Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 229 / Friday, November 28, 2014 / Notices 70867 

monitor changes in baseline conditions, 

including climate change effects. RMNs 

have been established in the Northeast, 

Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast, and efforts 

are expanding into other regions. The 

need for RMNs stems from the lack of 

long-term, contemporaneous biological, 

thermal, and hydrologic data, 

particularly at minimally disturbed 

sites. Data collected at RMNs will be 

used to detect temporal trends; 

investigate relationships between 

biological, thermal, and hydrologic data; 

explore ecosystem responses and 

recovery from extreme weather events; 

test hypotheses and predictive models 

related to climate change; and quantify 

natural variability. RMN surveys build 

on existing bioassessment efforts, with 

the goal of collecting comparable data 

that can be pooled efficiently at a 

regional level. This document describes 

the development of the current RMNs 

for small, freshwater wadeable streams. 

It contains information on selection of 

candidate sites, expectations for data 

collection, the rationale for collecting 

these data, and provides examples of 

how the RMN data will be used and 

analyzed. 

II. How To Submit Technical Comments 

to the Docket at http://

www.regulations.gov 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–ORD–2014– 

0850, by one of the following methods: 

• http://www.regulations.gov: Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: Docket_ORD@epa.gov. 

• Fax: 202–566–9744. 

• Mail: EPA Docket Center [ORD 

Docket] (Mail Code: 28221T), U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. The phone number is 202– 

566–1752. If you provide comments by 

mail, please submit one unbound 

original with pages numbered 

consecutively, and three copies of the 

comments. For attachments, provide an 

index, number pages consecutively with 

the comments, and submit an unbound 

original and three copies. 

• Hand Delivery: The ORD Docket is 

located in the EPA Headquarters Docket 

Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 

1301 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC. The EPA Docket 

Center’s 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 accepted during the 

docket’s normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. If 

you provide comments by hand 

delivery, please submit one unbound 

original with pages numbered 

consecutively, and three copies of the 

comments. For attachments, provide an 

index, number pages consecutively with 

the comments, and submit an unbound 

original and three copies. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–ORD–2014– 

0850. Please ensure that your comments 

are submitted within the specified 

comment period. Comments received 

after the closing date will be marked 

‘‘late,’’ and may only be considered if 

time permits. It is EPA’s policy to 

include all comments it receives in the 

public docket without change and to 

make the comments available online at 

http://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 restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through http://

www.regulations.gov or email. The 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 

an ‘‘anonymous 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 email comment directly 

to EPA without going through http://

www.regulations.gov, your email 

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 other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center home page at http://

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: Documents in the docket are 

listed in the http://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 materials, such as 

copyrighted material, are publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically at http://

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the ORD Docket in the EPA 

Headquarters Docket Center. 

Dated: November 20, 2014. 

Debra B. Walsh, 

Acting Director, National Center for 

Environmental Assessment. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28154 Filed 11–26–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9919–84–OA] 

Request for Nominations of 

Candidates for EPA’s Science 

Advisory Board 2015; Scientific and 

Technological Achievement Awards 

Committee 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) invites 

nominations of scientific experts from a 

diverse range of disciplines to be 

considered for appointment to the 

Science Advisory Board’s (SAB) 2015 

Scientific and Technological 

Achievement Awards (STAA) 

Committee described in this notice. 

DATES: Nominations should be 

submitted in time to arrive no later than 

December 19, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information about the SAB’s 

STAA Committee membership 

appointment process and schedule, 

please contact Mr. Edward Hanlon, 

Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB 

Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at 

(202) 564–2134; by fax at (202) 565– 

2098 or via email at hanlon.edward@

epa.gov. 

General information concerning the 

EPA SAB can be found at the EPA SAB 

Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: Established by statute, 

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 and the 2015 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 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
70868 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 229 / Friday, November 28, 2014 / Notices 

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 

for the SAB 2015 STAA Committee, 

which operates under the auspices of 

the SAB. 

Request for Nominations: The SAB 

Staff Office is seeking nominations of 

experts to form the SAB 2015 STAA 

Committee in the following disciplines 

as they relate to human health and the 

environment: Air pollution exposure; 

chemistry and geochemistry; chemical 

engineering; civil and environmental 

engineering; ecology; environmental 

economics; groundwater and surface 

water contaminant fate and transport; 

human health effects and risk 

assessment; hydrology and 

hydrogeology; monitoring and 

measurement methods for air and water; 

risk management; transport and fate of 

contaminants; water quality; and water 

and wastewater treatment processes. 

The SAB Staff Office is especially 

interested in scientists with expertise 

described above who have knowledge 

and experience in air quality; aquatic 

and ecological toxicology; chemical 

safety; climate change; community 

environmental health; dosimetry and 

inhalation toxicology; drinking water; 

ecological modeling; ecological risk 

assessment; 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 2015 STAA Committee identified in 

this notice. Nominations should be 

submitted in electronic format 

(preferred over hard copy) following the 

instructions for Nomination to Advisory 

Panels and Ad Hoc Committees, 

provided on the SAB Web site (see the 

‘‘Nomination of Experts’’ link on the 

blue navigational bar at http://

www.epa.gov/sab). To receive full 

consideration, nominations should 

include the information requested 

below. 

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 Web site, should contact Mr. 

Edward Hanlon as indicated above in 

this notice. Nominations should be 

submitted in time to arrive no later than 

December 19, 2014. EPA values and 

welcomes diversity. In an effort to 

obtain nominations of diverse 

candidates, EPA encourages 

nominations of women and men of all 

racial and ethnic groups. 

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 Web site 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 to 

adequately address the charge. 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 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 Special Government 

Employees Serving on Federal Advisory 

Committees at the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency’’ (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. 

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 Web site at http://

www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf. 

Dated: November 20, 2014. 

Thomas Brennan, 

Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board 

Staff Office. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28157 Filed 11–26–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS 

ADVISORY BOARD 

Notice of Publication of Federal 

Accounting Standards Advisory Board 

(FASAB) Annual Report and ThreeYear Plan 

AGENCY: Federal Accounting Standards 

Advisory Board. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Board Action: Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 

3511(d), the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463), as 

amended, and the FASAB Rules of 

Procedure, as amended in October, 

2010, notice is hereby given that the 

Federal Accounting Standards Advisory 

Board (FASAB) has published The 

Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2014 and 

Three-Year Plan. The combined report 

allows stakeholders to consider 

FASAB’s progress and invites them to 

advise the Board about its plans. Your 

views regarding the content of the 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES