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EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office: Request for Nominations of Candidates for a Panel To Provide Advice on EPA's Dioxin Reassessment 

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[Federal Register: October 15, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 200)]
[Notices]
[Page 61114-61115]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15oc08-79]

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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.

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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
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 dose-response 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 dose-response 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 Dioxin-like
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

[[Page 61115]]

at http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11688. Exit Disclaimer
    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

 
 

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