[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 77 (Friday, April 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28771-28773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08444]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0118; FRL-11870-01-OCSPP]


Nominations to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP); Request for 
Comments

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is now 
accepting public comments on the experts the Agency is considering for 
membership on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act 
(FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP). This document identifies the 
individuals nominated. The Agency anticipates selecting from those 
nominees that are identified as interested and available to appoint up 
to four new SAP members by July 2024 due to expiring membership terms. 
Current members of the SAP are eligible for reappointment during this 
period. Therefore, the appointments anticipated to be completed by July 
may include a mix of newly appointed and reappointed members. Public 
comments on these nominations will be used to assist the Agency in 
selecting the new members for the FIFRA SAP.

DATES: Submit your comments on or before May 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket identification (ID) 
number EPA-HQ-OPP-2024-0118, online at 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 and visiting the 
docket, along with more information about dockets generally, is 
available at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Designated Federal Official (DFO) 
is Tamue L. Gibson; Mission Support Division (7602M), Office of Program 
Support, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, 
Environmental Protection Agency; telephone number: (202) 564-7642; 
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. It may be of 
particular interest to persons who are interested in the impact of 
pesticide regulatory actions on health and the environment and 
pesticide-related issues in general. The Agency has not attempted to 
describe all the specific entities that may be affected by this action. 
If you have any questions, 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 email or https://www.regulations.gov. If your comment contains 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. Information properly 
marked as CBI will not be disclosed except in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Commenting on EPA Dockets
    When preparing and submitting your comments, see Commenting on EPA 
Dockets at https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

C. What action is the Agency taking?

    This document solicits public comment on the experts recently

[[Page 28772]]

nominated to serve on the FIFRA SAP (see unit III.D.2.). The Agency 
anticipates selecting from these nominations to appoint up to four new 
SAP members by July 2024 due to expiring membership terms. Current 
members of the SAP are eligible for reappointment during this period. 
Therefore, the appointments anticipated to be completed by July may 
include a mix of newly appointed and reappointed members. Public 
comments on these recent nominations will be used to assist the Agency 
in selecting the new members for the FIFRA SAP.

D. What is the Agency's authority for taking this action?

    The FIFRA SAP is a Federal advisory committee, established in 1975 
under FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.), that operates in accordance with 
requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (5 U.S.C. 
10). In accordance with FACA requirements, a Charter for the FIFRA SAP, 
dated August 17, 2022, provides for open meetings with opportunities 
for public participation.

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 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). Members serve staggered terms of 
appointment, generally of three to six years duration. To augment the 
knowledge-base of the FIFRA SAP, 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 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.

III. 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. In accordance with FIFRA section 25(d)(1), the 
Administrator shall require nominees to the FIFRA SAP to furnish 
information concerning their professional qualifications, including 
educational background, employment history, and scientific 
publications. 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 EPA). FIFRA section 25(d) further 
stipulates that the Agency publish the name, address, and professional 
affiliation of the nominees in the Federal Register.

B. Applicability of Existing Regulations

    Consistent with the requirements of FIFRA section 25(d), FIFRA SAP 
members are subject to the provisions of the Standards of Ethical 
Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch at 5 CFR part 2635, 
conflict of interest statutes in title 18 of the United States Code, 
and related regulations. Before being formally appointed, each 
candidate is required to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure 
Form in which they must fully disclose, among other financial 
interests, the nominee's sources of research support, if any. EPA will 
evaluate the candidate's financial disclosure forms to assess the 
possibility of financial conflicts of interest, appearance of a loss of 
impartially, or any prior involvement with the development of documents 
likely to be under consideration by the FIFRA SAP (including previous 
scientific peer reviews) before the candidate is considered further.

C. Process of Obtaining Nominees

    In accordance with the provisions of FIFRA section 25(d), on 
November 21, 2023, EPA requested that the NIH and the NSF nominate 
scientists to fill vacancies occurring on the FIFRA SAP. The Agency 
requested nominations of nationally recognized experts in the fields of 
ecological and human exposure assessment, including environmental fate 
and transport of chemicals; mathematical biostatistics; new approach 
methodologies (NAMs), including in vitro to in vivo extrapolation 
(IVIVE); toxicology, including carcinogenicity and physiologically-
based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Experts with specific experience 
in risk assessment, dose-response analysis, cheminformatics, 
bioinformatics, and genomics are preferred.

