UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
November 18,2002
EPA-SAB-EC-CON-03-001
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
Honorable Christine Todd Whitman
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Subject: Data Quality and Reproducibility: An EPA Science Advisory Board
Notification of a Consultation
Dear Governor Whitman:
The Executive Committee of the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) met on October 1,
2002 to conduct a consultation with staff from the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of
Environmental Information and the Office of Research and Development on "data quality and
reproducibility" as part of the Agency response to Guidelines issued by the Office of
Management and Budget. This Consultation was designed to be a fairly narrow inquiry
concerning the higher standard of quality, i.e., "reproducibility", for information especially
deemed by the Agency as "influential." In the consultation, EPA was primarily interested in
Executive Committee Members' experience and standards used in the scientific community for
"reproducibility." Information from the consultation will be used as guidance for the choices
EPA will make in complying with OMB requirements.
The SAB has developed the Consultation as a mechanism to advise the Agency on
technical issues that should be considered in the development of regulations, guidelines, or
technical guidance before the Agency has taken a position. A Consultation is conducted under
the normal requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which include advance notice
of the public meeting in the Federal Register.
As is our customary practice, there will be no formal report from the SAB as a result of
this Consultation, nor do we expect any formal response from the Agency. The discussions at
the meeting along with the meeting minutes constitute the record of this Consultation.
Sincerely,
/Signed/
Dr. William Glaze, Chair
EPA Science Advisory Board
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
Executive Committee
CHAIR
Dr. William H. Glaze, Professor , Director, Carolina Environmental Program, Environmental
Design Lab, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
SAB MEMBERS
Dr. Henry Anderson, Chief Medical Officer, Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Division of
Public Health, Madison, WI
Also Member: Environmental Health Committee
Dr. Trudy Cameron, Raymond F. Mikesell Professor of Environmental and Resource
Economics, Department of Economics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Also Member: Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis
Dr. Maureen L. Cropper, Lead Economist, The World Bank, Washington, DC
Also Member: Environmental Economics Advisory Committee
Dr. Kenneth Cummins, Senior Advisory Scientist, California Cooperative Fishery Research
Unit, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Dr. Virginia Dale, Corporate Fellow, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
Also Member: Ecological Processes and Effects Committee
Dr. Domenico Grasso, Rosemary Bradford Hewlett Professor and Chair, Picker Engineering
Program, Smith College, Northampton, MA
Also Member: Environmental Engineering Committee
Dr. Linda Greer, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC
Dr. Philip Hopke, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical
Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Also Member: Research Strategies Advisory Committee
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee
Dr. Janet A. Johnson, Senior Technical Advisor, MFG, Inc., Fort Collins, CO
Also Member: Radiation Advisory Committee
Dr. Roger E. Kasperson, Executive Director, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm,,
Sweden
Dr. Raymond C. Loehr, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas ,
Austin, TX
Also Member: Research Strategies Advisory Committee
Dr. M. Granger Morgan, Head, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. William H. Smith, C.R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Forest Biology, Yale University,
Center Harbor, NH
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Dr. R. Rhodes Trussell, Senior Vice President, MWH-Montgomery Watson Harza, Pasadena,
CA
Also Member: Drinking Water Committee
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. A. Robert Flaak, Designated Federal Officer, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC
Ms Betty Fortune, Office Assistant, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Ms. Diana Pozun, Program Specialist, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
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NOTICE
This report has been written as part of the activities of the EPA Science Advisory Board,
a public advisory group providing extramural scientific information and advice to the
Administrator and other officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Board is
structured to provide balanced, expert assessment of scientific matters related to problems facing
the Agency. This report has not been reviewed for approval by the Agency and, hence, the
contents of this report do not necessarily represent the views and policies of the Environmental
Protection Agency, nor of other agencies in the Executive Branch of the Federal government, nor
does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute a recommendation for use.
Distribution and Availability: This EPA Science Advisory Board report is provided to the EPA
Administrator, senior Agency management, appropriate program staff, interested members of the
public, and is posted on the SAB website (www.epa.gov/sab). Information on its availability is
also provided in the SAB's monthly newsletter (Happenings at the Science Advisory Board).
Additional copies and further information are available from the SAB Staff [US EPA Science
Advisory Board (1400A), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460-0001; 202-
564-4533].
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