[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 30 (Monday, February 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8366-8367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3278]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL- 9266-6]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations; SAB
Environmental Justice Technical Panel
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is
requesting public nominations of experts to serve on the SAB
Environmental Justice Technical (EJT) Panel.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by March 7, 2011 per
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations
may contact Dr. Suhair Shallal, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2057; by fax at
(202) 565-2098 or via e-mail at shallal.suhair@epa.gov General
information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board can be found at
the EPA SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental
Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDAA),
codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent scientific and
technical advice to the Administrator. The SAB is a Federal Advisory
Committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5
U.S.C., App. 2. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
In July 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released
the Interim Guidance on Considering Environmental Justice During the
Development of an Action. This guidance provides agency analysts and
decision-makers with information on when to consider environmental
justice in rule making. As a complement to this document, EPA is
currently developing the Technical Guidance for Incorporating
Environmental Justice into Rulemaking Activities (Environmental Justice
Technical Guidance or EJTG). This document will provide Agency staff
with guidance on how to assess disproportionate environmental and
public health impacts of proposed rules and actions on minority, low
income and indigenous populations in a variety of regulatory contexts.
EPA is seeking a SAB review of the draft EJTG document to assess the
appropriateness and scientific soundness of the technical guidance.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized experts with
experience and
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expertise in the following disciplines, especially as they relate to
minorities, low-income, and other disproportionately affected
populations: environmental exposure, fate and transport, human health
risk assessment, toxicology, epidemiology, public health,
biostatistics, economics, social and behavioral sciences, and risk
communication. We are specifically seeking experts with expertise and
experience in assessing cumulative and comparative risk, public health
benefits and impacts, equity and disparity impacts, social impacts, and
regulatory impacts.
Availability of the review materials: The review materials will be
made available on the SAB Web site. For questions concerning the review
materials, please contact Kelly Maguire at (202) 566-2273 or
maguire.kelly@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 this expert ad hoc
Panel. 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 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. Suhair Shallal, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than March
7, 2011. 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 on
the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this
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
the SAB EJT 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 lack of impartiality; and (e) skills working in
committees, subcommittees and advisory panels; and, for the Panel as a
whole, (f) diversity of 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 at 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.
Dated: February 7, 2011.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2011-3278 Filed 2-11-11; 8:45 am]
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