[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5589-5590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2250]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9109-1]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Request for Public 
Nominations of Experts To Conduct a Peer Review of EPA's Draft Document 
``An Advisory Value for Conductivity Using Field Data: An Adaptation of 
the U.S. EPA's Standard Methodology for Deriving Water Quality 
Criteria''

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Request for additional public nominations.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is seeking 
public nomination of experts to conduct a peer review of EPA's draft 
document ``An Advisory Value for Conductivity using Field Data: An 
Adaptation of the U.S. EPA's Standard Methodology for Deriving Water 
Quality Criteria''

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by February 17, 2010 per the 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this request for nominations may contact 
Mr. Edward Hanlon, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), SAB Staff Office, 
by telephone/voice mail at (202) 343-9946; by fax at (202) 233-0643 or 
via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bbd3dad5d7d4d595dedfccdac9dffbdecbda95dcd4cd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="046c656a686b6a2a616073657660446174652a636b72">[email protected]</span></a>. General information concerning the 
EPA Science Advisory Board can be found at the EPA SAB Web site at: 
http://www.epa.gov/sab. Any inquiry regarding EPA's Office of Research 
and Development (ORD) draft document entitled ``An Advisory Value for 
Conductivity using Field Data: An Adaptation of the U.S. EPA's Standard 
Methodology for Deriving Water Quality Criteria'' should be directed to 
Dr. Michael Slimak, ORD's Associate Director of Ecology, National 
Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), who may be contacted via 
telephone at (703) 347-8524 or by e-mail at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#82f1eeebefe3e9acefebe1eae3e7eec2e7f2e3ace5edf4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d4a7b8bdb9b5bffab9bdb7bcb5b1b894b1a4b5fab3bba2">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Background: Recent published scientific information indicates that 
discharges from mountaintop mining and valley-fill operations in 
Southern Appalachia may be linked to degraded water quality and adverse 
impacts on in-stream biota. Discharges from surface coal mining, 
valley-fills and associated operations are regulated under the Clean 
Water Act (CWA) and under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 
Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Under the CWA, discharges from mountaintop mining

[[Page 5590]]

and valley-fill operations require an NPDES permit that either meets 
technology-based effluent limits or water quality-based limits that are 
developed from ambient water quality criteria. Ambient Water Quality 
Criteria are developed for specific pollutants, and their application 
takes into account the conditions of a waterbody that are designed to 
protect the designated uses of the waterbody.
    EPA's ORD has developed a report that uses field data to derive an 
aquatic life advisory value for conductivity (a measure of salinity) 
that may be applied to waters in the Appalachian Region that are 
dominated by salts of SO<INF>4</INF><SUP>2-</SUP> and HCO<INF>3-</INF>. 
This advisory value is intended to protect the biological integrity of 
waters in the region. It is derived by a method modeled on EPA's 
standard methodology for deriving water quality criteria. In 
particular, the methodology was adapted for use of field data.
    ORD is requesting the SAB to peer review this draft conductivity 
document. In a Federal Register Notice (Volume 74, Number 185, Pages 
48952--48953) published on September 25, 2009, the SAB Staff Office 
solicited public nominations for a proposed SAB expert Panel to provide 
advice on ORD's draft assessment of ecological impacts related to 
mountaintop mining and valley-fill operations. Since the mountaintop 
mining assessment report and the conductivity advisory document are 
related, the SAB Staff Office is forming one expert panel under the 
auspices of the SAB to cover the necessary expertise for the review of 
both reports.
    Request for Nominations: In addition to the expertise previously 
sought in the above noted Federal Register Notice, the SAB Staff office 
is seeking public nominations of experts with nationally recognized 
expertise, knowledge, and experience in statistics with emphasis in 
management of empirical data sets associated with aquatic ecology or 
water quality criteria.
    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 this expert ad hoc 
Panel. 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 instructions 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 Mr. Edward Hanlon, DFO, as indicated above in this notice. 
Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
February 17, 2010.
    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 to the September 25, 
2009 Federal Register Notice (Volume 74, Number 185, Pages 48952--
48953), and additional experts identified by the SAB Staff, will be 
posted in an Updated List of Candidates on the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this Updated List of Candidates 
will be accepted for 21 calendar 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 subcommittee or 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 
establishing this expert ad hoc Panel to provide advice on the 
ecological impacts related to mountaintop mining and valley-fill 
operations and on deriving an aquatic life ambient water quality 
advisory value for conductivity using field data, 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 lack of 
impartiality; and (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and 
advisory panels; and, for the Panel as a whole, (f) diversity of 
scientific expertise and viewpoints. 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 SAB Staff Office's evaluation of an absence of financial 
conflicts of interest will include a review of 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 includes 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. The form may be viewed and downloaded from the following 
URL address http://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/epaform3110-48.pdf.
    The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects 
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://www.epa.gov/sab/pdf/ec02010.pdf.

    Dated: January 27, 2010.
Anthony F. Maciorowski,
Deputy Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-2250 Filed 2-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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