[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19680-19681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07084]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL 9614-01-OA]


Request for Nominations for a Science Advisory Board Panel

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific 
experts to form a panel to review the new cloud-based Environmental 
Benefits and Mapping (BenMAP) tool, an open-source computer program 
that calculates estimated air pollution-related deaths and illnesses 
and their associated economic value. BenMAP is a shorthand title 
referring to the EPA's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis 
Program, which has recently been updated to a new software platform 
built with Java code for the interface. The panel will review the 
latest available public release version of the BenMAP software.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by April 26, 2022 per the 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Notice and request for nominations 
may contact Dr. Bryan Bloomer, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA 
Science Advisory Board via telephone/voice mail (202) 564-4222, or 
email at [email protected]. General information concerning the EPA 
SAB can be found at the EPA SAB website at https://sab.epa.gov. For 
information concerning BenMAP, please contact Dr. Peter Maniloff by 
email at [email protected] or phone (919) 541-5548.

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 
Staff Office is forming an expert panel, the BenMAP Review Panel, under 
the auspices of the Chartered SAB. The BenMAP Review Panel will provide 
advice through the chartered SAB. The SAB and the BenMAP Review Panel 
will comply with the provisions of FACA and all

[[Page 19681]]

appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
    The BenMAP Review Panel will conduct the review of BenMAP as 
requested by the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. This panel is one 
of two separate, but related, panels that will evaluate two different 
aspects of EPA's overall health benefits assessment methods. The panel 
being formed with this Notice will review the new cloud-based version 
of BenMAP and will investigate how the BenMAP software implements EPA's 
methods to quantify estimated health benefits of air quality changes. 
The goal of this review will be to focus, in particular, on the user 
interface, software engineering and documentation (i.e., does the tool 
correctly perform the intended analytics and yield defensible, 
scientifically sound and consistent results?). The panel being formed 
with the nominations solicited with this Notice will be asked to 
examine the software code in the new cloud-based version of BenMAP and 
independently evaluate model construction and operations. Thus, 
panelists for this review will need the appropriate software experience 
and environmental/health/economic modeling assessment experience to 
conduct this review. The panelists will have access to a publicly 
available but non-final cloud-based version of BenMAP and the legacy 
desktop version of BenMAP, as well as the computer code and design 
documentation for each. Subsequently, a second SAB panel (to be formed 
soon via a separate FRN soliciting nominations) will evaluate specific 
aspects of the methodology EPA uses to quantify estimated health 
benefits of air quality changes, including how EPA selects human health 
endpoints to quantify and selects among risk estimates from 
epidemiologic studies, among others.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists 
with demonstrated expertise in the following disciplines: Software 
development (including expertise in Java, User Interfaces, database/
data-management, and cloud computing in the Amazon Web Services [AWS] 
platform); Geographic Information Systems and Geostatistics; 
Demographics; Risk Assessment; Statistics/Biostatistics; Atmospheric 
Modeling; Photochemical Air Quality Modeling; Economics Modeling 
(including expertise in Non-Market Valuation). As noted above, the 
panel will need to have the appropriate computational expertise to 
examine the software code in the cloud-based version of BenMAP and 
independently evaluate model construction and operations. The panel 
will be asked to evaluate the performance of the cloud-based version of 
BenMAP by examining the computer code and documentation, running 
specific cases, comparing cloud-based platform results to results 
generated using the legacy desktop version, and any other associated 
model performance elements as needed.
    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 SAB panel. 
Individuals may self-nominate. Nominations should be submitted in 
electronic format (preferred) using the online nomination form on the 
SAB website at https://sab.epa.gov (see the ``Public Input on 
Membership'' list under ``Committees, Panels, and Membership'' 
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 
https://sab.epa.gov). To be considered, nominations should include the 
information requested below. EPA values and welcomes diversity. All 
qualified candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of sex, race, 
disability or ethnicity. Nominations should be submitted in time to 
arrive no later than April 26, 2022.
    The following information should be provided on the nomination 
form: Contact information for the person making the nomination; contact 
information for the nominee; and the disciplinary and specific areas of 
expertise of the nominee. Nominees will be contacted by the SAB Staff 
Office and will be asked to provide a recent curriculum vitae and a 
narrative biographical summary that include the following: Current 
position, educational background; research activities; sources of 
research funding for the last two years; 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 
the DFO at the contact information noted above. The names and 
biosketches of qualified nominees identified by respondents to this 
Federal Register Notice, and additional experts identified by the SAB 
Staff Office, will be posted in a List of Candidates for the panel on 
the SAB website at https://sab.epa.gov. 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 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 forming the expert 
panel, the SAB Staff Office will consider public comments on the Lists 
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 loss of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees, 
subcommittees and advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel 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 Environmental Protection Agency Special 
Government Employees'' (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential form is 
required and 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 
through the ``Ethics Requirements for Advisors'' link on the SAB 
website at https://sab.epa.gov. This form should not be submitted as 
part of a nomination.
    The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects members 
for 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 website at https://sab.epa.gov.

Thomas H. Brennan,
Director, Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-07084 Filed 4-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


