Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 37 / Thursday, February 26, 2009 / Notices 8809 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLAK910000 L13100000.DB0000 

LXSINSSI0000] 

Second Call for Nominations: North 

Slope Science Initiative, Science 

Technical Advisory Panel, Alaska 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Second call for nominations. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces a 

second call for nominations to serve on 

the North Slope Science Initiative, 

Science Technical Advisory Panel in 

accordance with the provisions of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA) of 1972, 5 U.S.C. Appendix. 

Nominees who answered the first call 

for nominations published in Federal 

Register, Vol. 73, No. 230, Nov. 28, 

2008; do not need to reapply under this 

Notice. 

DATES: Submit a completed nomination 

form and nomination letter to the 

address listed below no later than 

March 30, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

F. Payne, Executive Director; North 

Slope Science Initiative; c/o Bureau of 

Land Management, Alaska State Office 

AK–910; 222 West 7th Avenue, #13; 

Anchorage, Alaska 99513; phone (907) 

271–3431, or john_f_payne@blm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the Science Technical 

Advisory Panel is to advise the North 

Slope Science Oversight Group on 

issues such as identifying and 

prioritizing inventory, monitoring and 

research needs, and providing other 

scientific information as requested by 

the Oversight Group. The Oversight 

Group consists of the Alaska Regional 

Directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, National Park Service, Minerals 

Management Service, and National 

Marine Fisheries Service; the BLMAlaska State Director; the 

Commissioners of the Alaska 

Departments of Fish and Game and 

Natural Resources; the Mayor of the 

North Slope Borough; and the president 

of the Arctic Slope Regional 

Corporation. Advisory to the Oversight 

Group are the Regional Executive, U.S. 

Geological Survey; Alaska Director, U.S. 

Arctic Research Commission; and the 

Regional Directors of the National 

Weather Service and the U.S. 

Department of Energy, National Energy 

Technology Laboratory. 

The Science Technical Advisory 

Panel shall consist of a representative 

group of not more than 15 scientists and 

technical experts from diverse 

professions and interests, including the 

oil and gas industry, subsistence users, 

Alaska Native entities, conservation 

organizations, and academia, as 

determined by the Secretary of the 

Interior. The members will be selected 

from among, but not limited to, the 

following disciplines: North Slope 

traditional and local knowledge, 

landscape ecology, petroleum 

engineering, civil engineering, geology, 

botany, hydrology, limnology, habitat 

biology, wildlife biology, biometrics, 

sociology, cultural anthropology, 

economics, ornithology, oceanography, 

fisheries biology, and climatology. 

The duties of the Science Technical 

Advisory Panel are solely advisory to 

the Oversight Group, which will give 

direction to the Science Panel regarding 

priorities for scientific information 

needed for Department of the Interior 

management decisions. Duties could 

include the following: 

a. Advise the Oversight Group on 

science planning and relevant research 

and monitoring projects; 

b. Advise the Oversight Group on 

scientific information relevant to the 

Oversight Group’s mission; 

c. Review selected reports to advise 

the Oversight Group on their content 

and relevance; 

d. Review ongoing scientific programs 

of North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI) 

member organizations at the request of 

the member organizations to promote 

compatibility in methodologies and 

compilation of data; 

e. Advise the Oversight Group on how 

to ensure that scientific products 

generated through NSSI activities are of 

the highest technical quality; 

f. Periodically review the North Slope 

Science Plan and provide 

recommendations for changes to the 

Oversight Group; 

g. Provide recommendations to the 

Oversight Group for proposed NSSIfunded inventory, monitoring and 

research activities; 

h. Provide other scientific advice as 

requested by the Oversight Group; and 

i. Coordinate with groups and 

committees appointed or requested by 

the Oversight Group to provide science 

advice, as needed. 

The Executive Director of the North 

Slope Science Initiative shall serve as 

the Designated Federal Officer of the 

Science Technical Advisory Panel. 

Qualifications and Procedures 

Required for Nomination: Members will 

be professionals with advanced degrees 

and a minimum of five years of work 

experience in Alaska in their field of 

expertise, preferably in the North Slope 

region. Professionals will be selected 

from among those disciplines and 

entities described above. Members will 

be appointed for three-year terms. At the 

discretion of the Secretary of the 

Interior, Science Technical Advisory 

Panel members may be reappointed 

indefinitely. 

How To Nominate 

Any individual or organization may 

nominate one or more people to serve 

on the Science Technical Advisory 

Panel or individuals may nominate 

themselves to the Science Technical 

Advisory Panel. You may obtain 

nomination forms from the Executive 

Director, North Slope Science Initiative 

(see address above), or from http:// 

www.northslope.org. To make a 

nomination, or self nominate, you must 

submit a completed nomination form 

with a letter of reference that describes 

the nominee’s qualifications to serve on 

the Science Technical Advisory Panel. 

The professional discipline the nominee 

would like to represent should be 

identified in the letter of nomination 

and in the nomination form. Nominees 

may be scientists and technical experts 

from diverse professions and interests, 

including the oil and gas industry, 

subsistence users, Alaska Native 

entities, conservation organizations, and 

academia. Nominees selected to serve 

on the Science Technical Advisory 

Panel will serve only in their 

professional capacity and will not 

represent any group, agency or entity 

with whom they may be affiliated. 

The Executive Director shall collect 

the nomination forms and letters of 

reference and distribute them to the 

Oversight Group of the North Slope 

Science Initiative. The Oversight Group 

will submit its recommendations 

through the Bureau of Land 

Management to the Secretary of the 

Interior, who has the responsibility for 

making the appointments. Members of 

the Science Technical Advisory Panel 

will serve without monetary 

compensation. Members will be 

reimbursed for travel and per diem 

expenses as appropriate, at the current 

rate for Government employees. 

Certification 

I hereby certify that the establishment 

of the Science Technical Advisory Panel 

for the North Slope Science Initiative is 

necessary and in the public interest, and 

in compliance with Section 348, Energy 

Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109–58). 

Dated: February 18, 2009. 

Thomas P. Lonnie, 

State Director. 

[FR Doc. E9–4140 Filed 2–25–09; 8:45 am] 

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