
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 236 (Monday, December 10, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63502-63503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26693]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9987-47-OA]


Request for Nominations of Candidates for EPA's Science Advisory 
Board 2019-2021 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards 
Committee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science 
Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office invites nominations of scientific 
experts from a diverse range of disciplines to be considered for 
appointment to the SAB's 2019-2021 Scientific and Technological 
Achievement Awards (STAA) Committee described in this document.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
December 31, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations 
may contact Dr. Thomas Armitage, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA 
Science Advisory Board Staff Office (1400R), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; 
by telephone at (202) 564-2155 or at armitage.thomas@epa.gov.
    General information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at the EPA 
SAB website at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The SAB (42 U.S.C. 4365) is a chartered Federal 
Advisory Committee that provides independent scientific and technical 
peer review, advice 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 STAA 
Committee is an ad hoc subcommittee of the SAB that provides advice 
through the chartered SAB on recommendations for awards under EPA's 
STAA program. The SAB and the 2019-2021 STAA Committee will comply with 
the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    The EPA established the STAA 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 the EPA's Office of Research and 
Development (ORD). Each year the SAB has been asked to review the EPA's 
STAA nominations and make recommendations to the Administrator for 
monetary awards. The SAB Staff Office is seeking nominations of experts 
to serve on the SAB 2019-2021 STAA Committee, which operates under the 
auspices of the SAB.
    Request for nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of experts in the following disciplines as they relate to 
human health and the environment: Air pollution exposure; chemical 
engineering; civil and environmental engineering; decision science; 
ecology; environmental economics; groundwater and surface water 
contaminant fate and transport; human health effects and risk 
assessment; monitoring and measurement methods for air and water;

[[Page 63503]]

risk management; transport and fate of contaminants; water quality; and 
water and wastewater treatment processes. The SAB Staff Office is 
especially interested in scientists and engineers with expertise 
described above who have knowledge and experience in air quality; 
aquatic and ecological toxicology; chemical safety; community 
environmental health; dosimetry and inhalation toxicology; drinking 
water; ecological modeling; ecological risk assessment; ecosystem 
restoration; ecosystem services; energy and the environment; 
epidemiology; green chemistry; homeland security; human health 
dosimetry; mechanisms of toxicity and carcinogenicity; metabolism; 
statistics; sustainability; toxicokinetics; toxicology; waste and waste 
management; and water re-use.
    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 the 2019-2021 STAA 
Committee identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted in 
electronic format (preferred) following the instructions for 
``Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels and Ad hoc Committees Being 
Formed,'' provided on the SAB website (see the ``Nomination of 
Experts'' link under ``Current Activities'') at http://www.epa.gov.sab.
    To receive full consideration, 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 resume or 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 website, should 
contact Dr. Thomas Armitage as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
December 31, 2018. EPA values and welcomes diversity. All qualified 
candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of sex, race, disability, 
or ethnicity.
    The EPA SAB Staff Office will acknowledge receipt of nominations. 
The names and biosketches 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 website at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on the List 
of Candidates will be accepted for 21 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 review committee 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. 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 committee 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 loss of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees, 
subcommittees and advisory committees; and, (f) for the committee as a 
whole, diversity of expertise and scientific points of view.
    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'' (EPA Form 
3110-48). This confidential form allows government officials to 
determine whether there is a statutory conflict between a person's 
public responsibilities (which include membership on an EPA federal 
advisory committee) and private interests and activities, or the 
appearance of a loss of impartiality, as defined by federal regulation. 
The form may be viewed and downloaded from the following URL address 
http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/Web/ethics?OpenDocument.

    Dated: November 28, 2018.
Khanna Johnston,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2018-26693 Filed 12-7-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


