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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18293-18294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07239]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9908-96-OA]

Notification of Two Public Teleconferences of the Science 
Advisory Board Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity 
Report

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory 
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces two public teleconferences of the 
SAB Panel to discuss its draft advisory report concerning the EPA 
document titled 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).

DATES: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity 
Report will conduct public teleconferences on April 28, 2014 and May 2, 
2014. Each of the teleconferences will begin at 1:00 p.m. and end at 
5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).
    Location: The public teleconferences will be conducted by telephone 
only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing to 
obtain information concerning the public teleconferences 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; via 
telephone at (202) 564-2155 or via email at armitage.thomas@epa.gov. 
General information concerning the SAB as well as any updates 
concerning the teleconferences announced in this notice may be found on 
the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SAB was established pursuant to the 
Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization 
Act (ERDDAA), codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent 
scientific and technical advice to the 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 Panel for 
the Review of the EPA Water Body Connectivity Report will hold two 
public teleconferences to discuss its draft advisory report concerning 
the EPA document titled 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). This SAB 
panel will provide advice to the Administrator through the chartered 
SAB.
    Background: The SAB Panel for the Review of the EPA Water Body 
Connectivity Report previously held a face-to-face meeting on December 
16-18, 2013 to conduct a peer review of the EPA document titled 
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) [Federal Register Notice dated September 24, 
2013 (78 FR 58536-58537)]. Specifically, the Panel has been asked to 
evaluate: the clarity and technical accuracy of the EPA document, 
whether it includes the most relevant peer reviewed literature, whether 
the literature has been correctly summarized, and whether the findings 
and conclusions in the Report are supported by the available science. 
The purpose of the upcoming teleconferences is for the SAB Panel to 
discuss its draft advisory report. The two teleconferences will be 
conducted as one complete meeting, beginning on April 28, 2014, and 
continuing on May 2, 2014.
    Availability of Meeting Materials: Teleconference agendas, the SAB 
Panel's draft advisory report, and any other meeting materials will be 
placed on the SAB Web at http://www.epa.gov/sab in advance of the 
teleconferences. For technical questions and information concerning the 
EPA document, 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), please contact Dr. 
Laurie Alexander, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office 
of Research and Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Mail Code 8623P, Washington, DC 20460, telephone (703) 347-8630 or via 
email at alexander.laurie@epa.gov.
    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 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 EPA. Members of the 
public can submit comments for a federal advisory committee to consider 
as it develops advice for EPA. Input from the public to the SAB will 
have the most impact if it provides specific scientific or technical 
information or analysis for SAB panels to consider or if it relates to 
the clarity or accuracy of the technical information. Members of the 
public wishing to provide oral statements to the SAB Panel should 
contact the DFO directly. Oral Statements: In general, individuals or 
groups requesting an oral presentation at a public teleconference will 
be limited to three minutes. Interested parties should contact Dr. 
Thomas Armitage, DFO, in writing (preferably via email) at the contact 
information noted above by April 23,

[[Page 18294]]

2014 to be placed on the list of public speakers for April 28, 2014. 
Written Statements: Members of the public wishing to provide written 
comments may submit them to the EPA Docket electronically via 
www.regulations.gov by email, by mail, or by hand delivery/courier. 
Please follow the detailed instructions provided in the written 
statements section of this notice. Written statements should be 
received in the EPA Docket by April 23, 2014 so that the information 
may be made available to the SAB Panel for its consideration. Written 
statements should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582 
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.
     Email: Docket_OEI@epa.gov: Include the docket number in 
the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
(Mail Code: 28221T), Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582, 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, WJC West Building, 1301 
Constitution 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 accepted during the 
docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0582. Please 
ensure that your comments are submitted by April 23, 2014. Comments 
received after that date will be marked late and may not be provided to 
the SAB Panel for consideration before the April 28, 2014 
teleconference. It is EPA's policy to include all comments received in 
the public docket without change and to make the comments available on-
line 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 restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov 
or email. The 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 directly to EPA without going through 
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 comments due to technical difficulties 
and cannot contact you for clarification, the SAB Panel may not be able 
to consider your comments. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters and 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 homepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    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 materials are available either electronically at 
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the OEI Docket in the EPA 
Headquarters Docket Center.
    Accessibility: For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. Thomas Armitage at 
(202) 564-2155 or armitage.thomas@epa.gov. To request accommodation of 
a disability, please contact Dr. Armitage preferably at least ten days 
prior to the teleconference to give EPA as much time as possible to 
process your request.

    Dated: March 26, 2014.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2014-07239 Filed 3-31-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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