2011-28629. Meeting of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Board of Scientific Counselors

AGENCY:

National Toxicology Program (NTP), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health.

ACTION:

Meeting announcement and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of a meeting of the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC). The BSC is a federally chartered, external advisory group composed of scientists from the public and private sectors that provides primary scientific oversight to the NTP and evaluates the scientific merit of the NTP's intramural and collaborative programs.

DATES:

The BSC meeting will be held on December 15, 2011. The deadline for submission of written comments is December 1, 2011, and for pre-registration to attend the meeting, including registering to present oral comments, is December 8, 2011. Individuals with disabilities who need accommodation to participate in this event should contact Dr. Lori White at voice telephone: [phone] or email: [e-mail]. TTY users should contact the Federal TTY Relay Service at [phone]. Requests should be made at least 5 business days in advance of the event.

ADDRESSES:

The BSC meeting will be held in the Rodbell Auditorium, Rall Building at the NIEHS, 111 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Public comments on all agenda topics and any other correspondence should be submitted to Dr. Lori White, Designated Federal Officer for the BSC, Office of Liaison, Policy and Review, Division of the NTP, NIEHS, P.O. Box 12233, K2-03, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; telephone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; [e-mail]. Courier address: NIEHS, 530 Davis Drive, Room K2136, Morrisville, NC 27560.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Lori White (telephone: [phone] or [e-mail]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Preliminary Agenda and Meeting Materials

The preliminary agenda, roster of BSC members, background materials, public comments, and any additional information, when available, will be posted on the BSC meeting Web site (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​165) or may be requested in hardcopy from the Designated Federal Officer for the BSC (see ADDRESSES above). Draft research concepts will be presented for the following three new nominations to the NTP testing program: sulfolane [CASRN 126-33-0], the phenolic benzotriazoles class, and trimethylsilyldiazomethane [CASRN 18107-18-1]. A draft concept for a workshop on permanent hair dyes will also be presented. There will be a presentation of the finalized Report on Carcinogens review process, details of which can be found at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​rocprocess. Also, there will be reports on the January 2011 workshop on the role of environmental factors in development of diabetes and obesity (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​36433) and on environmental enrichment in NTP studies. Following the meeting, summary minutes will be prepared and made available on the BSC meeting Web site.

Attendance and Registration

The meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2011, beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST and continuing until adjournment. This meeting is open to the public with attendance limited only by the space available. Individuals who plan to attend are encouraged to register online at the BSC meeting Web site (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​165) by December 8, 2011, to facilitate planning for the meeting. Registered attendees are encouraged to access this Web site to stay abreast of the most current information regarding the meeting. The NTP is making plans to videocast the meeting through the Internet at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/​news/​video/​live.

Request for Comments

Written comments submitted in response to this notice should be received by December 1, 2011. Comments will be posted on the BSC meeting Web site and persons submitting them will be identified by their name and affiliation and/or sponsoring organization, if applicable. Persons submitting written comments should include their name, affiliation (if applicable), phone, email, and sponsoring organization (if any) with the document.

Time will be allotted during the meeting for the public to present oral comments to the BSC on the agenda topics. In addition to in-person oral comments at the meeting at the NIEHS, public comments can be presented by teleconference line. There will be 50 lines for this call; availability will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The available lines will be open from 8:30 a.m. until adjournment, although public comments will be received only during the formal public comment periods, which are indicated on the preliminary agenda. Each organization is allowed one time slot per agenda topic. At least 7 minutes will be allotted to each speaker, and if time permits, may be extended to 10 minutes at the discretion of the BSC chair. Persons wishing to present oral comments are encouraged to pre-register on the NTP meeting Web site, indicate whether they will present comments in-person or via the teleconference line, and list the topic(s) on which they plan to comment. The access number for the teleconference line will be provided to registrants by email prior to the meeting. Registration for oral comments will also be available at the NIEHS on both meeting days, although time allowed for presentation by these registrants may be less than that for pre-registered speakers and will be determined by the number of persons who register at the meeting.

Persons registering to make oral comments are asked to send a copy of their statement or PowerPoint slides to the Designated Federal Officer for the BSC (see ADDRESSES above) by December 8, 2011. Written statements can supplement and may expand the oral presentation. If registering on-site and reading from written text, please bring 40 copies of the statement for distribution to the BSC and NTP staff and to supplement the record.

Background Information on the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors

The BSC is a technical advisory body comprised of scientists from the public and private sectors that provides primary scientific oversight to the NTP. Specifically, the BSC advises the NTP on matters of scientific program content, both present and future, and conducts periodic review of the program for the purpose of determining and advising on the scientific merit of its activities and their overall scientific quality. Its members are selected from recognized authorities knowledgeable in fields such as toxicology, pharmacology, pathology, biochemistry, epidemiology, risk assessment, carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, molecular biology, behavioral toxicology, neurotoxicology, immunotoxicology, reproductive toxicology or teratology, and biostatistics. Members serve overlapping terms of up to four years. The BSC usually meets biannually.

Dated: October 27, 2011.

John R. Bucher,

Associate Director, National Toxicology Program.