80 FR 43086 - FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel; Notice of Public Meeting

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 139 (July 21, 2015)

There will be a 4-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to consider and review Development of a Spatial Aquatic Model (SAM) for Pesticide Risk Assessment.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 139 (Tuesday, July 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43086-43088]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17854]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0424; FRL-9929-50]


FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel; Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: There will be a 4-day meeting of the Federal Insecticide, 
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (FIFRA SAP) to 
consider and review Development of a Spatial Aquatic Model (SAM) for 
Pesticide Risk Assessment.

DATES: The meeting will be held on September 15-18, 2015, from 
approximately 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
    Comments. The Agency encourages written comments be submitted on or 
before September 1, 2015, and requests for oral comments be submitted 
on or before September 8, 2015. However, written comments and requests 
to make oral comments may be submitted until the date of the meeting, 
but anyone submitting written comments after September 1, 2015, should 
contact the Designated Federal Official (DFO) listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT. For additional instructions, see Unit I.C. of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
    Nominations. Nominations of candidates to serve as ad hoc members 
of FIFRA SAP for this meeting should be provided on or before August 5, 
2015.
    Webcast. This meeting may be webcast. Please refer to the FIFRA SAP 
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap for information on how to 
access the webcast. Please note that the webcast is a supplementary 
public process provided only for convenience. If difficulties arise 
resulting in webcasting outages, the meeting will continue as planned.
    Special accommodations. For information on access or services for 
individuals with disabilities, and to request accommodation of a 
disability, please contact the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT at least 10 days prior to the meeting to give EPA as much time 
as possible to process your request.

ADDRESSES: Meeting: The meeting will be held at the Environmental 
Protection Agency, Conference Center, Lobby Level, One Potomac Yard 
(South Bldg.), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202.
    Comments. Submit your comments, identified by docket identification 
(ID) number EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0424, by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit 
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute.
     Mail: OPP Docket, Environmental Protection Agency Docket 
Center (EPA/DC), (28221T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460-0001.
     Hand Delivery: To make special arrangements for hand 
delivery or delivery of boxed information, please follow the 
instructions at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/contacts.html.
    Additional instructions on commenting or visiting the docket, along 
with more information about dockets generally, is available at http://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Nominations, requests to present oral comments, and requests for 
special accommodations: Submit nominations to serve as ad hoc members 
of FIFRA SAP, requests for special accommodations, or requests to 
present oral comments to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fred Jenkins, DFO, Office of Science 
Coordination and Policy (7201M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; telephone number:

[[Page 43087]]

(202) 564-3327; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    This action is directed to the public in general. This action may, 
however, be of interest to persons who are or may be required to 
conduct testing of chemical substances under the Federal Food, Drug, 
and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and FIFRA. Since other entities may also be 
interested, the Agency has not attempted to describe all the specific 
entities that may be affected by this action.

B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI information to EPA through 
regulations.gov or email. If your comments contain any information that 
you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected, please contact the DFO 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to obtain special 
instructions before submitting your comments.
    2. Tips for preparing your comments. When preparing and submitting 
your comments, see the commenting tips at http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html.

C. How may I participate in this meeting?

    You may participate in this meeting by following the instructions 
in this unit. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, it is imperative that 
you identify docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0424 in the subject line 
on the first page of your request.
    1. Written comments. The Agency encourages written comments be 
submitted, using the instructions in ADDRESSES and Unit I.B., on or 
before September 1, 2015, to provide FIFRA SAP the time necessary to 
consider and review the written comments. Written comments are accepted 
until the date of the meeting; however, anyone submitting written 
comments after September 1, 2015, should contact the DFO listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Anyone submitting written comments at 
the meeting should bring 20 copies for distribution to FIFRA SAP.
    2. Oral comments. The Agency encourages each individual or group 
wishing to make brief oral comments to FIFRA SAP submit their request 
to the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before 
September 8, 2015, to be included on the meeting agenda. Requests to 
present oral comments will be accepted until the date of the meeting 
and, to the extent that time permits, the Chair of FIFRA SAP may permit 
the presentation of oral comments at the meeting by interested persons 
who have not previously requested time. The request should identify the 
name of the individual making the presentation, the organization (if 
any) the individual will represent, and any requirements for 
audiovisual equipment. Oral comments before FIFRA SAP are limited to 
approximately 5 minutes unless prior arrangements have been made. In 
addition, each speaker should bring 20 copies of his or her comments 
and presentation for distribution to FIFRA SAP at the meeting.
    3. Seating at the meeting. Seating at the meeting will be open and 
on a first-come basis.
    4. Request for nominations to serve as ad hoc members of FIFRA SAP 
for this meeting. As part of a broader process for developing a pool of 
candidates for each meeting, FIFRA SAP staff routinely solicits the 
stakeholder community for nominations of prospective candidates for 
service as ad hoc members of FIFRA SAP. Any interested person or 
organization may nominate qualified individuals to be considered as 
prospective candidates for a specific meeting. Individuals nominated 
for this meeting should have expertise in one or more of the following 
areas: Aquatic Exposure Modeling, Pesticide Fate and Transport 
Modeling, Surface Water Hydrology, Watershed Modeling, Water Quality 
Modeling, Stream Transport Modeling, Geographic Information Systems 
(GIS), Agronomic Practices, Crop Growth Modeling, Climate Modeling. 
Nominees should be scientists who have sufficient professional 
qualifications, including training and experience, to be capable of 
providing expert comments on the scientific issues for this meeting. 
Nominees should be identified by name, occupation, position, address, 
email address, and telephone number. Nominations should be provided to 
the DFO listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT on or before 
August 5, 2015. The Agency will consider all nominations of prospective 
candidates for this meeting that are received on or before that date. 
However, final selection of ad hoc members for this meeting is a 
discretionary function of the Agency.
    The selection of scientists to serve on the FIFRA SAP is based on 
the function of the Panel and the expertise needed to address the 
Agency's charge to the Panel. No interested scientists shall be 
ineligible to serve by reason of their membership on any other advisory 
committee to a Federal department or agency or their employment by a 
Federal department or agency, except EPA. Other factors considered 
during the selection process include availability of the potential 
Panel member to fully participate in the Panel's reviews, absence of 
any conflicts of interest or appearance of lack of impartiality, 
independence with respect to the matters under review, and lack of 
bias. Although financial conflicts of interest, the appearance of lack 
of impartiality, lack of independence, and bias may result in 
disqualification, the absence of such concerns does not assure that a 
candidate will be selected to serve on the FIFRA SAP. Numerous 
qualified candidates are identified for each Panel. Therefore, 
selection decisions involve carefully weighing a number of factors 
including the candidates' areas of expertise and professional 
qualifications and achieving an overall balance of different scientific 
perspectives on the Panel. The Agency anticipates selecting 
approximately eight ad hoc scientists to have the collective breadth of 
experience needed to address the Agency's charge for this meeting,
    FIFRA SAP members are subject to the provisions of 5 CFR part 
2634--Executive Branch Financial Disclosure, Qualified Trusts, and 
Certificates of Divestiture, as supplemented by EPA in 5 CFR part 6401. 
In anticipation of this requirement, prospective candidates for service 
on FIFRA SAP will be asked to submit confidential financial information 
which shall fully disclose, among other financial interests, the 
candidate's employment, stocks, and bonds, and where applicable, 
sources of research support. EPA will evaluate the candidates financial 
disclosure form to assess whether there are financial conflicts of 
interest, appearance of a lack of impartiality, or any prior 
involvement with the development of the documents under consideration 
(including previous scientific peer review) before the candidate is 
considered further for service on FIFRA SAP. Those who are selected 
from the pool of prospective candidates will be asked to attend the 
public meetings and to participate in the discussion of key issues and 
assumptions at these meetings. In addition, they will be asked to 
review and to help finalize the meeting minutes. The list of FIFRA SAP 
members participating at this meeting will be posted on the FIFRA SAP 
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap or may be obtained from the 
OPP Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 43088]]

