[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 159 (Monday, August 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50020-50022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17903]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0135; FRL-10013-62]
TSCA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals; Request for
Nominations; Extension of Nomination and Public Comment Periods
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice; extension of nomination and public comment periods.
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SUMMARY: On March 20, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
invited the public to nominate scientific experts from a diverse range
of disciplines to be considered for appointment to the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA), Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC). On
April 15, 2020, a federal district court vacated the grants policy
articulated in EPA's 2017 federal advisory committee membership
directive. In light of that intervening decision, EPA is extending the
nomination and public comment periods to receive additional nominees
and input on prospective candidates for the SACC. Please note that all
prior nominations and comments will be considered by EPA and do not
need to be resubmitted.
DATES:
Nominations: To be considered for appointment to the SACC
nominations must be received on or before September 1, 2020. Late
nominations will not be considered.
Comments: Public comments on prospective candidates for membership
on the SACC must be received within 30 days of EPA posting of an
updated List of Candidates. The availability of the list and the due
date for public comments will be announced through the Office of
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP)'s listservs.
ADDRESSES:
Nominations: Submit your nominations, identified by docket
identification (ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0135, by email to
[email protected].
Comments: Submit your comments, identified by docket identification
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0135, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://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.
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: Steven M. Knott, MS, Designated
Federal Officer (DFO), Office of Science Coordination and Policy
(7201M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-0103; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
EPA is extending the nomination and public comment periods to
receive additional nominees and input on prospective candidates to be
considered for appointment to the SACC. The purpose of the SACC is to
provide independent advice and expert
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consultation, at the request of the EPA Administrator, with respect to
the scientific and technical aspects of issues relating to
implementation of TSCA. EPA anticipates appointing multiple SACC
members over the next year. Sources in addition to this solicitation
may be utilized to solicit nominations and identify candidates. Current
members of the SACC are eligible for reappointment during this period.
Therefore, the appointments completed over the next year may include a
mix of newly appointed and reappointed members. As additional
background, the biographies of current SACC members are available on
the TSCA SACC website at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review/members-science-advisory-committee-chemicals.
EPA previously solicited nominations for the SACC in the Federal
Register of March 20, 2020 (85 FR 16095; FRL-10006-50), requesting such
nominations be submitted such that they were received on or before
April 20, 2020. On April 15, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York (SDNY) vacated Section 1 of EPA's 2017
federal advisory committee membership directive (2017 Directive), which
announced ``a requirement that no member of an EPA federal advisory
committee be currently in receipt of EPA grants.'' As a result of the
vacatur, Section 1 is no longer in effect and EPA is following the
relevant policies as they existed before the 2017 Directive. However,
because EPA was still seeking nominations when the SDNY vacated Section
1, EPA is reopening the SACC's membership solicitations and accepting
further nominations and public comments.
II. Background
The SACC is a federal advisory committee, established in December
2016 pursuant to TSCA section 2625(o), and chartered under the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. Appendix 2. EPA established the
SACC to provide independent advice and recommendations to the EPA
Administrator on the scientific basis for risk assessments,
methodologies, and approaches relating to implementation of TSCA. The
SACC members serve as Special Government Employees (SGEs) or Regular
Government Employees (RGEs). The SACC expects to meet approximately 4
to 6 times per year, or as needed and approved by the DFO. Meetings may
be virtual (e.g., held via telephone and webcast) or they may be held
in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.
In January 2017, the EPA Administrator appointed 18 members to the
SACC. After further consideration of the objectives and scope of SACC
activities, EPA decided to increase the membership of the SACC, and in
March 2018, completed additional appointments resulting in a total of
26 members. Subsequently, some SACC members either resigned or declined
to serve extended appointments. Currently, there are 19 SACC members,
all with membership terms that will expire over the next year.
To date, SACC members and ad hoc reviewers have provided their
expertise and knowledge on the first draft chemical risk evaluations.
