[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18293-18294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07239]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9908-96-OA]
Notification of Two Public Teleconferences of the Science
Advisory Board Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity
Report
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two public teleconferences of the
SAB Panel to discuss its draft advisory report concerning the EPA
document titled Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream
Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September,
2013 External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B).
DATES: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity
Report will conduct public teleconferences on April 28, 2014 and May 2,
2014. Each of the teleconferences will begin at 1:00 p.m. and end at
5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Location: The public teleconferences will be conducted by telephone
only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to
obtain information concerning the public teleconferences may contact
Dr. Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science
Advisory Board Staff Office (1400R), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; via
telephone at (202) 564-2155 or via email at armitage.thomas@epa.gov.
General information concerning the SAB as well as any updates
concerning the teleconferences announced in this notice may be found on
the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SAB was established pursuant to the
Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization
Act (ERDDAA), codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent
scientific and technical advice to the Administrator on the technical
basis for Agency positions and regulations. 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. Pursuant
to FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby given that the SAB Panel for
the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity Report will hold two
public teleconferences to discuss its draft advisory report concerning
the EPA document titled Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to
Downstream Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence
(September, 2013 External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B). This SAB
panel will provide advice to the Administrator through the chartered
SAB.
Background: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body
Connectivity Report previously held a face-to-face meeting on December
16-18, 2013 to conduct a peer review of the EPA document titled
Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters: A Review and
Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September, 2013 External Review
Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B) [Federal Register Notice dated September 24,
2013 (78 FR 58536-58537)]. Specifically, the Panel has been asked to
evaluate: the clarity and technical accuracy of the EPA document,
whether it includes the most relevant peer reviewed literature, whether
the literature has been correctly summarized, and whether the findings
and conclusions in the Report are supported by the available science.
The purpose of the upcoming teleconferences is for the SAB Panel to
discuss its draft advisory report. The two teleconferences will be
conducted as one complete meeting, beginning on April 28, 2014, and
continuing on May 2, 2014.
Availability of Meeting Materials: Teleconference agendas, the SAB
Panel's draft advisory report, and any other meeting materials will be
placed on the SAB Web at http://www.epa.gov/sab in advance of the
teleconferences. For technical questions and information concerning the
EPA document, Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream
Waters: A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence (September,
2013 External Review Draft, EPA/600/R-11/098B), please contact Dr.
Laurie Alexander, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office
of Research and Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.,
Mail Code 8623P, Washington, DC 20460, telephone (703) 347-8630 or via
email at alexander.laurie@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 comments for a federal advisory committee to consider
as it develops advice for EPA. Input from the public to the SAB will
have the most impact if it provides specific scientific or technical
information or analysis for SAB panels to consider or if it relates to
the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. Members of the
public wishing to provide oral statements to the SAB Panel should
contact the DFO directly. Oral Statements: In general, individuals or
groups requesting an oral presentation at a public teleconference will
be limited to three minutes. Interested parties should contact Dr.
Thomas Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via email) at the contact
information noted above by April 23,
[[Page 18294]]
2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers for April 28, 2014.
Written Statements: Members of the public wishing to provide written
comments may submit them to the EPA Docket electronically via
www.regulations.gov by email, by mail, or by hand delivery/courier.
Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the written
statements section of this notice. Written statements should be
received in the EPA Docket by April 23, 2014 so that the information
may be made available to the SAB Panel for its consideration. Written
statements should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582
and submitted to the Docket at www.regulations.gov by one of the
following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
Email: Docket_OEI@epa.gov: Include the docket number in
the subject line of the message.
Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket
(Mail Code: 28221T), Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.,
Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is (202) 566-1752.
Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA
headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334, WJC West Building, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744. Deliveries are only accepted during the
docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be
made for deliveries of boxed information.
Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582. Please
ensure that your comments are submitted by April 23, 2014. Comments
received after that date will be marked late and may not be provided to
the SAB Panel for consideration before the April 28, 2014
teleconference. It is EPA's policy to include all comments received in
the public docket without change and to make the comments available on-
line at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless a comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov
or email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access''
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an email directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact
information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you
submit. If EPA cannot read your comments due to technical difficulties
and cannot contact you for clarification, the SAB Panel may not be able
to consider your comments. Electronic files should avoid the use of
special characters and any form of encryption and be free of any
defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov
index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly
available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically at
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA
Headquarters Docket Center.
Accessibility: For information on access or services for
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Thomas Armitage at
(202) 564-2155 or armitage.thomas@epa.gov. To request accommodation of
a disability, please contact Dr. Armitage preferably at least ten days
prior to the teleconference to give EPA as much time as possible to
process your request.
Dated: March 26, 2014.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-07239 Filed 3-31-14; 8:45 am]
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