Request for Nominations of Experts To Augment the Science Advisory Board Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee for the Review of the EPA's Draft Toxicological Review of Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific experts to augment the SAB Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) for the review of the EPA's draft Toxicological Review of Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) in Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS).

DATES:

Nominations should be submitted by April 8, 2016 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 the Designated Federal Officer for the review, as identified below. Nominators unable to submit nominations electronically as described below may contact the Designated Federal Officer for assistance. General information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at the EPA SAB Web site 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 Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) is a subcommittee of the SAB that provides advice through the chartered SAB regarding assessments of environmental chemicals available on EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). The SAB and the CAAC, augmented with additional experts, will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.

The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) in the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) develops toxicological reviews/assessments for various chemicals for IRIS. NCEA is developing a draft IRIS assessment for Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and has asked the SAB to peer review the draft document. The SAB Staff Office is seeking experts to augment the SAB CAAC for this peer review.

This draft will be a reassessment of RDX. NCEA's draft Toxicological Review of Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) currently posted to the IRIS database includes an oral reference dose (RfD) (posted in 1988), and a cancer descriptor and oral cancer slope factor (posted in 1990). Epidemiological data, experimental animal data, and other relevant data from studies of the noncancer and cancer effects of RDX are being evaluated in this reassessment. The reassessment is expected to include an updated RfD and oral cancer assessment.

Technical Contact for EPA's draft assessment: For information concerning the EPA draft assessment, please contact Dr. Samantha Jones, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 8601P, Washington, DC 20460, phone (703) 347-8580 or via email at jones.samantha@epa.gov.

Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists with demonstrated expertise and research to augment the CAAC for the peer review of the RDX toxicological review. The SAB Staff Office seeks experts in one or more of the following areas, with a particular focus on RDX: Neurotoxicity; kidney/urogenital expertise [preferably with some experience with the prostate]; reproductive/developmental toxicity; general toxicology; carcinogenicity; physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling including toxicokinetic considerations; and quantitative risk assessment expertise specifically related to dose-response modeling of animal data. Questions regarding this review should be directed to Dr. Suhair Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2057, or via email at shallal.suhair@epa.gov.

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 augmented CAAC panel identified in this notice.

Nominations should be submitted in electronic format (preferred over hard copy) using the online nomination form under the “Nomination of Experts” category at the bottom of the SAB home page at http://www.epa.gov/sab. To receive full consideration, nominations should include all of the information requested below.

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 resume or curriculum vitae; sources of recent grant and/or contract support; 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 Dr. Shallal as noted above. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than April 8, 2016. 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 this Federal Register notice, and additional experts identified by the SAB Staff, will be posted in a List of Candidates for the CAAC RDX panel on the SAB Web site at http:// www.epa.gov/sab (see links under “Public Input on Membership” at the bottom of the SAB home page). 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 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 forming this expert panel, the SAB Staff Office will consider public comments on the 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 loss of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel 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 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 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 from the following URL address: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.

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 Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebFiles/OverviewPanelForm/$File/ec02010.pdf.