[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 162 (Tuesday, August 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50505-50506]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20521]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL- 9717-1]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office Request for Nominations of
Experts for the SAB Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory 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 for technical experts to form an SAB ad
hoc panel to provide advice through the chartered SAB on EPA's research
related to hydraulic fracturing.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by September 11, 2012 per
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations
may contact Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB
Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2134; by fax at
(202) 565-2098 or via email at hanlon.edward@epa.gov. General
information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at the EPA SAB Web site
at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Any inquiry regarding EPA's planned research
efforts on the potential public health and environmental protection
issues that may be associated with hydraulic fracturing should be
directed to Ms. Cindy Roberts, EPA Office of Research and Development
(ORD), at roberts.cindy@epa.gov or (202) 564-1999. Media inquiries
regarding EPA's hydraulic fracturing research results should be
directed to Dayna Gibbons, EPA ORD, at gibbons.dayna@epa.gov or (202)
564-7983.
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, 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. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
Over the past few years, the public has expressed concern regarding
the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing. In
response, Congress urged EPA to study the potential impacts of
hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. In February 2011, EPA
published its Draft Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic
Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources. The SAB reviewed this report
and provided advice to the EPA Administrator (SAB Review of EPA's Draft
Hydraulic Fracturing Study Plan). EPA-SAB-11-012, available on the SAB
Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/
2BC3CD632FCC0E99852578E2006DF890/$File/EPA-SAB-11-012-unsigned.pdf).
EPA ORD is currently developing a ``Progress Report: Potential
Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources,'' expected
to be released in December 2012, which will describe the status of its
research on the potential environmental and human health implications
of hydraulic fracturing. EPA is seeking SAB advice on the status of the
research described in its Progress Report. EPA plans to use such advice
for the development of a report of results, estimated to be released in
2014, which will also be reviewed by the SAB. The SAB Staff Office is
establishing an ad hoc advisory panel to provide such advice and review
under the auspices of the SAB. In addition, this SAB Panel may also
provide advice on other technical documents and issues related to
hydraulic fracturing upon further request by EPA.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and
engineers having experience and expertise related to hydraulic
fracturing, including but not limited to the following disciplines or
areas of experience: Natural gas and petroleum engineering and geology;
natural gas and petroleum well drilling, completion, testing, and
closure; hydrology/hydrogeology; groundwater and surface water fate/
transport modeling; geochemistry and analytical chemistry;
environmental monitoring; conducting laboratory and/or field-based
research in hydraulic fracturing; human health effects and risk
assessment; civil and environmental engineering; chemical engineering;
drinking water and waste water treatment systems; water quality; and
statistics.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals in the areas
of expertise described above. Nominations should be submitted in
electronic format (preferred over hard copy) following the instructions
for ``Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees Being
Formed,'' http://www.epa.gov/sab provided on the SAB Web site. If you
wish to nominate yourself or another expert, please follow the
instructions that can be accessed through the ``Nomination of Experts''
link on the blue navigational bar at the SAB Web site http://www.epa.gov/sab. To http://www.epa.gov/ 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
[[Page 50506]]
expertise of the nominee; the nominee's resume or 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. The bio-
sketches and resume or curriculum vita of nominees identified by
respondents to this Federal Register notice, and additional experts
identified by the SAB Staff, will be made available to the public upon
request.
Persons having questions about the nomination procedures, or who
are unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web site, should
contact Mr. Edward Hanlon, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than
September 11, 2012. 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 bio-sketches 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 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 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 lack of
impartiality; (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and
advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel as a whole, 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 a
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.
Dated: August 10, 2012.
Thomas Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2012-20521 Filed 8-20-12; 8:45 am]
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