Notice2024-12613
Science Advisory Board Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards Panel; Closed Meeting
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 10, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a meeting of the Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Panel. The purpose of the meeting is to review the 2024 STAA nominations and to make recommendations for awards. The meeting is closed to the public.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 112 (Monday, June 10, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 112 (Monday, June 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48894-48895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12613]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-11944-01-OA]
Science Advisory Board Scientific and Technological Achievement
Awards Panel; Closed Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory
Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a meeting of the Scientific and
Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) Panel. The purpose of the
meeting is to review the 2024 STAA nominations and to make
recommendations for awards. The meeting is closed to the public.
DATES: The SAB STAA Panel will meet on the following dates. All times
listed are in eastern time.
1. July 8, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
2. July 19, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3. August 8, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
4. August 12, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The SAB STAA Panel meeting will be conducted virtually.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to
obtain further information concerning this notice may contact Dr.
Shaunta Hill-Hammond, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), via telephone
(202) 564-3343, or via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9bf3f2f7f7b6f3faf6f6f4f5ffb5e8f3faeef5effadbfeebfab5fcf4ed"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bfd7d6d3d392d7ded2d2d0d1db91ccd7decad1cbdeffdacfde91d8d0c9">[email protected]</span></a>. General
information about the SAB as well as any updates concerning the
meetings announced in this notice can be found on the SAB website at
<a href="https://sab.epa.gov">https://sab.epa.gov</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental
Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDDAA),
codified at 42 U.S.C. 4365, to provide independent scientific and
technical advice to the EPA Administrator on the scientific and
technical basis for agency positions and regulations. The SAB is a
Federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. 10. The SAB will comply with the
provisions of FACA and all appropriate SAB Staff Office procedural
policies. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby given that
the SAB STAA Panel, will hold a closed meeting to review the 2024 STAA
nominations and to make recommendations for awards and recommendations
for improvement of the Agency's STAA program.
The STAA awards are established to honor and recognize EPA
employees who have made outstanding contributions in the advancement of
science and technology through their research and development
activities, as exhibited in publication of their results in peer
reviewed journals. In conducting its review, the SAB considers each
nomination in relation to the following four award levels:
<bullet> Level I awards are for those who have accomplished an
exceptionally high-quality research or technological effort. The awards
recognize the creation or general revision of a scientific or
technological principle or procedure, or a highly significant
improvement in the value of a device, activity, program, or service to
the public. Awarded research is of national significance or has high
impact on a broad area of science/technology. The research has far
reaching consequences and is recognizable as a major scientific/
technological achievement within its discipline or field of study.
<bullet> Level II awards are for those who have accomplished a
notably excellent research or technological effort that has qualities
and values similar to, but to a lesser degree, than those described
under Level I. Awarded research has timely consequences and contributes
as an important scientific/technological achievement within its
discipline or field of study.
<bullet> Level III awards are for those who have accomplished an
unusually notable research or technological effort. The awards are for
a substantial revision or modification of a scientific/technological
principle or procedure, or an important improvement to the value of a
device, activity, program, or service to the public. Awarded research
relates to a mission or organizational component of the EPA, or
significantly affects a relevant area of science/technology.
<bullet> Honorable Mention awards acknowledge research efforts that
are noteworthy but do not warrant a Level I, II or III award. Honorable
Mention applies to research that: (1) May not quite reach the level
described for a Level III award; (2) show a promising area of research
that the STAA Panel wants to encourage; or (3) show an area of research
that the STAA Panel feels is too preliminary to warrant an award
recommendation at this time.
The SAB reviews the STAA nomination packages according to the
following five evaluation factors:
<bullet> The extent to which the work reported in the nominated
publication(s) resulted in either new or significantly revised
knowledge. The accomplishment is expected to represent an important
advancement of scientific knowledge or technology relevant to
environmental issues and EPA's mission.
<bullet> The extent to which environmental protection has been
strengthened or improved, whether of local, national, or international
importance.
<bullet> The degree to which the research is a product of the
originality, creativeness, initiative, and problem-solving ability of
the researchers, as well as the level of effort required to produce the
results.
<bullet> The extent of the beneficial impact of the research and
the degree to which the research has been favorably recognized from
outside EPA.
[[Page 48895]]
<bullet> The nature and extent of peer review, including stature
and quality of the peer-reviewed journal or the publisher of a book for
a review chapter published therein.
I have determined that the meetings of the STAA Panel and Chartered
SAB will be closed to the public because they are concerned with
selecting employees deserving of awards. In making these
recommendations, the Agency requires full and frank advice from the
SAB. This advice will involve professional judgments on the relative
merits of various employees and their respective work. Such matters
relate solely to EPA's internal personnel rules and practices and
involve the discussion of information that is of a personal nature and
the disclosure of which would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy and, therefore, are protected from disclosure by
section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C.
10, and subsections (c)(2) and (c)(6) of the Government in the Sunshine
Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b. Minutes of the meetings of the STAA Panel and the
Chartered SAB will be kept and certified by the chair of those
meetings.
Michael S. Regan,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-12613 Filed 6-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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