The National Drinking Water Advisory Council: Request for Nominations

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Request for nominations.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites nominations of qualified candidates to be considered for a three-year appointment to the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC or Council). The 15-member Council was established by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to provide practical and independent advice, consultation and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the activities, functions, policies and regulations required by the SDWA. This notice solicits nominations to fill one new vacancy from December 2016 through December 2019. To maintain the representation required by statute, a nominee will be selected to represent state and local agencies concerned with water hygiene and public water supply.

DATES:

Nominations should be submitted on or before July 31, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Submit nominations to Michelle Schutz, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), The National Drinking Water Advisory Council, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Mail Code 4601-M, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. You may also email nominations with the subject line NDWACResume2016 to schutz.michelle@epa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Email your questions to Michelle Schutz or call her at (202) 564-7374.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

National Drinking Water Advisory Council: The Council was created by Congress on December 16, 1974, as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, Public Law 93-523, 42 U.S.C. 300j-5, and is operated in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2. The Council consists of 15 members, including the Chairperson, all of whom are appointed by the EPA's Administrator. Five members represent appropriate state and local agencies concerned with water hygiene and public water supply; five members represent private organizations or groups demonstrating an active interest in the field of water hygiene and public water supply—of which two such members shall be associated with small, rural public water systems; and five members represent the general public. The current list of members is available on the EPA Web site at http://water.epa.gov/drink/ndwac.

The Council will meet in person once each year and may hold a second meeting during the year either in person or by video/teleconferencing. These meetings generally occur in the spring and fall. Additionally, members may be asked to participate in ad hoc workgroups to develop policy recommendations, advice letters and reports to address specific program issues.

Member Nominations: Any interested person and/or organization may nominate qualified individuals for membership. EPA values and welcomes diversity. In an effort to obtain nominations of diverse candidates, the Agency encourages nominations of women and men of all racial and ethnic groups.

All nominations will be fully considered, but applicants need to be aware that EPA is currently only soliciting for the current vacancy in the category to represent state and local agencies concerned with water hygiene and public water supply, pursuant to the SDWA. Other criteria used to evaluate nominees will include:

• Demonstrated experience with drinking water issues at the national, state or local level;
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication and consensus-building skills;
• Willingness to commit time to the Council and demonstrated ability to work constructively on committees;
• Absence of financial conflicts of interest;
• Absence of appearance of a lack of impartiality; and
• Background and experience that would help members contribute to the diversity of perspectives on the Council, e.g., geographic, economic, social, cultural, educational backgrounds, professional affiliations and other considerations.

Nominations must include a resume, which provides the nominee's background, experience and educational qualifications, as well as a brief statement (one page or less) describing the nominee's interest in serving on the Council and addressing the other criteria previously described. Nominees are encouraged to provide any additional information that they think would be useful for consideration, such as: Availability to participate as a member of the Council; how the nominee's background, skills and experience would contribute to the diversity of the Council; and any concerns the nominee has regarding membership. Nominees should be identified by name, occupation, position, current business address, email and telephone number. Interested candidates may self-nominate. The DFO will acknowledge receipt of nominations.

Persons selected for membership will receive compensation for travel and a nominal daily compensation (if appropriate) while attending meetings. Additionally, the selected candidate will be designated as a Special Government Employee (SGE) and will be required to fill out the “Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Environmental Protection Agency Special Government Employees” (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential form provides information to EPA's ethics officials to determine whether there is a conflict between the SGE's public duties and their private interests, including an appearance of a loss of impartiality as defined by federal laws and regulations. The form may be viewed and downloaded through the “Ethics Requirements for Advisors” link on the EPA NDWAC Web site at https://www.epa.gov/ndwac/membership-national-drinking-water-advisory-council#tab-2.

Other sources, in addition to this Federal Register notice, may also be utilized in the solicitation of nominees. To help EPA in evaluating the effectiveness of its outreach efforts, please tell us how you learned of this opportunity.