These individuals have dedicated an incredible amount of time to
provide EPA with thoughtful and important recommendations for improving
the risk evaluations. At times, SACC members were working on multiple
chemical evaluations while also preparing for and participating in peer
review meetings and writing reports. EPA greatly appreciates the
dedication and commitment to service of the SACC members.
Given the foundation provided by the SACC recommendations from peer
reviews of the first 10 chemical risk evaluations, EPA is exploring
different ways to use the SACC's expertise for providing independent
advice and expert consultation. The Agency is considering requesting
that the SACC review significant, cross-cutting science issues on
exposure, risk, and modeling, similar to how the Agency uses the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), Scientific
Advisory Panel (SAP) for health and safety issues related to
pesticides. Therefore, EPA may not ask the SACC to peer review every
single draft risk evaluation for the next 20 high priority chemicals.
With this prospective change in the scope of SACC activities, EPA
anticipates appointing approximately 15 members to the SACC by March
2021.
III. Nominations
EPA values and welcomes diversity and encourages nominations of
women and men of all racial and ethnic groups. Any interested person or
organization may nominate qualified persons to be considered for
appointment to this advisory committee. Individuals also may self-
nominate. Nominations should be submitted in accordance with the
instructions under ADDRESSES.
Nominations should include candidates who have demonstrated high
levels of competence, knowledge, and expertise in scientific/technical
fields relevant to chemical safety and risk assessment. In particular,
the nominees should include representation of the following
disciplines, including, but not limited to: Human health and ecological
risk assessment, biostatistics, epidemiology, pediatrics,
physiologically-based pharmacokinetics (PBPK), toxicology and pathology
(including neurotoxicology, developmental/reproductive toxicology, and
carcinogenesis), and the relationship of chemical exposures to women,
children, and other potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations.
EPA requests that nominations include the following information:
Current contact information for the nominee (including the nominee's
name, organization, current business address, email address, and
daytime telephone number); the disciplinary and specific areas of
expertise of the nominee; the nominee's curriculum vitae; and a
biographical sketch of the nominee developed using the template
available at https://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review/science-advisory-committee-chemicals-basic-information. Persons having questions about
the nomination process should contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
The names and biographical sketches of all interested and available
candidates will be added to an updated List of Candidates that will be
posted in the docket at http://www.regulations.gov and a link to this
document will be provided on the SACC website at http://www.epa.gov/tsca-peer-review. Please note that no interested and available
candidates will be excluded from the list based on prescreening using
the selection criteria described in the next section. The availability
of the list will be announced through the Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention (OCSPP)'s listservs. You may subscribe to these
listservs at the following website: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAEPAOPPT/subscriber/new?topic_id=USAEPAOPPT_101. Public
comments on the List of Candidates will be accepted for 30 days from
the date the updated list is posted. Public comments should be
submitted in accordance with the instructions under ADDRESSES. The
public will be requested to provide relevant information or other
documentation on nominees that the EPA should consider in evaluating
candidates.
IV. Selection Criteria
In addition to scientific expertise, in selecting members, EPA will
consider the differing perspectives and the breadth of collective
experience needed to address EPA's charge to the SACC, as well as the
following:
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Background and experiences that would contribute to the
diversity of scientific viewpoints on the committee, including
professional experiences in government, labor, public health, public
interest, animal protection, industry, and other groups, as the EPA
Administrator determines to be advisable (e.g., geographical location;
social and cultural backgrounds; and professional affiliations);
Skills and experience working on committees and advisory
panels including demonstrated ability to work constructively and
effectively in a committee setting;
Absence of financial conflicts of interest or the
appearance of a loss of impartiality;
Willingness to commit adequate time for the thorough
review of materials provided to the committee; and
Availability to participate in committee meetings.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2625 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. Appendix 2 et seq.
Dated: August 10, 2020.
Hayley Hughes,
Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-17903 Filed 8-14-20; 8:45 am]
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