[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 18 (Friday, January 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4319-4320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1823]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9623-6]
Notification of Two Public Teleconferences of the Science
Advisory Board Ecological Processes and Effects Committee
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) Science
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two public teleconferences
of the SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee (EPEC). The SAB
EPEC will provide advice on the EPA Risk Assessment Forum (RAF)
document, ``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-Making at
EPA, 2011 RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan (August, 11, 2011).''
DATES: The SAB Ecological Processes and Effects Committee will conduct
public teleconferences on February 22, 2012 and February 23, 2012. The
teleconferences will begin at 12:00 noon and end at 4 p.m. (Eastern
Time) on each day.
ADDRESSES: The public teleconferences will be conducted by telephone
only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding the public teleconferences may contact
Dr. Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff
Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2155 or via email at
armitage.thomas@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 peer review, advice, consultation
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. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy,
notice is hereby given that the SAB EPEC, augmented with other experts,
will hold two public teleconferences to provide advice through the
chartered SAB on the EPA Risk Assessment Forum (RAF) document,
``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-Making at EPA, 2011
RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan (August, 11, 2011).'' The SAB
Committee will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate
SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
In response to recommendations in a 2007 SAB Report, ``Advice to
EPA on Advancing the Science and Application of Ecological Risk
Assessment in Environmental Decision-Making'' (EPA-SAB-08-002), the EPA
Risk Assessment Forum in the Office of the Science Advisor held an EPA
ecological assessment colloquium and developed an action plan titled,
``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-Making at EPA, 2011
RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan (August, 11, 2011).'' The action
plan proposes initiatives to improve the quality, scope, and
application of the EPA's ecological assessments. Initiatives outlined
in the action plan address high priority recommendations in the EPA
colloquium report, ``Integrating Ecological Assessment and Decision-
Making at EPA: A Path Forward'' (EPA/100/R-10/004). EPA's Office of the
Science Advisor has requested that the SAB Ecological Processes and
Effects Committee review the Agency's ecological assessment action plan
and related background documents, and provide advice on the technical
merit and implementation of proposed initiatives. The SAB EPEC will be
augmented with experts who participated in the SAB 2007 review.
Availability of the review materials: The agenda and material in
support of this meeting will be available on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. For technical questions and information concerning
EPA's review document, ``Integrating Ecological Assessment and
Decision-Making at EPA, 2011 RAF Ecological Assessment Action Plan
(August, 11, 2011),'' please contact Mr. Lawrence Martin of EPA's Risk
Assessment Forum by phone (202) 564-6497 or via email at
martin.lawrence@epa.gov.
Procedures for Providing Public Input: Public comment for
consideration by EPA's federal advisory committees and panels has a
different purpose from public comment provided to EPA program offices.
Therefore, the process for submitting comments to a federal advisory
committee is different from the process used to submit comments to an
EPA program office. Federal advisory committees and panels, including
scientific advisory committees, provide independent advice to EPA.
Members of the public can submit relevant comments pertaining to EPA's
charge, meeting materials and/or the group conducting the activity.
Input from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if it
consists of comments that provide specific scientific or technical
information or analysis for the SAB Committee to consider or if it
relates to the clarity or accuracy of the technical information.
Members of the public wishing to provide comment on the February 22,
2012 public teleconference should contact the Designated Federal
Officer for the relevant advisory committee directly. Oral Statements:
In general, individuals or groups requesting an oral presentation will
be limited to five minutes per speaker. Interested parties should
contact Dr. Thomas Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via email), at
the contact information noted above, by February 15, 2012 to be placed
on the list of public speakers for February 22, 2012. Written
Statements: Written statements should be received in the SAB Staff
Office by February 15, 2012 so that the information may be made
available to the SAB Committee for their consideration. Written
statements should be supplied to the DFO in electronic format via email
(acceptable file formats: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS
PowerPoint, or Rich Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format). It
is the SAB Staff Office general policy to post written comments on the
Web page for the advisory meeting or teleconference.
[[Page 4320]]
Submitters are requested to provide an unsigned version of each
document because the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents with
signatures on its Web sites. Members of the public should be aware that
their personal contact information, if included in any written
comments, may be posted to the SAB Web site. Copyrighted material will
not be posted without explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Accessibility: For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Thomas Armitage at
the phone number or email address noted above, preferably at least ten
days prior to the teleconference, to give EPA as much time as possible
to process your request.
Dated: January 20, 2012.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2012-1823 Filed 1-26-12; 8:45 am]
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