Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2016 / Notices 10619 

• Letter(s) of recommendation from a 

third party supporting the nomination. 

For further questions regarding this 

notice, please contact Lara P. Phelps at 

(919) 541–5544 or phelps.lara@epa.gov. 

Dated: February 23, 2016. 

Thomas Burke, 

EPA Science Advisor. 

[FR Doc. 2016–04445 Filed 2–29–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9942–97–OA] 

Notification of a Public Meeting of the 

Chartered Science Advisory Board 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board 

(SAB) Staff Office announces a public 

meeting of the chartered SAB to: (1) 

Conduct a quality review of a draft SAB 

report on an accounting framework for 

biogenic carbon dioxide emissions; (2) 

discuss information provided by the 

EPA on planned actions in the Fall 2015 

semi-annual regulatory agenda and their 

supporting science; and (3) receive 

briefings from the EPA Office of 

Research and Development and the 

Office of the Science Advisor. 

DATES: The public meeting will be held 

on Thursday, March 31, 2016, from 1:30 

p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday April 1, 

2016, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the Westin Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson 

Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any 

member of the public who wants further 

information concerning the meeting 

may contact Mr. Thomas Carpenter, 

Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA 

Science Advisory Board (1400R), U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460; via telephone/voice mail 

(202) 564–4885, or email at 

carpenter.thomas@epa.gov. General 

information concerning the SAB can be 

found on the EPA Web site at http://

www.epa.gov/sab. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: 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 scientific and 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 will 

hold a public meeting to discuss and 

deliberate on the topics below. 

(1) Quality Review of a Draft SAB 

Review Report on the Framework for 

Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions From 

Stationary Sources 

In 2012, the SAB completed a review 

of the first draft accounting framework 

addressing scientific and technical 

issues associated with biogenic carbon 

dioxide (CO2) emissions, Accounting 

Framework for Biogenic CO2 Emissions 

from Stationary Sources (September 

2011). The EPA subsequently revised 

the 2011 framework and requested the 

SAB to conduct a review of the 

Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2

Emissions from Stationary Sources 

(November 2014). The purpose of the 

2014 framework is to develop a method 

for calculating the adjustment, or 

Biogenic Assessment Factor (BAF), for 

carbon emissions associated with the 

combustion of biogenic feedstocks 

taking into account the biological 

carbon cycle effects associated with 

their growth, harvest and processing. 

The SAB convened the Biogenic Carbon 

Emissions Panel to review the 

framework. 

The chartered SAB will conduct a 

quality review of the panel’s draft report 

before it is transmitted to the EPA 

Administrator. The SAB quality review 

process ensures that all draft reports 

developed by SAB panels, committees 

or workgroups are reviewed and 

approved by the Chartered SAB before 

being finalized and transmitted to the 

EPA Administrator. These reviews are 

conducted in a public meeting as 

required by FACA. Background on the 

current advisory activity, Biogenic 

Carbon Dioxide Emissions from 

Stationary Sources—Assessment 

Framework can be found on the SAB 

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

sabproduct.nsf/fedrgstr_activites/

Biogenic%20CO2%20Framework?

OpenDocument. 

(2) Discussion of Information in the 

Agency’s Semiannual Regulatory 

Agenda 

As part of the EPA’s effort to routinely 

inform the SAB about proposed and 

planned agency actions that have a 

scientific or technical basis, the agency 

provided notice to the SAB that the 

Office of Management and Budget 

published the ‘‘Unified (Regulatory) 

Agenda’’ on the Web on November 20, 

2015 available at http://

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/

eAgendaMain. 

The SAB convened a Work Group to 

review information provided in the 

agency’s Fall 2015 regulatory agenda 

regarding EPA planned actions and their 

supporting science. The SAB will 

discuss recommendations and 

information developed by the Work 

Group regarding the adequacy of the 

science supporting the planned actions. 

Information about this advisory activity 

can be found on the Web at http://

yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/

fedrgstr_activites/SAB%20Fall%20

2015%20Reg%20

Agenda?OpenDocument. 

Availability of Meeting Materials: A 

meeting agenda and other materials for 

the meeting will be placed on the SAB 

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

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 the EPA. Members of the 

public can submit relevant comments 

pertaining to the EPA’s charge, meeting 

materials, or the group providing 

advice. 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 comment should contact the 

DFO directly. 

Oral Statements: In general, 

individuals or groups requesting an oral 

presentation at a public meeting will be 

limited to five minutes. Persons 

interested in providing oral statements 

at the March 31–April 1, 2016, meeting 

should contact Mr. Thomas Carpenter, 

DFO, in writing (preferably via email) at 

the contact information noted above by 

March 23, 2016 to be placed on the list 

of registered speakers. Written 

Statements: Written statements for the 

March 31–April 1, 2016, meeting should 

be received in the SAB Staff Office by 

March 23, 2016, so that the information 

can be made available to the SAB for its 

consideration prior to the meeting. 

