Notice2022-07084
Request for Nominations for a Science Advisory Board Panel
Primary source
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Published
April 5, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific experts to form a panel to review the new cloud-based Environmental Benefits and Mapping (BenMAP) tool, an open-source computer program that calculates estimated air pollution-related deaths and illnesses and their associated economic value. BenMAP is a shorthand title referring to the EPA's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program, which has recently been updated to a new software platform built with Java code for the interface. The panel will review the latest available public release version of the BenMAP software.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19680-19681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07084]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL 9614-01-OA]
Request for Nominations for a Science Advisory Board Panel
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory
Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific
experts to form a panel to review the new cloud-based Environmental
Benefits and Mapping (BenMAP) tool, an open-source computer program
that calculates estimated air pollution-related deaths and illnesses
and their associated economic value. BenMAP is a shorthand title
referring to the EPA's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis
Program, which has recently been updated to a new software platform
built with Java code for the interface. The panel will review the
latest available public release version of the BenMAP software.
DATES: Nominations should be submitted by April 26, 2022 per the
instructions below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any member of the public wishing
further information regarding this Notice and request for nominations
may contact Dr. Bryan Bloomer, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), EPA
Science Advisory Board via telephone/voice mail (202) 564-4222, or
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9cbc5c6c6c4ccdb87cbdbd0c8c7e9ccd9c887cec6df"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e2808e8d8d8f8790cc80909b838ca2879283cc858d94">[email protected]</span></a>. General information concerning the EPA
SAB can be found at the EPA SAB website at <a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a>. For
information concerning BenMAP, please contact Dr. Peter Maniloff by
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a6cbc7c8cfcac9c0c088d6c3d2c3d4e6c3d6c788c1c9d0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="234e424d4a4f4c45450d5346574651634653420d444c55">[email protected]</span></a> or phone (919) 541-5548.
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, 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
Staff Office is forming an expert panel, the BenMAP Review Panel, under
the auspices of the Chartered SAB. The BenMAP Review Panel will provide
advice through the chartered SAB. The SAB and the BenMAP Review Panel
will comply with the provisions of FACA and all
[[Page 19681]]
appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural policies.
The BenMAP Review Panel will conduct the review of BenMAP as
requested by the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. This panel is one
of two separate, but related, panels that will evaluate two different
aspects of EPA's overall health benefits assessment methods. The panel
being formed with this Notice will review the new cloud-based version
of BenMAP and will investigate how the BenMAP software implements EPA's
methods to quantify estimated health benefits of air quality changes.
The goal of this review will be to focus, in particular, on the user
interface, software engineering and documentation (i.e., does the tool
correctly perform the intended analytics and yield defensible,
scientifically sound and consistent results?). The panel being formed
with the nominations solicited with this Notice will be asked to
examine the software code in the new cloud-based version of BenMAP and
independently evaluate model construction and operations. Thus,
panelists for this review will need the appropriate software experience
and environmental/health/economic modeling assessment experience to
conduct this review. The panelists will have access to a publicly
available but non-final cloud-based version of BenMAP and the legacy
desktop version of BenMAP, as well as the computer code and design
documentation for each. Subsequently, a second SAB panel (to be formed
soon via a separate FRN soliciting nominations) will evaluate specific
aspects of the methodology EPA uses to quantify estimated health
benefits of air quality changes, including how EPA selects human health
endpoints to quantify and selects among risk estimates from
epidemiologic studies, among others.
Request for Nominations: The SAB Staff Office is seeking
nominations of nationally and internationally recognized scientists
with demonstrated expertise in the following disciplines: Software
development (including expertise in Java, User Interfaces, database/
data-management, and cloud computing in the Amazon Web Services [AWS]
platform); Geographic Information Systems and Geostatistics;
Demographics; Risk Assessment; Statistics/Biostatistics; Atmospheric
Modeling; Photochemical Air Quality Modeling; Economics Modeling
(including expertise in Non-Market Valuation). As noted above, the
panel will need to have the appropriate computational expertise to
examine the software code in the cloud-based version of BenMAP and
independently evaluate model construction and operations. The panel
will be asked to evaluate the performance of the cloud-based version of
BenMAP by examining the computer code and documentation, running
specific cases, comparing cloud-based platform results to results
generated using the legacy desktop version, and any other associated
model performance elements as needed.
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 the SAB panel.
Individuals may self-nominate. Nominations should be submitted in
electronic format (preferred) using the online nomination form on the
SAB website at <a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a> (see the ``Public Input on
Membership'' list under ``Committees, Panels, and Membership''
following the instructions for ``Nominating Experts to Advisory Panels
and Ad Hoc Committees Being Formed,'' provided on the SAB website (see
the ``Nomination of Experts'' link under ``Current Activities'' at
<a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a>). To be considered, nominations should include the
information requested below. EPA values and welcomes diversity. All
qualified candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of sex, race,
disability or ethnicity. Nominations should be submitted in time to
arrive no later than April 26, 2022.
The following information should be provided on the nomination
form: Contact information for the person making the nomination; contact
information for the nominee; and the disciplinary and specific areas of
expertise of the nominee. Nominees will be contacted by the SAB Staff
Office and will be asked to provide a recent curriculum vitae and a
narrative biographical summary that include the following: Current
position, educational background; research activities; sources of
research funding for the last two years; 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 website, should contact
the DFO at the contact information noted above. The names and
biosketches of qualified nominees identified by respondents to this
Federal Register Notice, and additional experts identified by the SAB
Staff Office, will be posted in a List of Candidates for the panel on
the SAB website at <a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a>. Public comments on the List of
Candidates will be accepted for 21 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 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 the expert
panel, the SAB Staff Office will consider public comments on the Lists
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 loss of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees,
subcommittees and advisory panels; and, (f) for the panel as a whole,
diversity of expertise and scientific points of view.
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 Environmental Protection Agency Special
Government Employees'' (EPA Form 3110-48). This confidential form is
required and allows government officials to determine whether there is
a statutory conflict between a person's public responsibilities (which
include membership on an EPA federal advisory committee) and private
interests and activities, or the appearance of a loss of impartiality,
as defined by federal regulation. The form may be viewed and downloaded
through the ``Ethics Requirements for Advisors'' link on the SAB
website at <a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a>. This form should not be submitted as
part of a nomination.
The approved policy under which the EPA SAB Office selects members
for 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 website at <a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a>.
Thomas H. Brennan,
Director, Science Advisory Board Staff Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-07084 Filed 4-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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