[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27634-27635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09873]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2020-0682; FRL-9826-01-ORD]


Notice of Public Comment Period on the Pool of Candidate Peer 
Reviewers for the Biofuels and the Environment: Third Triennial Report 
to Congress

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 
15-day public comment period on the pool of twenty (20) candidates for 
the external peer review of the Biofuels and the Environment: Third 
Triennial Report to Congress (RtC3). The peer review will be conducted 
under the framework of EPA's Scientific Integrity Policy (https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2014-02/documents/scientific_integrity_policy_2012.pdf) and follow procedures established 
in EPA's Peer Review Handbook 4th Edition, 2015 (EPA/100/B-15/001). 
After consideration of public comments on the candidate pool, EPA's 
contractor, ERG, will select from this pool the final list of up to 
nine (9) peer reviewers, ensuring their combined expertise best spans 
the following disciplines: Economics, engineering, agronomics, land use 
change, remote sensing, air quality, biogeochemistry, water quality, 
hydrology, conservation biology, limnology, and ecology. This Federal 
Register notice (FRN) follows a previous FRN seeking nominations for 
the peer review panel published on February 1, 2022.

DATES: The 15-day public comment period on the list of proposed peer 
review candidates begins May 9, 2022 and ends May 24, 2022. Comments 
must be received on or before May 24, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please follow the instructions as provided in the section of 
this notice entitled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the process for 
forming the peer review panel should be directed to EPA's contractor, 
ERG, by email to [email protected] (subject line: RtC3 Peer Review). 
For information on the period of submission, contact the ORD Docket at 
the EPA Headquarters Docket Center; phone: 202-566-1752; fax: 202-566-
9744; or email: [email protected]. For technical information, contact 
Christopher Clark; phone: 202-564-4183; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Document

    In 2007, Congress enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act 
(EISA) with the stated goals of ``mov[ing] the United States toward 
greater energy independence and security [and] to increase the 
production of clean renewable fuels.'' In accordance with these goals, 
EISA revised the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program, which was 
created under the 2005 Energy Policy Act and is administered by the 
EPA, to increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be blended 
into transportation fuel to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022. 
Section 204 of EISA directs the EPA, in consultation with the U.S. 
Departments of Agriculture and Energy, to assess and report triennially 
to Congress on the environmental and resource conservation impacts of 
the RFS Program.
    The first report to Congress (RtC1) was completed in 2011 and 
provided an assessment of the environmental and resource conservation 
impacts associated with increased biofuel production and use (EPA/600/
R-10/183F). The overarching conclusions of this first report were: (1) 
The environmental impacts of increased biofuel production and use were 
likely negative but limited in impact; (2) there was a potential for 
both positive and negative impacts in the future; and (3) EISA goals 
for biofuels production could be achieved with minimal environmental 
impacts if best practices were used and if technologies advanced to 
facilitate the use of second-generation biofuel feedstocks (corn 
stover, perennial grasses, woody biomass, algae, and waste).
    The second report to Congress (RtC2) was completed in 2018 and 
reaffirmed the overarching conclusions of the RtC1 (EPA/600/R-18/195). 
The RtC2 noted that the biofuel production and use conditions that led 
to the conclusions of the RtC1 had not materially changed, and that the 
production of biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks anticipated by both 
the EISA and the RtC1 had not materialized. Noting observed increases 
in acreage for corn and soybean production in the period prior to and 
following implementation of the RFS2 Program, the RtC2 concluded that 
the environmental and resource conservation impacts associated with 
land use change were likely due, at least in part, to the RFS Program 
and associated production of biofuel feedstocks but that further 
research was needed.

[[Page 27635]]

    This RtC3 builds on the previous two reports and provides an update 
on the impacts to date of the RFS Program on the environment. This 
report assesses air, water, and soil quality; ecosystem health and 
biodiversity; and other effects. This third report also includes new 
analyses not previously included in the first and second reports.

