[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 203 (Thursday, October 21, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65014-65016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26656]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9216-4]


Science Advisory Board Staff Office Request for Nominations of 
Experts for the Consultation on Revisions to the Multi-Agency Radiation 
Survey and Site Investigation Manual

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office is 
requesting public nominations for technical experts to augment the 
SAB's Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) to conduct a consultation on 
revision to the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation 
Manual.

DATES: Nominations should be submitted by November 12, 2010 per 
instructions below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing 
further information regarding this Notice and Request for Nominations 
may contact Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), 
SAB Staff Office, by telephone/voice mail at (202) 564-2064, or via e-
mail at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5932363620363634333038377733383a32193c2938773e362f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="91fafefee8fefefcfbf8f0ffbffbf0f2fad1f4e1f0bff6fee7">[email protected]</span></a>. General

[[Page 65015]]

information concerning the EPA Science Advisory Board 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, 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. 2) and related regulations. The SAB will comply with the 
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural 
policies.
    The Federal Inter-Agency Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site 
Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) Workgroup plans to issue a Revision 2 to 
the MARSSIM. The document to be revised, ``MARSSIM, Rev.1 (2001),'' is 
available at http://www.epa.gov/radiation/marssim/obtain.html. The 
MARSSIM is the official multi-agency (U.S. EPA, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Defense) 
consensus document on planning, coordinating, evaluating and 
documenting environmental radiological surveys. The MARSSIM, Rev. 1 
(2001) provides explicit guidance to Federal agencies and other 
parties, including states, site owners, contractors and private 
entities on how to demonstrate that their site is in compliance with a 
radiation dose or risk-based regulation, otherwise known as a release 
criterion.
    Specifically, the update to the MARSSIM is anticipated to include 
incorporation of an improved treatment of measurement uncertainty, 
additional survey methods made possible by improvements in technology, 
more extensive discussion on areas of elevated activity [hotspots and 
Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) standards], and a 
variety of other improvements resulting from feedback received from 
users since issuance of the document. The planned revision reflects 
changes in science and technology, as well as twelve years of combined 
Federal experience in utilizing MARSSIM. This effort reflects a major 
extension of a multi-agency initiative to provide Federal guidance on 
determining whether a radioactively-contaminated site (including 
materials and equipment located on or used at the site) has been 
adequately cleaned up.
    To support development of this update, EPA's Office of Radiation 
and Indoor Air (ORIA), on behalf of the Federal Inter-Agency MARSSIM 
Workgroup, has requested an SAB consultation to seek advice early in 
the process for technical and scientific improvements to MARSSIM 
leading to the issuance of Revision 2. In response to ORIA's request, 
the SAB Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) will be augmented with 
additional experts to conduct this consultation.
    Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking 
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists and 
engineers with demonstrated expertise and experience in one or more of 
the following areas: Environmental monitoring and sampling, geology, 
hydrogeology, measurement protocols for radionuclides, metrology, 
radiation science and statistics.
    Additional Information: For questions concerning ``MARSSIM, Rev. 
1(2001),'' please contact Dr. Mary E. Clark of the U.S. EPA, ORIA by 
telephone at (202) 343-9348, fax at (202) 343-2395, or e-mail at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#46252a27342d682b27343f230623362768212930"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1d7e717c6f7633707c6f64785d786d7c337a726b">[email protected]</span></a>.
    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 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 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 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. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, DFO, as indicated above in this 
notice. Nominations should be submitted in time to arrive no later than 
November 12, 2010. 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 bio-sketches 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 on 
the SAB Web site at http://www.epa.gov/sab. Public comments on this 
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 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 lack of 
impartiality; and (e) skills working in committees, subcommittees and 
advisory panels; and, (f) for the Panel as a whole, diversity of 
expertise and viewpoints.
    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://

[[Page 65016]]

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: October 15, 2010.
Vanessa T. Vu,
Director, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-26656 Filed 10-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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