2010-29939. Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of Experts for the SAB Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Review Panel

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting public nominations of experts to form an SAB panel to review EPA's non-cancer health effects assessment for Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs).

DATES:

Nominations should be submitted by December 20, 2010 per instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Any member of the public wishing further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations may contact Dr. Diana Wong, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at [phone], by fax at [phone], or via e-mail at [e-mail]. 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: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been utilized for various commercial applications, such as insulating fluids, hydraulic and lubricating fluids, heat exchanger fluids, and additives in adhesives and paints. PCBs are widespread in the environment and represent a public health concern.

At present, there are IRIS reference doses (RfDs) for two commercial PCB mixtures: Aroclor 1016 and Aroclor 1254 that were last updated in 1993 and 1994, respectively. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) is developing a draft assessment of the potential noncancer health hazards of complex PCB mixtures for inclusion on EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). The new assessment will review current science with the goal of establishing an RfD for application to complex PCB mixtures.

The EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) has requested the SAB to review ORD's draft assessment of the potential noncancer health hazards of PCBs. The SAB Staff Office will form an expert panel to review the PCBs assessment. 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 Panel will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.

Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists with demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas, particularly with respect to PCBs: General toxicology, neurodevelopmental toxicology, immunotoxicology, endocrinology, reproductive toxicology, toxicokinetics, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling, epidemiology, statistics, dose-response assessment, and risk assessment.

Availability of the review materials: The Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) noncancer IRIS assessment to be reviewed by the PCBs Review Panel will be available by the Office of Research and Development at the following URL: http://cfpub.epa.gov/​ncea/​iris_​drafts/​. and at the SAB Web site http://yosemite.epa.gov/​sab/​sabpeople.nsf/​WebCommittees/​BOARD. For questions concerning the PCBs Assessment, please contact Dr. Geniece Lehmann of EPA's NCEA by phone [phone], fax [phone], or e-mail ([e-mail]).

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 this expert Panel. Nominations should be submitted in electronic format (which is preferred over hard copy) following the instructions for “Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc Committees Being Formed” provided on the SAB Web site. The instructions can be accessed through the “Nomination of Experts” link on the blue navigational bar on the SAB Web site 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 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.

Persons having questions about the nomination procedures, or who are unable to submit nominations through the SAB Web site, should contact Dr. Diana Wong, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than December 20, 2010. 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 calendar 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; and (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 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 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: November 18, 2010.

Anthony Maciorowski,

Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.