61114 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 15, 2008 / Notices 

by persons to generate, maintain, retain, 

or disclose or provide information to or 

for a Federal agency. This includes the 

time needed to review instructions; 

develop, acquire, install, and utilize 

technology and systems for the purposes 

of collecting, validating, and verifying 

information, processing and 

maintaining information, and disclosing 

and providing information; adjust the 

existing ways to comply with any 

previously applicable instructions and 

requirements which have subsequently 

changed; train personnel to be able to 

respond to a collection of information; 

search data sources; complete and 

review the collection of information; 

and transmit or otherwise disclose the 

information. 

Respondents/Affected Entities: 

Businesses and other for-profit. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

33. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 

3,005. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost: 

$180,288, which includes $176,791 for 

annualized labor costs and $3,497 for 

annualized capital or O&M costs. 

Changes in the Estimates: There is no 

change in the total estimated burden 

hours currently identified in the OMB 

Inventory of Approved ICR Burdens. 

Dated: October 9, 2008. 

Sara Hisel-McCoy, 

Director, Collection Strategies Division. 

[FR Doc. E8–24598 Filed 10–14–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8728–7] 

EPA Science Advisory Board Staff 

Office: Request for Nominations of 

Candidates for a Panel To Provide 

Advice on EPA’s Dioxin Reassessment 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA or Agency) 

Science Advisory Board (SAB or the 

Board) Staff Office is soliciting 

nominations of nationally recognized 

scientists for consideration of 

membership on an SAB Panel to 

provide advice on EPA’s reassessment 

of the health risks from dioxin and 

related compounds. 

DATES: Nominations should be 

submitted by November 5, 2008 per the 

instructions below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information regarding this Request for 

Nominations please contact Dr. Thomas 

Armitage, Designated Federal Officer 

(DFO), EPA Science Advisory Board 

Staff, at armitage.thomas@epa.gov or 

(202) 343–9995. General information 

concerning the SAB can be found on the 

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

sab. Any inquiry regarding EPA’s dioxin 

reassessment activity should be directed 

to Dr. Peter W. Preuss, Director, EPA 

National Center for Environmental 

Assessment at preuss.peter@epa.gov or 

(703) 347–8600. In addition, updated 

communication materials have been 

developed that provide further 

information on dioxin and EPA’s dioxin 

reassessment activity. These materials 

are available on EPA’s Web site at 

http://www.epa.gov/ncea under 

Headlines and also at http:// 

www.cfsan.fda.gov/lrd/dioxinqa.html. 

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, consultation, 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. C) and related regulations. 

Generally, SAB meetings are announced 

in the Federal Register, conducted in 

public view, and provide opportunities 

for public input during deliberations. 

Additional information about the SAB 

and its committees can be obtained on 

the SAB Web site at: http:// 

www.epa.gov/sab. 

In 1991, EPA announced that it would 

conduct a scientific reassessment of the 

potential health risks of exposure to 

dioxin and related compounds. The 

SAB provided independent peer review 

and advice on EPA’s dioxin 

reassessment. The SAB first reviewed 

the draft dioxin reassessment in 1995 

and the document was revised to 

address SAB comments. In 2000, the 

SAB reviewed the integrated summary, 

risk characterization, and other 

information on toxic equivalency of 

dioxin-like compounds. Reports of the 

findings and recommendations of these 

SAB reviews are available on the SAB 

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

reports EPA–SAB–EC–95–021 and EPA– 

SAB–EC–01–006). 

In 2003, EPA produced an external 

review draft of the multi-year 

comprehensive reassessment of dioxin 

exposure and human health effects 

(http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/ 

recordisplay.cfm?deid=87843). This 

dioxin reassessment document, titled 

Exposure and Human Health 

Reassessment of 2,3,7,8- 

Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) 

and Related Compounds, consisted of 

three parts: (1) A scientific review of 

information relating to sources and 

exposures to TCDD and other dioxins in 

the environment; (2) detailed reviews of 

scientific information on the health 

effects of TCDD, other dioxins, and 

dioxin-like compounds; and (3) an 

integrated summary and risk 

characterization for TCDD and related 

compounds. 

In 2004, EPA asked the National 

Research Council of the National 

Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review 

the 2003 dioxin reassessment document. 

The NAS was charged with reviewing 

‘‘EPA’s modeling assumptions 

(including those associated with doseresponse curve and points-of-departure 

dose ranges and associated likelihood 

estimates identified for human health 

outcomes); EPA’s quantitative 

uncertainty analysis; and EPA’s 

selection of studies as a basis for its 

assessments and gaps in scientific 

knowledge.’’ The NAS was also charged 

with addressing two points of 

controversy: (1) The scientific evidence 

for classifying dioxin as a human 

carcinogen, and (2) the validity of the 

nonthreshold low-dose linear doseresponse model and the cancer slope 

factor calculated through the use of this 

model. In addition, EPA asked the NAS 

to comment on the usefulness of toxic 

equivalency factors (TEFs) and 

uncertainties associated with their use 

in risk assessment, as well as the 

uncertainty associated with EPA’s 

approach to analysis of food sampling 

and human dietary intake data, taking 

into consideration the Institute of 

Medicine’s report Dioxin and Dioxinlike Compounds in the Food Supply: 

Strategies to Decrease Exposure. In 

2006, the NAS published its review 

titled Health Risks from Dioxin and 

Related Compounds: Evaluation of the 

EPA Reassessment. The NAS identified 

three areas that required substantial 

improvement to support a scientifically 

robust risk characterization. These three 

areas were: (1) Justification of 

approaches to dose-response modeling 

for cancer and non-cancer endpoints, (2) 

transparency and clarity in selection of 

key data sets for analysis, and (3) 

transparency, thoroughness, and clarity 

in quantitative uncertainty analysis. The 

NAS provided EPA with 

recommendations to address their key 

concerns. The full NAS report, 

including recommendations, is available 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 15, 2008 / Notices 61115 

at http://books.nap.edu/ 

catalog.php?record_id=11688. 

