82 FR 24345 - EPA's Proposed Modeling Approaches for a Health-Based Benchmark for Lead in Drinking Water-Final List of Peer Reviewers, Final Charge Questions and Notice of the Public Peer Review Meeting

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 101 (May 26, 2017)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the final peer reviewers assembled by Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG) for the external peer review of EPA's ``Proposed Modeling Approaches for a Health-Based Benchmark for Lead in Drinking Water'' (lead modeling report).

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 101 (Friday, May 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24345-24346]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10933]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0686; FRL-9962-62-OW]


EPA's Proposed Modeling Approaches for a Health-Based Benchmark 
for Lead in Drinking Water--Final List of Peer Reviewers, Final Charge 
Questions and Notice of the Public Peer Review Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of final peer reviewer selection and public peer review 
meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing 
the final peer reviewers assembled by Eastern Research Group, Inc., 
(ERG) for the external peer review of EPA's ``Proposed Modeling 
Approaches for a Health-Based Benchmark for Lead in Drinking Water'' 
(lead modeling report).

DATES: The public peer review meeting will be held on:
    1. June 27, 2017, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., eastern standard time; and
    2. June 28, 2017, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., eastern standard time.

[[Page 24346]]

    The registration deadline to attend the meeting in-person or via 
teleconference, and to request to make a brief oral statement at the 
meeting, is June 22, 2017. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 
for instructions of how to register.

ADDRESSES: The public peer review meeting will be held at the St. 
Gregory Hotel, located at 2033 M Street NW., Washington, DC. The phone 
number for the teleconference line will be provided to registered 
observers prior to the meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding logistics or 
registration for the external peer review meeting should be directed to 
ERG, 110 Hartwell Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421; by email 
[email protected] (subject line: Lead in Drinking Water Peer Review); 
or by phone: (781) 674-7362 (ask for Laurie Waite).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Registration Instructions

    To attend the peer review meeting as an observer, either in-person 
or via teleconference, register no later than June 22, 2017. You may 
register (1) online at https://projects.erg.com/conferences/peerreview/register-lead-drinkwater.htm; (2) by sending an email to 
[email protected] (subject line: Lead in Drinking Water Peer Review 
Meeting) and include your name, title and affiliation, full address, 
email and phone number, or (3) by phone at (781) 674-7362 (ask for 
Laurie Waite). Please indicate which day(s) you plan to attend the 
meeting and whether you plan to attend the meeting via teleconference 
or in-person. Space is limited and registrations will be accepted on a 
first-come, first-served basis. There will be a limited amount of time 
for oral statements from the public at the beginning of the peer review 
meeting on the first day. If you wish to make an oral statement during 
the meeting, you must notify ERG of your request to speak by 
registering no later than June 22, 2017. ERG will accept requests to 
make oral statements on a first-come, first-served basis, and may limit 
the amount of time for each speaker as well as the number of speakers 
due to time constraints. ERG will notify speakers of specific time 
limits for their oral statements prior to the meeting.

II. Information on the Draft Lead Modeling Report and Peer Review 
Charge Questions

    EPA announced the release of the draft lead modeling report and 
draft peer review charge questions for purposes of public comment on 
January 19, 2017, in the Federal Register (82 FR 6546). The original 
45-day public comment period ended on March 6, 2017, but the public 
comment period was extended 30 days to April 5, 2017, due to 
stakeholders' request. EPA will consider peer reviewer and public 
comments when finalizing the draft lead modeling report. EPA also 
obtained public comment on the draft peer review charge questions. The 
final charge questions, the draft lead modeling report and public 
comments submitted during the public comment period may be viewed at 
https://www.regulations.gov. (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0686).

III. Final List of Peer Reviewers

    Consistent with guidelines for the peer review of highly 
influential scientific assessments, EPA tasked ERG, a contractor, to 
assemble a panel of experts to evaluate the draft lead modeling report. 
ERG received 14 nominations in response to EPA's January 19, 2017, 
Federal Register notice (82 FR 6546) requesting nominations and 
identified over 40 additional potential candidates through its own 
search process. From this set, a total of 26 experts responded to ERG 
to indicate their interest in and qualifications for this review. After 
evaluating these 26 individuals against the selection criteria 
described in the Federal Register notice, ERG identified an interim 
list of 13 qualified candidates. EPA solicited public comments on the 
interim list on March 20, 2017, in the Federal Register (82 FR 14361). 
ERG considered the public comments received and consulted with EPA's 
Science Integrity Official. Considering all these inputs, ERG selected 
8 final peer reviewers who, collectively, best meet EPA's selection 
criteria, provide expertise spanning the multiple subject matter areas 
covered by the draft lead modeling report, and to the extent feasible, 
best provide a balance of perspectives. The final 8 selected peer 
reviewers are provided as follows.

Name of Peer Reviewer, Degree, Place of Employment

1. Panos Georgopoulos, Ph.D., Rutgers University
2. Philip Goodrum, Ph.D., Integral Consulting, Inc.
3. Ian von Lindern, Ph.D., TerraGraphics International
4. Anne Loccisano, Ph.D., Exponent, Inc.
5. Marc A. Nascarella, Ph.D., Massachusetts Department of Public Health
6. Mich[egrave]le Pr[eacute]vost, Ph.D., Polytechnique Montreal
7. P. Barry Ryan, Ph.D., Emory University
8. Kathleen Vork, Ph.D., California Office of Environment Health Hazard 
Assessment

    EPA requests that no individual or organization in any way contact 
the peer reviewers regarding the subject of the peer review meeting, 
send them written materials regarding the subject of the meeting, or 
make any offers or requests to any of them that appear to be linked to 
their participation in the peer review. ERG will direct the reviewers 
to report any such contacts directly to ERG, and take appropriate 
action in consultation with EPA to ensure the independence and 
impartiality of the peer review.

IV. Information About the Peer Review Meeting

    EPA has charged the peer reviewers with evaluating and preparing 
written comments on the draft lead modeling report. Specifically, 
reviewers will work individually to provide general comments, their 
overall impressions of the draft lead modeling report, and responses to 
the charge questions. Reviewers will also consider the appropriateness 
of the quality, accuracy, and relevance of the data in the lead 
modeling report. Prior to the meeting, ERG will provide the peer
    reviewers with a summary of the public comments (along with the 
full text of all comments) on the draft lead modeling report and peer 
review charge questions that were submitted to EPA's public docket 
(Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0686) during the public comment period.

    Dated: May 8, 2017.
Michael H. Shapiro,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2017-10933 Filed 5-25-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P