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[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 208 (Thursday, October 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74782-74783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25930]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9954-54-OA]

Request for Nominations of Experts To Augment the Science 
Advisory Board Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee for the Review of 
EPA Draft Toxicological Reviews for tert-Butyl Alcohol (tert-butanol) 
and Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE)

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 augment the SAB Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee 
(CAAC) for the peer review of two EPA Draft Toxicological Review: (1) 
The Toxicological Review of tert-Butyl Alcohol (tert-butanol) and (2) 
Toxicological Review for Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE) in Support 
of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System 
(IRIS).

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 17, 2016 per the 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:  Any member of the public wishing further 
information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations may 
contact the Designated Federal Officer for the review, as identified 
below. Nominators unable to submit nominations electronically as 
described below may contact the Designated Federal Officer for 
assistance. General information concerning the EPA SAB can be found at 
the EPA SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab.

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 Chemical 
Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) is a subcommittee of the SAB that 
provides advice through the chartered SAB regarding assessments of 
environmental chemicals available on EPA's Integrated Risk Information 
System (IRIS). The SAB and the CAAC, augmented with additional experts, 
will comply with the

[[Page 74783]]

provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) in the 
EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) develops toxicological 
reviews/assessments for various chemicals for inclusion in the IRIS 
database. NCEA is developing a draft Toxicological Review of tert-Butyl 
Alcohol (tert-butanol) and Toxicological Review of Ethyl Tertiary Butyl 
Ether (ETBE) and has asked the SAB to conduct the peer review of these 
draft documents. Because tert-butanol is a metabolite of ETBE, the peer 
reviews will be conducted together. The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
experts to augment the SAB CAAC for the review of tert-butanol and 
ETBE.
    These two draft EPA documents represent new IRIS assessments of 
tert-butanol and ETBE. Experimental animal data and other relevant data 
from studies of the noncancer and cancer effects of tert-butanol and 
ETBE are evaluated in these assessments. These assessments include an 
oral reference dose (RfD) and inhalation reference concentration (RfC) 
for noncancer effects as well as a cancer assessment. The cancer 
assessments characterize tert-butanol and ETBE as having suggestive 
evidence of carcinogenic potential to humans and include oral cancer 
slope factors for both compounds and an inhalation unit risk for ETBE.
    Technical Contact for EPA's draft assessments: For information 
concerning the EPA draft assessments, please contact Gina Perovich, 
National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and 
Development, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Mail Code 8601P, 
Washington, DC 20460, phone (703) 347-8656 or via email at 
perovich.gina@epa.gov.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists 
with demonstrated expertise and research on tert-butanol and ETBE to 
augment the CAAC for the peer review of the tert-butanol and ETBE 
toxicological reviews. The SAB Staff Office seeks experts in one or 
more of the following areas, with a particular focus on tert-butanol 
and ETBE: Toxicology, rat nephrotoxicity, liver toxicity, reproductive 
toxicity, cancer biology, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) 
modeling, toxicokinetics, and dose-response modeling of animal data. 
Questions regarding this review should be directed to Dr. Shaunta Hill, 
Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice 
mail at (202) 564-3343, or via email at hill.shaunta@epa.gov.
    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 augmented CAAC 
review panel identified in this notice. Nominations should be submitted 
in electronic format (preferred over hard copy) using the online 
nomination form under the ``Nomination of Experts'' category at the 
bottom of the SAB home page at http://www.epa.gov/sab. To receive full 
consideration, nominations should include all of 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 Dr. Hill as noted above. Nominations should be submitted in 
time to arrive no later than November 17, 2016. 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 for 
the CAAC tert-butanol and ETBE Review Panel on the SAB Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/sab (see links under ``Public Input on Membership'' 
at the bottom of the SAB home page). 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 this expert 
panel, 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 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 
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://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/
sabproduct.nsf/WebFiles/OverviewPanelForm/$File/ec02010.pdf.

    Dated: October 18, 2016.
Khanna Johnston,
Acting Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2016-25930 Filed 10-26-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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