Written statements should be supplied 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
10620 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2016 / Notices 

to the DFO at the contact information 

above via email (preferred) or in hard 

copy with original signature. Submitters 

are requested to provide a signed and 

unsigned version of each document 

because the SAB Staff Office does not 

publish documents with signatures on 

its Web sites. Members of the public 

should be aware that their personal 

contact information, if included in any 

written comments, may be posted to the 

SAB Web site. Copyrighted material will 

not be posted without explicit 

permission of the copyright holder. 

Accessibility: For information on 

access or services for individuals with 

disabilities, please contact Mr. 

Carpenter at the phone number or email 

address noted above, preferably at least 

ten days prior to the meeting, to give the 

EPA as much time as possible to process 

your request. 

Dated: February 22, 2016. 

Christopher Zarba, 

Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 

Office. 

[FR Doc. 2016–04451 Filed 2–29–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2015–0335; FRL–9943–13– 

OW] 

Request for Public Comment on the 

Draft EPA–USGS Technical Report: 

Protecting Aquatic Life From Effects of 

Hydrologic Alteration 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) and United States 

Geological Survey (USGS). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) and the United States 

Geological Survey are releasing a draft 

technical report: Protecting Aquatic Life 

from Effects of Hydrologic Alteration, 

for a 60-day public comment period. 

This report was developed because 

hydrologic alteration can be a 

contributor of impairment for water 

bodies that are designated to support 

aquatic life. Stresses on aquatic life 

associated with hydrologic alteration 

may be further exacerbated through 

climate change. Recent climate trends 

have included the change in frequency 

and duration of extreme weather events, 

such as droughts and floods, which can 

have an impact on flow and affect 

aquatic life. 

The report is a nonprescriptive 

framework with information to help 

states, tribes, territories, water resource 

managers, and other stakeholders 

responsible for the maintenance of 

hydrologic flow regime to quantify flow 

targets for the preservation of aquatic 

life and habitat. This report also 

provides information on the 

relationship between hydrologic 

condition and water quality and gives 

examples of what some states and 

authorized tribes have done to address 

flow concerns using the Clean Water 

Act. The framework can also be used to 

translate narrative criteria and develop 

flow targets to protect aquatic life and 

habitat. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 2, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2015–0335, to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or withdrawn. EPA may publish 

any comment received to its public 

docket. Do not submit electronically any 

information you consider to be 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Multimedia 

submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be 

accompanied by a written comment. 

The written comment is considered the 

official comment and should include 

discussion of all points you wish to 

make. EPA will generally not consider 

comments or comment contents located 

outside of the primary submission (i.e., 

on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 

system). For additional submission 

methods, the full EPA public comment 

policy, information about CBI or 

multimedia submissions, and general 

guidance on making effective 

comments, please visit http://

www2.epa.gov/dockets/commentingepa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Diana Eignor, Health and Ecological 

Criteria Division, Office of Water (Mail 

Code 4304T), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 

number: (202) 566–1143; email address: 

eignor.diana@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. How can I Get Copies of This 

Document and Other Related 

Information? 

1. Docket: All 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 in www.regulations.gov or 

in hard copy at the Water Docket, EPA/ 

DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC. The 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, 

and the telephone number for the Water 

Docket is (202) 566–2426. For additional 

information about EPA’s public docket, 

visit EPA Docket Center homepage at 

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/

dockets.htm. 

II. How will this document be used? 

This draft report is a nonprescriptive 

framework that can be used to help 

quantify targets for flow regime 

components that are protective of 

aquatic life and their habitats. Flow 

targets can help states, tribes, and 

territories to prepare for changes in 

historic flow patterns. Maintaining flow 

targets may help increase a stream’s 

resilience to climate change by reducing 

or avoiding intensification of existing 

stresses. This document, even after 

issued in final form, is not a rule, and 

it is therefore not mandatory for states 

and authorized tribes to adopt this 

framework into their water quality 

standards. Once the comment period 

has ended, EPA and the USGS will 

consider the comments, revise the 

document, as appropriate, and then 

publish a final document that will serve 

as a source of information for states, 

tribes, territories, and other 

stakeholders. 

III. Solicitation of Scientific Views 

EPA and USGS are soliciting 

additional scientific views, data, and 

information regarding the science and 

technical approach used in the 

derivation of this draft technical 

document on hydrologic alteration. 

IV. Additional Information 

EPA and USGS each conducted 

internal peer reviews of the report, and 

EPA managed a contractor-led 

independent external peer review of the 

Draft EPA–USGS Technical Report: 

Protecting Aquatic Life from Effects of 

Hydrologic Alteration. EPA will make 

the external peer review comments and 

Agency responses to these comments 

available in the docket with the revised 

draft technical document at http://

www.regulations.gov. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES