[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 126 (Tuesday, July 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35504-35505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14285]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-10025-58-OP]
Request for Nominations for the Science Advisory Board 2021
Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards Panel
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 the SAB 2021 Scientific and Technological Achievement
Awards (STAA) Panel.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by July 27, 2021 per the
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this notice and request for nominations
may contact Dr. Holly Stallworth, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA
Science Advisory Board Staff Office by telephone/voice mail (202) 564-
2073 or email 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
Staff Office is forming the 2021 STAA Panel, under the auspices of the
Chartered SAB. The 2021 STAA Panel will provide advice through the
chartered SAB. The SAB and the 2021 STAA Panel will comply with the
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural
policies.
The EPA established the STAA in 1980 to recognize Agency scientists
and engineers who published their work in the peer-reviewed literature.
The STAA Program is an agency-wide competition to promote and recognize
scientific and technological achievements by EPA employees. The STAA
program is administered and managed by the EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD). Each year the SAB has been asked to review the EPA's
STAA nominations and make recommendations to the Administrator for
monetary awards.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists
with demonstrated expertise in the following disciplines as they relate
to human health and the environment: Air pollution exposure; chemical
engineering; civil and environmental engineering; decision science;
ecology; environmental economics; groundwater and surface water
contaminant fate and transport; human health effects and risk
assessment; monitoring and measurement methods for air and water; risk
management; transport and fate of contaminants; water quality; and
water and wastewater treatment processes. The SAB Staff Office is
especially interested in scientists and engineers with expertise
described above who have knowledge and experience in air quality;
aquatic and ecological toxicology; chemical safety; community
environmental health; dosimetry and inhalation toxicology; drinking
water; ecological modeling; ecological risk assessment; ecosystem
restoration; ecosystem services; energy and the environment;
epidemiology; green chemistry; homeland security; human health
dosimetry; mechanisms of toxicity and carcinogenicity; metabolism;
statistics; sustainability; toxicokinetics; toxicology; waste and waste
management; and water re-use.
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 2021 STAA
Committee. Individuals may self-nominate. 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 be considered, nominations should include the information requested
below. EPA values and welcomes diversity. All qualified candidates are
encouraged to apply regardless of sex, race, disability or ethnicity.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than July
27, 2021.
The following information should be provided on the nomination
form: Contact information for the person making the nomination; contact
information for the nominee; and the disciplinary and specific areas of
expertise of the nominee. Nominees will be contacted by the SAB Staff
Office and will be asked to provide a recent curriculum vitae and a
narrative biographical summary that includes: Current position,
educational background; research activities; sources of research
funding for the last two years; 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 at
the contact information noted above. 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 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 committee includes
[[Page 35505]]
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 to adequately address the charge. In forming the 2021 STAA
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 committee 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 committee 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 is
required and 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
through the ``Ethics Requirements for Advisors'' link on the SAB
website at http://www.epa.gov/sab. This form should not be submitted as
part of a nomination.
The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects members
for subcommittees and review panels is described in the following
document: Overview of the Panel Formation Process at the Environmental
Protection Agency Science Advisory Board (EPA-SAB-EC-02-010), which is
posted on the SAB website at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
V. Khanna Johnston,
Deputy Director, Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2021-14285 Filed 7-2-21; 8:45 am]
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