E9-2343. EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of Experts for EPA Science Advisory Board, Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards Committee

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting nominations for experts to serve on a SAB Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Committee. This Committee will review peer-reviewed publications from EPA scientists and makes recommendations for awards.

DATES:

Nominations should be submitted by February 25, 2009 per instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Any member of the public wishing further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations may contact Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at [phone]; by fax at [phone] or via email 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:

EPA's Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) was established in 1980 to recognize Agency scientists and engineers who published their work in the peer-reviewed literature. The STAA Program is an Agency-wide competition to promote and recognize scientific and technological achievements by EPA employees. The STAA program is administered and managed by EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). Each year the EPA Science Advisory Board has been asked to review scientific publications nominated by EPA managers and make recommendations to the Administrator for awards. The SAB Staff Office is announcing the formation of a new ad hoc STAA Committee. This Committee will serve for a three year period, and review nominated publications and recommend awards for 2009 through 2011. The SAB is chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App.). The Committee will comply with the provisions of FACA and SAB procedural policies, including the SAB process for Committee formation that is described further on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/​sab/​sabproduct.nsf/​WebSABSO/​OverviewPanelForm?​OpenDocument. The Committee will hold closed meetings to review nominated scientific publications and make monetary award recommendations.

Request for Nominations

The SAB Staff Office is soliciting nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and engineers with documented research experience to serve on the STAA Committee. Nominations are requested in the areas of: Environmental Exposure, Transport and Fate; Environmental Monitoring and Methods; Environmental Control Systems and Risk Management; Ecosystems and Ecological Risk Assessment; Human Health and Risk Assessment; and Social and Decision Sciences.

Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested person or organization may nominate qualified individuals to be considered for appointment on this SAB Committee. Candidates may also nominate themselves. 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 form 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.

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 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 Mr. Edward Hanlon, DFO, at the contact information provided above in this notice. Non-electronic submissions must follow the same format and contain the same information as the electronic.

The SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of the nomination and inform nominees of the panel for which they have been nominated. From the nominees identified by respondents to this Federal Register notice (termed the “Widecast”) and other sources, the SAB Staff Office will develop a smaller subset (known as the “Short List”) for more detailed consideration. The Short List will be posted on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/​sab and will include, for each candidate, the nominee's name and biosketch. Public comments on the Short List will be accepted for 21 calendar days. During this comment period, the public will be requested to provide information, analysis, or other documentation on nominees that the SAB Staff Office should consider in evaluating candidates for the Panel.

For the SAB a balanced panel is characterized by inclusion of 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. Public responses to the Short List candidates will be considered in the selection of the panel, along with information provided by candidates and information gathered by SAB Staff independently concerning the background of each candidate (e.g., financial disclosure information and computer searches to evaluate a nominee's prior involvement with the topic under review). Specific criteria to be used in evaluation of an individual Panel member include: (a) Scientific and/or technical expertise, knowledge, and experience (primary factors); (b) absence of financial conflicts of interest; (c) scientific credibility and impartiality; (d) availability and willingness to serve; and (e) ability to work constructively and effectively in committees.

Prospective candidates will be required to fill-out 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. Ethics information, including EPA Form 3110-48, is available on the SAB Web site at http://yosemite.epa.gov/​sab/​sabproduct.nsf/​Web/​ethics?​OpenDocument.

Dated: January 29, 2009.

Anthony F. Maciorowski,

Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.