D. Nominated Individuals

    NIH and NSF provided the Agency with a total of 39 nominees, of 
which, 12 are interested and available to actively participate in FIFRA 
SAP meetings (see unit III.D.2.), and 27 individuals are not available 
to be considered further for membership at this time (see unit 
III.D.1.). In addition to the list of nominees provided in this 
document, a compilation of brief biographical sketches, including 
information about the qualifications of the individual nominees, is 
available in the public docket identified under ADDRESSES.
1. Nominees That Are Not Available
    The following individuals are not available to be considered 
further for membership at this time (listed alphabetically):

    1. Lauren Aleksunes, PharmD, Ph.D., Rutgers University, 
Piscataway, New Jersey.
    2. Abby Alkon, RN, Ph.D., University of California-San 
Francisco, San Francisco, California.
    3. Thomas Arcury, Ph.D. (retired), Wake Forest School of 
Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
    4. Michelle Block, Ph.D., Indiana University, Indianapolis, 
Indiana.
    5. Kim Boekelheide, Ph.D., Brown University, Providence, Rhode 
Island.
    6. Tianxi Cai, ScD, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 
Massachusetts.
    7. Weihsueh Chu, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, College Station, 
Texas.
    8. Robert M. Corrigan, Ph.D., RMC Pest Management Consulting. 
Briarcliff Manor, New York.
    9. Elaine Faustman, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, 
Washington.
    10. John Glasser, Ph.D., Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
    11. Damian Helbing, Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
    12. Mevin Hooten, Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, Austin, 
Texas.
    13. Steve Hrudey, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of 
Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta.
    14. Nicole Kleinstreuer, Ph.D., National Institute of 
Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, North Carolina.
    15. Ed Kolodziej, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, 
Washington.
    16. Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Ph.D., Arizona State University, 
Tempe, Arizona.
    17. Teresa Leavens, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 
Raleigh, North Carolina.
    18. Zhoumeng Lin, Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainsville, 
Florida.
    19. Michael Plewa, Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana, 
Champaign, Illinois.

[[Page 28773]]

    20. Beate Ritz, Ph.D., MD, University of California- Los 
Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
    21. Ivan Rusyn, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, College Station, 
Texas.
    22. Martyn Smith, Ph.D., University of California-Berkely, 
Berkeley, California.
    23. Ana-Maria Staicu, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 
Raleigh, North Carolina.
    24. Michael L. Stein, Ph.D., Rutgers University, Piscataway, New 
Jersey.
    25. Robyn Tanguay, Ph.D., Oregon State University, Corvallis, 
Oregon.
    26. Katrina Waters, Ph.D., Oregon State University, Portland, 
Oregon.
    27. Forest White, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2. Nominees That Are Interested and Available
    The following individuals are interested and available experts that 
the Agency is considering for membership on the FIFRA SAP (listed 
alphabetically). Selected biographical data for each nominee is 
available in the docket identified under ADDRESSES and through the 
FIFRA SAP website at https://www.epa.gov/sap. The Agency anticipates 
selecting new members by July 2024 to fill upcoming vacancies occurring 
on the Panel.

    1. Antonio Banes, Ph.D., North Carolina Central University, 
Durham, North Carolina.
    2. Steven Belmain, Ph.D., University of Greenwich, Greenwich, 
London.
    3. Rebecca Fry, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel 
Hill, North Carolina.
    4. James J. Galligan, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tuscon, 
Arizona.
    5. Thomas Hartung, MD, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 
Baltimore, Maryland.
    6. Eunha Hoh, Ph.D., San Diego State University, San Diego, 
California.
    7. Lifang Hou, MD, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.
    8. Pamela Lein, Ph.D., University of California-Davis, Davis, 
California.
    9. Bo Li, Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 
Illinois.
    10. Michael Parsons, Ph.D., Fordham University, Bronx, New York.
    11. Irfan Rahma, Ph.D., University of Rochester Medical Center, 
Rochester, New York.
    12. Brian J. Reich, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 
Raleigh, North Carolina.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et. seq.;21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.; 5 U.S.C. 
10.

    Dated: April 16, 2024.
Michal Freedhoff,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution 
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2024-08444 Filed 4-18-24; 8:45 am]
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