II. Background

A. Purpose of FIFRA SAP

    FIFRA SAP serves as the primary scientific peer review mechanism of 
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) and is 
structured to provide scientific advice, information and 
recommendations to the EPA Administrator on pesticides and pesticide-
related issues as to the impact of regulatory actions on health and the 
environment. FIFRA SAP is a Federal advisory committee established in 
1975 under FIFRA that operates in accordance with requirements of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix). FIFRA SAP is 
composed of a permanent panel consisting of seven members who are 
appointed by the EPA Administrator from nominees provided by the 
National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. 
FIFRA established a Science Review Board (SRB) consisting of at least 
60 scientists who are available to FIFRA SAP on an ad hoc basis to 
assist in reviews conducted by FIFRA SAP. As a scientific peer review 
mechanism, FIFRA SAP provides comments, evaluations, and 
recommendations to improve the effectiveness and quality of analyses 
made by Agency scientists. Members of FIFRA SAP are scientists who have 
sufficient professional qualifications, including training and 
experience, to provide expert advice and recommendation to the Agency.

B. Public Meeting

    The USEPA Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) conducts aquatic 
exposure assessments to determine whether pesticides that are applied 
according to label directions can result in water concentrations that 
may adversely impact human health or aquatic organisms. If estimated 
aquatic exposures indicate a potential for adverse effects, the 
assessment needs to characterize the likelihood of occurrence, 
including the range in magnitude of exposure, the frequency of 
exceeding toxicity thresholds, the location of likely exposures, and 
the potential for exposure to populations at risk.
    The goal of SAM is to improve on OPP's existing aquatic exposure 
assessments by providing more systematic spatial- and temporal contexts 
for aquatic exposure assessments for both human health (drinking water) 
and aquatic organisms. Such context is needed to address common risk 
management questions regarding the likelihood of the exposure that may 
exceed toxicity thresholds of concern and, should such exposures occur, 
how often, how long, and where adverse impacts from pesticides in water 
overlap with populations at risk. Though much of SAM is based upon 
OPP's traditional water models (i.e., Surface Water Concentration 
Calculator [SWCC] comprised of the Pesticide Root Zone Model version 5 
[PRZM5] and Variable Volume Water Model [VVWM]), the model is new in 
its spatial approach to modeling the fate and transport of pesticides 
and has been optimized for speed and efficiency.

C. FIFRA SAP Documents and Meeting Minutes

    EPA's background paper, related supporting materials, charge/
questions to FIFRA SAP, FIFRA SAP composition (i.e., members and ad hoc 
members for this meeting), and the meeting agenda will be available by 
approximately mid-August. In addition, the Agency may provide 
additional background documents as the materials become available. You 
may obtain electronic copies of these documents, and certain other 
related documents that might be available at http://www.regulations.gov 
and the FIFRA SAP Web site at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/sap.
    FIFRA SAP will prepare meeting minutes summarizing its 
recommendations to the Agency approximately 90 days after the meeting. 
The meeting minutes will be posted on the FIFRA SAP Web site or may be 
obtained from the OPP Docket at http://www.regulations.gov.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et. seq.; 21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.

    Dated: July 7, 2015.
David J. Dix,
Director, Office of Science Coordination and Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-17854 Filed 7-20-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P