[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 208 (Thursday, October 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74782-74783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25930]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9954-54-OA]
Request for Nominations of Experts To Augment the Science
Advisory Board Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee for the Review of
EPA Draft Toxicological Reviews for tert-Butyl Alcohol (tert-butanol)
and Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory
Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific
experts to augment the SAB Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee
(CAAC) for the peer review of two EPA Draft Toxicological Review: (1)
The Toxicological Review of tert-Butyl Alcohol (tert-butanol) and (2)
Toxicological Review for Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE) in Support
of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System
(IRIS).
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 17, 2016 per the
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Any member of the public wishing further
information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations may
contact the Designated Federal Officer for the review, as identified
below. Nominators unable to submit nominations electronically as
described below may contact the Designated Federal Officer for
assistance. General information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at
the EPA SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
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 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 Chemical
Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) is a subcommittee of the SAB that
provides advice through the chartered SAB regarding assessments of
environmental chemicals available on EPA's Integrated Risk Information
System (IRIS). The SAB and the CAAC, augmented with additional experts,
will comply with the
[[Page 74783]]
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural
policies.
The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) in the
EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) develops toxicological
reviews/assessments for various chemicals for inclusion in the IRIS
database. NCEA is developing a draft Toxicological Review of tert-Butyl
Alcohol (tert-butanol) and Toxicological Review of Ethyl Tertiary Butyl
Ether (ETBE) and has asked the SAB to conduct the peer review of these
draft documents. Because tert-butanol is a metabolite of ETBE, the peer
reviews will be conducted together. The SAB Staff Office is seeking
experts to augment the SAB CAAC for the review of tert-butanol and
ETBE.
These two draft EPA documents represent new IRIS assessments of
tert-butanol and ETBE. Experimental animal data and other relevant data
from studies of the noncancer and cancer effects of tert-butanol and
ETBE are evaluated in these assessments. These assessments include an
oral reference dose (RfD) and inhalation reference concentration (RfC)
for noncancer effects as well as a cancer assessment. The cancer
assessments characterize tert-butanol and ETBE as having suggestive
evidence of carcinogenic potential to humans and include oral cancer
slope factors for both compounds and an inhalation unit risk for ETBE.
Technical Contact for EPA's draft assessments: For information
concerning the EPA draft assessments, please contact Gina Perovich,
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and
Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 8601P,
Washington, DC 20460, phone (703) 347-8656 or via email at
[email protected].
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists
with demonstrated expertise and research on tert-butanol and ETBE to
augment the CAAC for the peer review of the tert-butanol and ETBE
toxicological reviews. The SAB Staff Office seeks experts in one or
more of the following areas, with a particular focus on tert-butanol
and ETBE: Toxicology, rat nephrotoxicity, liver toxicity, reproductive
toxicity, cancer biology, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK)
modeling, toxicokinetics, and dose-response modeling of animal data.
Questions regarding this review should be directed to Dr. Shaunta Hill,
Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice
mail at (202) 564-3343, or via email at [email protected].
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 the augmented CAAC
review panel identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted
in electronic format (preferred over hard copy) using the online
nomination form under the ``Nomination of Experts'' category at the
bottom of the SAB home page at http://www.epa.gov/sab. To 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 expertise of the nominee; the
nominee's resume or curriculum vitae; 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. Hill as noted above. Nominations should be submitted in
time to arrive no later than November 17, 2016. 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 for
the CAAC tert-butanol and ETBE Review Panel on the SAB Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/sab (see links under ``Public Input on Membership''
at the bottom of the SAB home page). Public comments on the 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 balanced 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 loss of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees,
subcommittees and advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel as a whole,
diversity of expertise and scientific points of view.
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 Environmental Protection Agency Special
Government Employees'' (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 include
membership on an EPA federal advisory committee) and private interests
and activities, or the appearance of a loss of impartiality, as defined
by federal regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded from the
following URL address http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.
The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects members
for 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://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/WebFiles/OverviewPanelForm/$File/ec02010.pdf.
Dated: October 18, 2016.
Khanna Johnston,
Acting Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-25930 Filed 10-26-16; 8:45 am]
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