York (SUNY), Old Westbury, New York.
12. Edna Pereira, Ph.D.: Associate Professor, Department of
Epidemiology and Public Health and Director, Division of Translational
Toxicology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore,
Maryland.
13. Rebecca Smith, D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D.: Assistant Professor,
Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
14. John Swaddle, Ph.D.: Professor and Chair, Biology Department,
College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
15. Christopher Weis, Ph.D.: Toxicology Liaison, National
Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et. seq.; 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.
Dated: August 2, 2019.
Hayley Hughes,
Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-17150 Filed 8-9-19; 8:45 am]
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