II. Information About This Peer Review

    EPA's contractor, ERG, is considering a list of candidates from 
which to select the independent, external, peer review panel for the 
RtC3. On February 1, 2022, EPA announced through an FRN (87 FR 5479; 
FRL-9518-01-ORD) that it was seeking nominations for the peer review 
panel. After considering nominations submitted by the public in 
response to that FRN (FRL-9518-01-ORD), ERG has identified a pool of 
twenty (20) candidates whose combined expertise spans the following 
disciplines: Economics, engineering, agronomics, land use change, 
remote sensing, air quality, biogeochemistry, water quality, hydrology, 
conservation biology, limnology, and ecology. The List of Candidates 
(LoC) document has been posted to the docket at https://www.regulations.gov (EPA-HQ-ORD-2020-0682) and is included below. After 
review and consideration of public comments on the candidates submitted 
in response to this FRN, ERG will select up to nine (9) peer reviewers 
from this pool in a manner consistent with EPA's Peer Review Handbook 
4th Edition, 2015 (EPA/100/B-15/001) based on the following factors: 
(1) Demonstrated expertise in the areas listed above through relevant 
peer-reviewed publications; (2) professional accomplishments and 
recognition by professional societies; (3) demonstrated ability to work 
constructively and effectively in a committee setting; (4) absence of 
conflicts of interest; (5) no appearance of a lack of impartiality; (6) 
willingness to commit adequate time for a thorough review of the draft 
report, including preparation of individual written comments that will 
be made publicly available; and (7) availability to participate 
virtually in a public two-day or three-day peer review meeting and to 
provide subsequent revised individual comments. ERG will independently 
conduct a conflict of interest (COI) screening of candidates to ensure 
that the selected experts have no COI in conducting this review. EPA 
will announce the final peer review panel, peer review meeting 
information, and public comment period on the RtC3 External Review 
Draft in a subsequent FRN. Comments on the peer review candidates must 
be submitted to the docket by May 24, 2022.

1. Jacob N. Barney, Virginia Tech
2. Steven T. Berry, Yale University
3. Sarah C. Davis, Ohio University
4. Bernard A. Engel, Purdue University
5. Jason D. Hill, University of Minnesota
6. S. Kent Hoekman, Desert Research Institute
7. Atul K. Jain, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
8. Stephen R. Kaffka, University of California, Davis
9. Mary Kombolias, Agrafa Solutions LLC
10. Lyubov A. Kurkalova, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical 
State University
11. Tyler J. Lark, University of Wisconsin-Madison
12. Ruopi Li, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
13. Chris Malins, Cerulogy Consulting, UK
14. Nathan Parker, Arizona State University
15. John M. Reilly, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
16. Timothy D. Searchinger, Princeton University
17. Aaron Smith, University of California, Davis
18. Yang Song, University of Arizona
19. Farzad Taheripour, Purdue University
20. Bin Yang, Washington State University, Tri-Cities

III. How To Submit Technical Comments to the Docket at 
www.regulations.gov

    We encourage the public to submit comments to Docket ID No. [EPA-
HQ-ORD-2020-0682] via web at https://www.regulations.gov/ or via email 
at [email protected], as there may be a delay in processing mail and 
faxes. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received at the EPA Docket 
Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding Federal Holidays. For further information on EPA Docket 
Center services and the current status, please visit us online at 
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. [EPA-HQ-ORD-
2020-0682]. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the 
specified comment period. It is EPA's policy to include all materials 
it receives in the public docket without change and to make the 
materials available online at www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided, unless materials include information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit 
information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through 
www.regulations.gov or email. The www.regulations.gov website is an 
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an email directly to EPA without going 
through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically 
captured and included as part of the materials that are placed in the 
public docket and made available on the internet. If you submit 
electronic materials, EPA recommends that you include your name and 
other contact information in the body of your materials and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your materials due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider the materials you submit. Electronic files 
should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and 
be free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about 
EPA's public docket visit EPA's Docket Center homepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: Documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials, 
such as copyrighted material, are publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the ORD Docket in EPA's 
Headquarters Docket Center.

    Dated: May 3, 2022.
Wayne Cascio,
Director, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Office 
of Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 2022-09873 Filed 5-6-22; 8:45 am]
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