[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 6, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38252-38253]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16792]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9997-75-OA]


Notification of a Public Teleconference of the Science Advisory 
Board Computable General Equilibrium Model Review Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference of the SAB 
Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model Review Panel to discuss its 
review of a CGE model from the EPA's National Center for Environmental 
Economics.

DATES: The public teleconference will be held on August 22, 2019, from 
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

ADDRESSES: The public teleconference will be held by telephone only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding the public teleconference may contact Dr. 
Holly Stallworth, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, 
by telephone at (202) 564-2073 or email at stallworth.holly@epa.gov. 
The SAB mailing address is U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (1400R), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20460. General information about the SAB, including 
information concerning the SAB teleconference announced in this notice, 
can be found at the SAB web page at http://epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental 
Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDAA) 
codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent scientific and 
technical peer review, advice, consultation, and recommendations to the 
EPA 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), 5 U.S.C., App. 2. The SAB 
will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff 
Office procedural policies.
    Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby given that the 
SAB CGE Model Review Panel will hold a public teleconference to discuss 
its review of a CGE model from EPA's National Center for Environmental 
Economics. The Panel will provide advice to the Administrator through 
the chartered SAB. Background information on the SAB CGE Model Review 
Panel can be found at https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/02ad90b136fc21ef85256eba00436459/18a2abac2e4b5ec9852583bc004ce70a!OpenDocument.
    The public teleconference on August 22, 2019, will be an 
orientation teleconference during which the National Center for 
Environmental Economics will brief the Panel on the context for the 
review, the CGE model itself and the charge questions. A face-to-face 
meeting date and location will be announced at a later time.
    All draft reports developed by SAB panels, committees or workgroups 
are reviewed and approved by the Chartered SAB through a quality review 
process before being finalized and transmitted to the EPA 
Administrator.
    Availability of the teleconference materials: An agenda will be 
posted on the SAB website prior to the August 22, 2019, orientation 
teleconference. Other materials to be posted prior to the public 
teleconference include PowerPoint slides for all EPA presentations and 
the charge questions. The CGE model source code and documentation as 
well as memos on model versioning and potential near-term model 
improvements will be posted shortly after the August 22, 2019, 
teleconference. While the source code and documentation will be 
available to the public, some of the data to run the model is 
proprietary and would have to be purchased from The IMPLAN Group LLC 
(implan.com). Instructions and source code to build the model's dataset 
from the IMPLAN data will be posted. To locate teleconference 
materials, go to http://epa.gov/sab">epa.gov/sab and click on ``Upcoming and Recent 
Meetings'' to get to the SAB calendar. From the calendar, click on 
August 22, 2019. For questions concerning EPA's review materials on its 
CGE model, please contact Dr. Ann Wolverton, EPA National Center for 
Environmental Economics at

[[Page 38253]]

wolverton.ann@epa.gov or 202-566-2278.
    Procedures for Providing Public Input: Public comment for 
consideration by EPA's federal advisory committees and panels has a 
different purpose from public comment provided to the EPA program 
offices. Therefore, the process for submitting comments to a federal 
advisory committee is different from the process used to submit 
comments to an EPA program office. Federal advisory committees and 
panels, including scientific advisory committees, provide independent 
advice to the EPA. Members of the public can submit relevant comments 
on the topic of this advisory activity, including the charge to the 
panel and the EPA review documents, and/or the group conducting the 
activity, for the SAB to consider during the advisory process. Input 
from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if it consists of 
comments that provide specific scientific or technical information or 
analysis for the SAB panel to consider or if it relates to the clarity 
or accuracy of the technical information.
    Oral Statements: In general, individuals or groups requesting an 
oral presentation at the will be limited to five minutes per speaker. 
Interested parties should contact Dr. Holly Stallworth, DFO, in writing 
(preferably via email), at the contact information noted above by 
August 15, 2019, to be placed on the list of public speakers for the 
orientation teleconference.
    Written Statements: Written statements will be accepted throughout 
the advisory process; however, for timely consideration by Committee/
Panel members, statements should be supplied to the DFO (preferably via 
email) at the contact information noted above by August 15, 2019, for 
consideration at the teleconference on August 22, 2019.
    It is the SAB Staff Office general policy to post written comments 
on the web page for the advisory meeting or teleconference. Submitters 
are requested to provide an unsigned version of each document because 
the SAB Staff Office does not publish documents with signatures on its 
website. Members of the public should be aware that their personal 
contact information, if included in any written comments, may be posted 
to the SAB website. Copyrighted material will not be posted without 
explicit permission of the copyright holder.
    Accessibility: To request accommodation of a disability, please 
contact Dr. Stallworth at 202-564-2073 or stallworth.holly@epa.gov. To 
request accommodation of a disability please contact Dr. Stallworth, 
preferably at least ten days prior to the teleconference, to give the 
EPA as much time as possible to process your request.

    Dated: July 30, 2019.
Khanna Johnston,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-16792 Filed 8-5-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


