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EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations of Experts for the SAB Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures Review Panel

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[Federal Register: October 21, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 202)]
[Notices]
[Page 54047-54048]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21oc09-52]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8970-8]

EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Nominations
of Experts for the SAB Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures
Review Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice request for nominations.

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SUMMARY: The Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting
public nominations of experts to form an SAB Ad Hoc Panel to review
EPA's draft technical document entitled Development of a Relative Potency
Factor (RPF) Approach for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 12, 2009 per
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Request for Nominations may contact
Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by
telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9878; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or
via e-mail at yeow.aaron@epa.gov. General information concerning the
EPA Science Advisory Board can be found on the EPA SAB Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is an
electronic database containing descriptive and quantitative
toxicological information on human health effects that may result from
chronic exposure to various substances in the environment. This
information supports human health risk assessments and includes hazard
identification and dose-response data and derivations of oral reference
doses (RfDs) and inhalation reference concentrations (RfCs) for
noncancer effects and oral slope factors and oral and inhalation unit
risks for cancer effects. IRIS is prepared and maintained by EPA's
National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within the Office
of Research and Development (ORD). NCEA's IRIS Program has developed a
draft technical document entitled Development of a Relative Potency
Factor (RPF) Approach for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)
Mixtures for cancer risk from exposure to PAH mixtures. The relative
potency factor approach assumes that individual PAH potencies relative
to an index compound (i.e., benzo[a]pyrene, [BaP]) are added together
to yield a cancer risk estimate for the whole mixture. ORD has
requested that the SAB conduct a review of this draft document.
    The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent
scientific and technical advice, consultation and recommendations to
the EPA Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and
regulations. The SAB Staff Office will form an expert Panel to review
ORD's draft IRIS PAH Mixtures document. The SAB Panel will comply with
the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and all
appropriate SAB procedural policies. Upon completion, the Panel's
report will be submitted to the chartered SAB for final approval for
transmittal to the EPA Administrator. The PAH Mixtures Review Panel is
being asked to comment on the scientific soundness of the Agency's
draft IRIS document.
    Availability of the Review Materials: The EPA draft IRIS document
to be reviewed by the PAH Mixtures Review Panel will be made available
by ORD at the following URL: http://epa.gov/ncea (under ``Recent
Additions''). For questions concerning the review materials, please
contact Dr. Lynn Flowers, at (703) 347-8537, or flowers.lynn@epa.gov.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is requesting
nominations of nationally recognized experts with expertise in one or
more of the following areas, particularly with respect to PAH Mixtures:
chemistry; general toxicology; toxicokinetics; carcinogenesis and mode
of action; genetic toxicology; dose response assessment; biostatistics;
risk assessment, specifically for chemical mixtures; and application of
the relative potency factor methodology.
    Process and Deadline for Submitting Nominations: Any interested
person or organization may nominate qualified individuals for possible
service on the PAH Mixtures Review Panel in the areas of expertise
described above. Nominations should be submitted in electronic format
(which is preferred over hard copy) following the

[[Page 54048]]

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.
    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 grants and/or contracts;
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. Aaron Yeow, DFO, as indicated above in this notice.
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than
November 12, 2009. 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 the Federal Register notice and additional experts
identified by the SAB Staff will be posted on the SAB Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this ``Short 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 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 PAH Mixtures 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. 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, for the Panel as a whole, (f) diversity of, and
balance among scientific 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: October 14, 2009.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E9-25357 Filed 10-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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