Docket EPA

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MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: Posting EPA

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FROM: Christop h er Zarba /signed/

Acting Director , Science Advisory Board Staff Office, O ffice of the Administrator, US En vironmental Protection Agency
Th is memo randum authorizes the posting of EPA

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. Background: The EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) has developed a draft report reviewing and synthesizing th e peer
- reviewed scientific literature on the connectivity or isolation of streams and wetlands relative to large water bodies such as rivers, lakes, estuaries and oceans. The purpose of the report, Connectivity of Streams and Wetlands to Downstream Waters : A Review and Synthesis of the Scientific Evidence ( September , 2013 External Review Draft, EPA /600 / R

- 11/098B) is to summarize the current understanding about these connections, the factors that influence them, and the mechanisms by which connected waters s ingly or in aggregate, affect the function of downstream waters. A Panel of the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) will be meeting December 16

- 18, 2013 to conduct a scientific peer review of the draft report. The draft report, charge to the Panel, and other meeting materials are available on SAB web site

. This docket is cre ated to receive public comm ents f or the Panel to consider.

Public Comment: The docket opens September 17, 2012 Public comments should be received by November 6, 2013 in order to be considered by the Panel at its December 16

- 18, 2013 meeting. Procedures for Providing Public Inpu t : Public comment for consideration by EPA's federal advisory committees and panels has a different purpose from public comment provided to EPA program offices. The intended use of comments submitted to the SAB is different from the purpose of comments s ubmitted to the EPA’s program offices. Federal advisory committees and panels, including scientific advisory committees, provide independent advice to EPA. Interested members of the public may submit relevant comments pertaining to review meeting materia ls, including the charge to the Panel, for the SAB Panel to consider during the advisory process. Input from the public to the SAB will have the most impact if it provides specific scientific or technical information or analysis for the SAB to consider or if it relates to the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. Members of the public wishing to provide written comments may submit them to the EPA Docket electronically via www.regulations.gov , by e

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by mail, by facsimile, or by hand delivery/courier. Please follow the detailed instructions below
Written comments for the December 16

- 18, 2013 meeting should be received in the EPA Docket by November 6, 2013 so that the information may be made availabl e to the S AB Panel for its consideration. Comments received after November 6, 2013 will be marked late and may not be provided to the Panel in advance of the December 16

- 18, 2013 meeting. Written statements should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA

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- 0582 and submitted to the Docket at www.regulations.gov by one of the following methods: www.regulations.gov : Follow the on

- line instructions for submitting comments. E

- mail: Docket_OEI@epa.gov

. Include the docket number in the subject line of the message. Fax: (202)566

- 9744 Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket (Mail Code: 28221T), Docket ID No. EPA

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- 0 582, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20460. The phone number is (202) 566

- 1752. Hand Delivery: The OEI Docket is located in the EPA headquarters Docket Center, Room 3334, EPA West Building, 1301 Constitut ion Ave., NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566

- 1744. Deliveries are only accepte d during the docket’s normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. It is EPA’s policy to include all comments received in the public docket without change and to make the comments available on

- l ine at www.regulations.gov , including any personal information provided, unless a comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restrict ed by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or e
- mail. The www.regulations.gov website is an “an onymous access” system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e

- mail directly to EPA without going through www.regulatio ns.gov , your e
- mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and othe r contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD

- ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comments due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the SAB Panel may not be able to consider your comments. El ectronic files should avoid the use of special characters and any form of encryption and be free of any defects or viruses. Documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly available docket materialsDocket EPA

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are available either electronically at www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA Headquarters Docket Center. For additional information about EPA’s public docket, visit the EPA Dock et Center h omepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm

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