[Federal Register: January 31, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 21)]
[Notices]
[Page 5838-5839]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31ja08-60]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8522-9]
Science Advisory Board Staff Office, SAB Particulate Matter (PM)
Research Centers Program Review Panel; Request for Nominations
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency)
Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is announcing the formation
of an SAB panel to advise the Agency concerning the future direction of
its Particulate Matter (PM) Research Centers Program. The SAB Staff
Office is soliciting public nominations for this Panel.
DATES: New nominations should be submitted by February 21, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact
Mr. Fred Butterfield, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA Science
Advisory Board (1400F), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice
mail: (202) 343-9994; fax: (202) 233-0643; or e-mail at:
butterfield.fred@epa.gov. General information concerning the EPA
Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA Web Site: http://
www.epa.gov/sab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The SAB was established by 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), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. The SAB will comply
with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office
procedural policies.
In EPA's 1998 appropriations bill, Congress directed EPA to
establish as many as five university-based particulate matter (PM)
research centers as part of the expanded Office of Research and
Development (ORD) PM research program. The first research centers were
funded from 1999 to 2005. The total budget for each center over five
years was $8 million, for a program total of $40 million. In the
original Request for Applications (RFA), prospective Centers were asked
to propose an integrated research program on the health effects of PM,
including exposure, dosimetry, toxicology and epidemiology. In 2004, a
second competition was held. This RFA asked respondents to address the
central theme of ``linking health effects to PM sources and
components,'' and to focus on the research priorities of
susceptibility, biological mechanisms, exposure-response relationships,
and source linkages. From the second competition, five current centers
are funded for 2005-2010 (the budget remains $40 million total).
ORD's PM Research Centers program was initially shaped by
recommendations from the National Research Council. The SAB conducted
an interim review of the Centers program in 2002 (see: http://
yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/6374FD2B32EFE730852570CA007415FE/
$File/ec02008.pdf), which was instrumental in providing additional
guidance for the second phase of the program (2005-2010). The Agency
now seeks the advice of an SAB expert panel on the structure and
strategic direction for the program as ORD contemplates funding a third
round of air pollution research centers into the future. This Federal
Register notice solicitation is seeking nominations for the SAB PM
Research Centers Program Review Panel.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is requesting
nominations for nationally- and internationally-recognized, non-EPA
scientists with extensive research program management expertise and
experience related to airborne pollution and the application of
research results in reducing air pollution in protection human health
and the environment. The experts should also have had direct research
experience related to PM.
Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to add
expertise to the SAB PM Research Centers Program Review Panel in the
areas of expertise listed above. Nominations should be submitted in
electronic format through the SAB Web site: http://yosemite.epa.gov/
sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/participatepanelformation?OpenDocument. Please
follow the instructions for submitting nominations carefully. To be
considered, nominations should include all of the information required
on the associated forms. Anyone unable to submit nominations using the
electronic form and who has any questions concerning the nomination
process may contact Mr. Fred Butterfield, DFO, as indicated above in
this notice. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later
than February 21, 2008.
To be considered, all nominations should include: A current
curriculum vitae (C.V.) which provides the nominee's background,
qualifications, research expertise and relevant publications for
service on the Panel; and a brief biographical sketch (``biosketch'').
The biosketch should be no longer than one page and should contain the
following information for the nominee:
(a) Current professional affiliations and positions held;
(b) Area(s) of expertise, and research activities and interests
relevant to the Panel;
(c) Leadership positions in national associations or professional
publications or other significant distinctions;
(d) Educational background, especially advanced degrees, including
when and from which institutions these were granted; and
(e) Service on other advisory committees or professional societies,
especially those associated with issues under discussion in this
review.
Incomplete biosketches will not be considered. The EPA SAB Staff Office
will acknowledge receipt of nominations.
The EPA SAB Staff Office will post the biosketches of qualified
nominees for public comment on the SAB Web site. Information will be
made available via the link to this panel found at: http://
yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebBoard/
SABAdHocCommitteesandPanels?OpenDocument, and will include, for each
candidate, the nominee's name and their biosketch. Public comments on
this ``Short List'' of candidates will be accepted for 21 calendar
days. The
[[Page 5839]]
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
establishing the final SAB PM Research Centers Program Review Panel,
the SAB Staff Office will consider public comments on the ``Short
List'' of candidates, information provided by the candidates
themselves, and background information independently gathered by the
SAB Staff Office. Specific 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, and balance among, scientific expertise,
viewpoints, etc.
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
SAB Web site: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/
Ethics?OpenDocument.
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, September 2002),
which is posted on the SAB Web site: http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/WebSABSO/OverviewPanelForm?OpenDocument.
Dated: January 25, 2008.
Anthony Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-1774 Filed 1-30-08; 8:45 am]
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