EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of Experts for the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Lead Review Panel

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing the formation of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) Lead Review Panel. The SAB Staff Office is soliciting public nominations for this Panel.

DATES:

Nominations should be submitted by November 18, 2009 per instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Any member of the public wishing further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9878; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or via e-mail at yeow.aaron@epa.gov. General information concerning the CASAC or the EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) was established under section 109(d)(2) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) (42 U.S.C. 7409) as an independent scientific advisory committee. CASAC provides advice, information and recommendations on the scientific and technical aspects of air quality criteria and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under sections 108 and 109 of the Act. The CASAC is a Federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App.

Section 109(d)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires that EPA periodically review and revise, as appropriate, the air quality criteria and the NAAQS for the six “criteria” air pollutants, including lead. With the release of the final rule for the Lead NAAQS on October 15, 2008 and its subsequent publication in the Federal Register (73 FR 66964) on November 12, 2008, the Agency has completed its most recent review of the NAAQS for lead. EPA formed the CASAC Lead Review Panel that supported EPA's 2005-2008 Lead NAAQS review in February 2006. Information about EPA's 2005-2008 Lead NAAQS Review and the CASAC Lead Review Panel's advice can be found on the CASAC Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebProjectsbyTopicCASAC!OpenView.

This Federal Register notice seeks nominations for subject matter experts to serve on a new CASAC Lead Review Panel for the next review cycle of the Lead NAAQS that will begin in fiscal year (FY) 2010. The Panel will be charged with reviewing EPA's technical and policy assessments that support the Agency's review of the NAAQS for lead, including drafts of the Integrated Review Plan, Integrated Science Assessment, Risk/Exposure Assessment, Policy Assessment, and Rulemaking. The CASAC Lead Review Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.

Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is requesting nominations of nationally recognized experts with expertise in one or more of the following areas, particularly with respect to lead: Atmospheric sciences; fate and transport; exposure assessment; toxicology; biokinetic modeling; epidemiology; risk assessment; biostatistics; ecology; and air quality.

Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for possible service on the CASAC Lead Review Panel in the areas of expertise described above. Nominations should be submitted in electronic format (which is preferred over hard copy) following the instructions for “Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees Being Formed” provided on the SAB Web site. The instructions can be accessed through the “Nomination of Experts” link on the blue navigational bar on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. To receive full consideration, nominations should include all of the information requested.

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 curriculum vita; sources of recent grants and/or contracts; 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 Web site, should contact Mr. Aaron Yeow, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than November 18, 2009. EPA values and welcomes diversity. In an effort to obtain nominations of diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations of women and men of all racial and ethnic groups.

The EPA SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of nominations. The names and biosketches of qualified nominees identified by respondents to the Federal Register notice and additional experts identified by the SAB Staff will be posted on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this “Short List” of candidates will be accepted for 21 calendar 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 subcommittee or 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 to adequately address the charge. In establishing the CASAC Lead Review Panel, the SAB Staff Office will consider public comments on the “Short 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 lack of impartiality; and (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and advisory panels; and, for the Panel as a whole, (f) diversity of, and balance among scientific expertise and viewpoints.

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 Special Government Employees Serving on Federal Advisory Committees at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency” (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential form allows Government officials to determine whether there is a statutory conflict between that person's public responsibilities (which includes membership on an EPA Federal advisory committee) and private interests and activities, or the appearance of a lack of impartiality, as defined by Federal regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded from the following URL address http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf.

The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects 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 Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.