[Federal Register: November 20, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 225)]
[Notices]               
[Page 70344-70346]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20no08-62]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8742-4]

 
EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public 
Teleconference Meeting of the Chartered Science Advisory Board

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces 
two public teleconference meetings of the chartered SAB to: (1) Conduct 
its quality review of several draft SAB reports, and (2) to receive a 
briefing from EPA on biofuels.

DATES: The meeting dates are Tuesday, December 9, 2008, from 1 p.m. to 
3 p.m. (Eastern Time) and Tuesday, December 16, 2008, from 11 a.m. to 
12 p.m. (Eastern Time).
    Location: The meeting will be conducted by telephone only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to 
obtain general information concerning this public teleconference 
meeting should contact Mr. Thomas Miller, Designated Federal Officer 
(DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), 1200

[[Page 70345]]

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; via telephone/voice 
mail (202) 343-9982; fax (202) 233-0643; or e-mail at 
miller.tom@epa.gov. General information concerning the EPA Science 
Advisory Board can be found on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/
sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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. Pursuant to the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given that the EPA 
SAB will hold a public teleconference meeting to conduct several 
quality reviews and to receive a briefing on biofuels by EPA 
representatives.
    Background: SAB Telephone Conference, Tuesday, December 9, 2008:
    (a) SAB Quality Review of the Draft Report from the SAB Committee 
for the Valuation of Ecological Systems and Services (C-VPESS). The 
Chartered Science Advisory Board will conduct a quality review of the 
draft final SAB report from its Committee for Valuing the Protection of 
Ecological Systems and Services. The report is an original SAB study, 
initiated in 2003. The committee's charge was to assess EPA valuation 
needs; assess the state of the art and science of valuing protection of 
ecological systems and services; and identify key areas for improving 
knowledge, methodologies, practice, and research. The report takes a 
multi-disciplinary approach to ecological valuation issues. Additional 
information on this topic is available on the SAB Web site at http://
yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activities/
Ecological%20Valuation?OpenDocument.
    (b) EPA Biofuels Briefing: On October 27, 2008, the Science 
Advisory Board conducted a seminar entitled ``Looking to the Future'' 
as part of an ongoing effort to consider EPA's long-range strategic 
research vision. A part of that meeting focused on the environmental 
implications of biofuels. During the SAB's December 9, 2008 telephone 
conference, the Board will receive a briefing from representatives of 
the EPA OAR Office of Transportation and Air Quality on the status of 
the agency's renewable fuels program rule development process. This 
information will provide additional background information to the SAB 
as it considers how it might further advise the EPA Administrator on 
the Agency's research program.
    Background: SAB Telephone Conference, Tuesday, December 16, 2008:
    (a) SAB Quality Review of the Draft SAB Panel Report on the EPA 
Particulate Matter (PM) Research Centers Program. The chartered Science 
Advisory Board will conduct a quality review of the draft SAB report 
from its Particulate Matter Research Centers Program Review Advisory 
Panel. In 1998, the Congress directed EPA to establish as many as five 
university-based PM research centers as part of the Agency's PM 
research program. The first PM Research Centers were funded from 1999 
to 2005 with a total program budget of $8 million annually. EPA's PM 
Research Centers program was initially shaped by recommendations from 
the National Research Council. In 2002, EPA requested that the Science 
Advisory Board conduct an interim review of EPA's PM Research Centers 
program. This review was instrumental in providing additional guidance 
for the second phase of the program (2005-2010). Five current centers 
are funded for 2005-2010 with the total program budget at $40 million. 
EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), within the 
Office of Research and Development (ORD), requested that the SAB 
comment on the Agency's current PM Research Centers program and to 
advise EPA concerning the possible structures and strategic direction 
for the program from 2010 to 2015. The SAB formed the PM Research 
Centers Program Advisory Panel to conduct this review. The Panel met to 
review and discuss the program on October 1-2, 2008 and has now 
completed a draft report providing the results of its deliberations. 
Additional information on this review is available on the SAB Web site 
at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activities/
2008%20PM%2Centers%20Program%;20Review?OpenDocument.
    (b) SAB Quality Review of the Draft SAB Contaminant Candidate List 
3 Advisory. The Chartered Science Advisory Board will conduct a second 
quality review of the draft SAB Drinking Water Committee (DWC) report 
on EPA's Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 3. This report was 
the subject of a quality review at the SAB's October 28, 2008 meeting. 
At that meeting, the Chartered SAB asked for some revisions relative to 
the comments made by SAB members during that meeting (see these 
comments on the SAB Web site at the following URL http://
yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/A3B59D3624B2B1DA852574EB006DD0C9/
$File/;SAB+Comments+on+CCL+3+Oct+28+08+Meeting.pdf) and that the report 
be returned to the SAB for completion of the quality review. The DWC 
review was conducted at the request of the EPA Office of Water. The 
1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments (SDWA) require EPA to (1) 
publish every five years a list of currently unregulated contaminants 
in drinking water that may pose risks and (2) make determinations on 
whether or not to regulate at least five contaminants from that list on 
a staggered five year cycle. The list must be published after 
consultation with the scientific community, including the SAB, after 
notice and opportunity for public comment, and after consideration of 
the occurrence database established under section 1445(g) of the SDWA. 
The unregulated contaminants considered for the list must include, but 
are not limited to, substances referred to in section 101(14) of the 
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 
of 1980 (CERCLA), and substances registered under the Federal 
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Additional 
information on this review can be obtained on the EPA SAB Web site at 
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activities/CCL3.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: The agenda and other materials 
in support of this meeting will be placed on the SAB Web site at http:/
/www.epa.gov/sab in advance of this meeting.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Interested members of the 
public may submit relevant written or oral information for the SAB to 
consider during this teleconference.
    Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting time 
to make an oral presentation at a public SAB teleconference will be 
limited to three minutes, with no more than one-half hour for all 
speakers. At face-to-face meetings, presentations will be limited to 
five minutes, with no more than a total of one hour for all speakers. 
To be placed on the public speaker list, parties interested in the 
December 9, 2008 meeting should contact Mr. Thomas Miller, DFO, in 
writing (preferably by e-mail), by December 2, 2008 at the contact 
information provided above. Parties interested in the December 16, 2008 
meeting should contact Mr. Thomas Miller, DFO, in writing (preferably 
by e-mail), by December 9,

[[Page 70346]]

2008 at the contact information provided above.
    Written Statements: Written statements relevant to the December 9, 
2008 meeting should be received in the SAB Staff Office by December 2, 
2008, and written statements relevant to the December 16 meeting should 
be received in the SAB Staff Office by December 9, 2008 so that the 
information may be made available to the SAB for their consideration 
prior to these teleconference meetings. Written statements should be 
supplied to the DFO via e-mail to miller.tom@epa.gov (acceptable file 
format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, or Rich 
Text files in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format).
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Mr. Thomas Miller at 
(202) 343-9982, or miller.tom@epa.gov. To request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact Mr. Miller, preferably at least 10 days 
prior to the meeting, to give EPA as much time as possible to process 
your request.

    Dated: November 14, 2008.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. E8-27612 Filed 11-19-08; 8:45 am]

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