[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 94 (Thursday, May 14, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28943-28944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10414]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-10009-82-OA]


Request for Nominations of Experts To Augment the EPA's Science 
Advisory Board Radiation Advisory Committee for the Review of the EPA's 
Draft Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual 
(MARSSIM) Revision 2

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office invites public nominations of 
technical experts to augment the SAB's Radiation Advisory Committee 
(RAC) to conduct a review on Revision 2 to the Multi-Agency Radiation 
Survey and Site Investigation Manual.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
June 4, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations 
may contact Dr. Diana Wong, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), by 
telephone at (202) 564-2049 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

[[Page 28944]]

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 Radiation Advisory Committee 
(RAC) is a subcommittee of the SAB that provides strategic advice 
through the chartered SAB on radiation protection, radiation science, 
and radiation science applications. The SAB and the RAC, augmented with 
additional experts, will comply with the provisions of FACA and all 
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    MARSSIM provides information on planning, conducting, evaluating, 
and documenting environmental radiological surveys of surface soil and 
building surfaces for demonstrating compliance with regulations. 
MARSSIM, when finalized as Revision 2, will update this multi-agency 
consensus document.
    MARSSIM was originally developed by the technical staffs of the 
four Federal agencies having authority for control of radioactive 
materials: DoD, DOE, EPA, and NRC (60 FR 12555; March 7, 1995). The 
four agencies issued Revision 1 to MARSSIM in August 2000, and 
additional edits to Revision 1 in June 2001. MARSSIM has not been 
updated since 2001; updates prior to 2001 primarily consisted of minor 
non-technical edits. Revision 2 updates the science, clarifies methods, 
and implements lessons learned from over 20 years of the document's use 
in industry.

Request for Nominations

    The SAB Staff Office is seeking nominations of nationally and 
internationally recognized scientists and engineers with demonstrated 
expertise and experience to augment the RAC for the peer review of 
MARSSIM, Revision 2. The SAB Staff Office is looking for experts in one 
or more of the following disciplinary areas: Environmental monitoring 
and sampling, geology, hydrogeology, measurement protocols and 
statistics. Expertise should include a focus on radionuclides.

Additional Information

    For questions concerning ``MARSSIM, Rev. 2 (2020) please contact 
Kathryn Snead of the U.S. EPA, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, by 
telephone at (202) 343-9228, or email at [email protected].

Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations

    Any interested person or organization may nominate qualified 
individuals with relevant experience for possible service on the SAB 
MARSSIM 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 Dr. Diana Wong as indicated above in this notice. Nominations 
should be submitted in time to arrive no later than June 4, 2020. 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, will be posted in a List of Candidates 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. The SAB Staff Office will consider public comments on the 
List 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; and (e) skills working in panels 
and advisory committees; and, (f) for the panel as a whole, diversity 
of expertise and scientific points of view.
    Candidates invited to serve will be asked to submit the 
``Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Special Government 
Employees Serving on Federal Advisory Committees at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency'' (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential 
form allows EPA to determine whether there is a statutory conflict 
between that person's public responsibilities as a Special Government 
Employee 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: May 11, 2020.
V. Khanna Johnston,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2020-10414 Filed 5-13-20; 8:45 am]
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