EPA is now beginning to prepare a 

response to the NAS review of the 

dioxin reassessment. The Agency has 

requested that the SAB form an expert 

panel to provide independent advice 

regarding the draft technical plan, the 

revised draft, and the final draft of the 

EPA response to the recommendations 

of the NAS. 

Expertise Sought: The SAB Staff 

Office requests nominations of 

recognized experts with specific 

experience and knowledge of dioxin in 

one or more of the following areas: (a) 

Epidemiology; (b) toxicology (with 

expertise in cancer, reproductive 

toxicology, developmental toxicology, 

immunotoxicology, dosimetry, 

toxicokinetics, mechanisms of action, or 

mixtures); (c) endocrinology; (d) lipid 

metabolism; (e) cardiovascular 

mechanisms of pathology; (f) risk 

assessment (with expertise in statistics, 

quantitative uncertainty analysis, or 

dose-response modeling); and (g) 

exposure assessment (with expertise in 

bioavailability, weathering, or effects of 

partitioning in environmental media). 

How to Submit Nominations: Any 

interested person or organization may 

nominate qualified individuals to be 

considered for appointment on this SAB 

Panel. Candidates may also nominate 

themselves. Nominations should be 

submitted in electronic format (which is 

preferred over hard copy) following the 

instructions for ‘‘Nominating Experts to 

Advisory Panels and Ad Hoc 

Committees Being Formed’’ provided on 

the SAB Web site. The form can be 

accessed through the ‘‘Nomination of 

Experts’’ link on the blue navigational 

bar on the SAB Web site at http:// 

www.epa.gov/sab. To receive full 

consideration, nominations should 

include all of the information requested. 

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 

curriculum vita; 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. 

Thomas Armitage, DFO, at the contact 

information provided above in this 

notice. Non-electronic submissions 

must follow the same format and 

contain the same information as the 

electronic. 

The SAB Staff Office will 

acknowledge receipt of the nomination 

and inform nominees of the panel for 

which they have been nominated. From 

the nominees identified by respondents 

to this Federal Register notice (termed 

the ‘‘Widecast’’) and other sources, the 

SAB Staff Office will develop a smaller 

subset (known as the ‘‘Short List’’) for 

more detailed consideration. The Short 

List will be posted on the SAB Web site 

at http://www.epa.gov/sab and will 

include, for each candidate, the 

nominee’s name and biosketch. Public 

comments on the Short List will be 

accepted for 21 calendar days. During 

this comment period, the public will be 

requested to provide information, 

analysis, or other documentation on 

nominees that the SAB Staff Office 

should consider in evaluating 

candidates for the Panel. 

For the SAB, a balanced panel is 

characterized by inclusion of 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. Public 

responses to the Short List candidates 

will be considered in the selection of 

the panel, along with information 

provided by candidates and information 

gathered by SAB Staff independently 

concerning the background of each 

candidate (e.g., financial disclosure 

information and computer searches to 

evaluate a nominee’s prior involvement 

with the topic under review). Specific 

criteria to be used in evaluation of an 

individual Panel member include: (a) 

Scientific and/or technical expertise, 

knowledge, and experience (primary 

factors); (b) absence of financial 

conflicts of interest; (c) scientific 

credibility and impartiality; (d) 

availability and willingness to serve; 

and (e) ability to work constructively 

and effectively in committees. 

Prospective candidates will be 

required to fill out 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 that person’s public 

responsibilities (which include 

membership on an EPA Federal 

advisory committee) and private 

interests and activities, or the 

appearance of a lack of impartiality, as 

defined by Federal regulation. Ethics 

information, including EPA Form 3110– 

48, is available on the SAB Web site at 

http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/ 

sabproduct.nsf/Web/ 

ethics?OpenDocument. 

Dated: October 6, 2008. 

Anthony F. Maciorowski, 

Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board 

Staff Office. 

[FR Doc. E8–24417 Filed 10–14–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2007–1163; FRL–8383–2] 

Guidance for Conducting Prospective 

Ground-Water Monitoring Studies, 

Response to Public Comments and 

Final Guidance; Notice of Availability 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This document announces the 

availability of the final Guidance for 

Conducting Prospective Ground-Water 

(PGW) Monitoring Studies and EPA’s 

response to public comments on the 

development of the final PGW 

monitoring studies guidance. This PGW 

monitoring study, which is required on 

a case-by-case basis, is conducted in a 

controlled setting and provides EPA 

with data for evaluating the impact of 

legal pesticide use on ground-water 

quality. The PGW guidance document 

describes how to conduct a PGW 

monitoring study, milestones for 

consulting with EPA, and how to report 

results to EPA. Data generated from 

these field studies have proven valuable 

to EPA scientists and risk managers as 

they are specifically designed to relate 

pesticide use indicated on the label to 

measurements of the pesticide and its 

degradates in ground water used as a 

source of drinking water. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Betsy Behl, Environmental Fate and 

Effects Division (7507P), Office of 

Pesticide Programs, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460– 

0001; telephone number: (703) 305– 

6128; fax number: (703) 305–6309; email address: behl.betsy@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this Action Apply to Me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you are an agricultural 

producer, food manufacturer, or 

pesticide manufacturer. Potentially 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES