United States EPA Science Advisory EPA-SAB-EC-02-010
Environmental Board (1400A) September 2002
Protection Agency Washington, DC www.epa.gov/sab
&EPA
Overview
of the
Panel Formation Process
at the
Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
U.S. EPA SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
Office of the Administrator
Washington, DC
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Table of Contents
A. Introduction to this Booklet 1
B. About the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Science Advisory Board 2
C. The Panel Formation Process, Including
Consideration of Conflict of Interest and
Balance Among Panelists 7
•• Stages in Panel Formation at EPA's
Science Advisory Board 8
• • Kickoff 9
• • Widecast 11
• • Short List 11
• • Panel Selection 13
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A.
Introduction to this Booklet...
This booklet provides a general
introduction to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) and
one key part of its advisory process: forming
advisory panels and making decisions about
conflict of interest and balance among panelists.
Although each SAB project is different, the process
of panel formation follows the same basic steps.
The SAB also plans to develop companion
booklets that will give an overview of the other key
steps in the advisory process, such as choosing
projects; panel deliberations and report writing; the
respective roles of the Executive Committee,
standing committees, and special panels; the role of
the SAB Staff; and communication.
The Board plans to provide more detailed
information on each of those topics. It is planning
to develop more detailed information for panel
chairs; members of the public interested in
participating in the SAB advisory process; and
Agency staff interested in working with the SAB
on topics of special interest to them.
B. About the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Science Advisory Board
3 SAB has played a unique role in
environmental protection for more than
twenty-five years. Congress authorized it to
provide independent advice and peer review to EPA's
Administrator and the Congress on the scientific and
technical aspects of environmental problems and issues.
The Board focuses on technical issues, not policy
issues; risk assessment and engineering issues, not risk
management decisions; the adequacy of the scientific
foundation on which an Agency position (e.g., a
regulatory standard) is built, not the position itself. The
SAB recognizes the Agency's need to make
environmental policy, risk management, and regulatory
decisions but does not advise the Agency on them. It does
not advise the Agency on those decisions directly. Instead
it limits its advice to the scientific and technical
underpinnings on which those decisions rest. Where the
Board's advice does touch on policy issues, it takes
special care to note and differentiate those instances. The
Board also takes care to note when its advice addresses
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issues beyond those identified in the Agency's charge to a
panel.
The Board strives to produce advice that is
technically and scientifically sound, independent,
balanced, and useful to the Agency. All the processes and
procedures the SAB uses, from the choice of members for
panels, to choice of projects, to involvement of the public,
to development of reports aim to achieve these goals.
The scope of the Board is potentially as wide as
all of the scientific and technical issues associated with
environmental problems. To guide the Board's activities
and set priorities, the SAB's Executive Committee
described the Board's mission as making "a positive
difference in the production and use of science" at EPA.1
The Board is guided by this mission statement as it works
with the Agency to set priorities for the Board's work.
The SAB seeks to work cooperatively with the Agency to
support its mission and goals, while maintaining the
independence necessary to provide the Agency
information, knowledge, and critical advice in a credible
1 Science Advisory Board 1997 Strategic Plan
(EPA-SAB-98-010), p.7.
manner. This relationship has been described as
"operating at arm's length from the Agency," and the
SAB's being "in the Agency but not of the Agency."2
The Board provides advice in a variety of ways. It
issues written peer review "Reports" of Agency
documents. It writes "Advisories," when it has reviewed
Agency works-in-progress. It initiates "Commentaries"
or more extensive original reports on topics that it
believes are important to environmental protection. It
provides the Agency an opportunity for "Consultations" at
the earliest stages of development of a project to gain
insights from independent Members and Consultants.
Finally, it hosts "Workshops" on important scientific
issues, in which the Board itself does not provide advice,
but instead sponsors meetings where the Agency can be
stimulated by the work of highly qualified technical
people.
The SAB currently consists of 10 standing
committees, whose activities are coordinated by an
Executive Committee. Two of the committees, the Clean
Dr. Donald Barnes, personal communications, 2000-2002.
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Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), and the
Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis, (the
Council) are separately chartered and report directly to the
Administrator. All of the other Committees report to the
Administrator through the SAB's Executive Committee.
The SAB's Ten Standing Committees Whose Activities
are Coordinated by the SAB Executive Committee (EC)
Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis (Council)
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC)
Drinking Water Committee (DWC)
Ecological Processes and Effects Committee (EPEC)
Environmental Economics Advisory Committee (EEAC)
Environmental Engineering Committee (EEC)
Environmental Health Committee (EHC)
Integrated Human Exposure Committee (IHEC)
Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC)
Research Strategies Advisory Committee (RSAC)
In addition to the 100-plus SAB Members who are
appointed generally to two-year terms by the
Administrator, the Board enlists ad hoc Consultants to
bring focused expertise to bear on particular issues that
come before the Board. There are currently more than
300 SAB Consultants, who are appointed to one-year,
renewable terms by the SAB Staff Director.
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The EPA SAB is a federal advisory committee,
subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act provisions
that require membership of the advisory committee to:
1) be fairly balanced in terms of the points of view
represented and the functions to be performed by the
advisory committee, and 2) ensure contemporaneous
public access and public input into the advisory process.
The Members and Consultants of the Board serve
as Special Government Employees, who are subject to the
provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
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C. The Panel Formation Process, Including
Consideration of Conflict of Interest and
Balance Among Panelists
The advice provided by the SAB either is
developed by ad hoc panels established to address specific
topics or by standing committees augmented, if necessary,
with special expertise provided by SAB consultants.
EPA's SAB Staff is responsible for forming expert panels.
The SAB Staff works to ensure that the process of
panel formation complies with the requirements of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Ethics in
Government Act; that it is transparent to the public, so the
public can understand and participate in the process; and
that it succeeds in assembling the experts needed to
provide the Agency with scientific and technical advice.
The SAB Staff has adopted a process that will
inform the public about each panel as it is being formed.
This process informs and involves the public in a step-by-
step process, as outlined in the following diagram.
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Stages in Panel Formation at EPA's Science Advisory Board
Kickoff: SAB Staff works with
/\ the Agency and SAB Leadership
to understand "What expertise is
needed to address the charge?"
Widecast: SAB Staff asks: "Who
should be considered for the
panel?" They solicit nominations
from SAB Members and
Consultants and the public.
Short List: SAB Staff works with
SAB leadership to determine:
"Which candidates should we
consider in greater detail for
service on the panel?" The Staff
also gathers additional information
about the candidates (including
confidential information from the
candidates about financial conflict
of interest). They also ask the
public for information that will
help during the Panel Selection
Phase.
Panel Selection: SAB Staff
determines and documents: "Who
will serve on the panel?"
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The goal of the panel formation process is to
assemble an appropriate panel of experts to provide
sound, independent, balanced, and useful scientific and
technical advice. The formation of an SAB panel begins
in the "Kickoff" stage, in which the EPA Executive
Committee and the SAB Staff decides to begin a project
that has a well-developed charge. The charge to the
Board, which will guide - but not confine - the work of a
panel, is the formal statement of the questions posed to the
Board. This statement generally defines the scope,
problems, and issues the panel will address. The charge
needs to be sufficiently detailed that it is clear what kinds
of experts are needed.
Expertise, knowledge, and experience are the
primary factors that determine whether an individual is
invited to serve on an SAB Panel. In forming panels to
provide expert advice, SAB Staff, as required by the
Ethics in Government Act of 1978, also works to screen
candidates for conflicts of interest and appearance of lack
of impartiality. If a conflict exists between a panel
candidate's private financial interests and activities and
public responsibilities as a panel member, or even if there
is the appearance of partiality, as defined by federal
ethics regulations, the SAB Staff will, as a rule, seek to
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obtain the needed expertise from another individual. In
rare cases, when a candidate panel member possesses
special knowledge or skills, the SAB Staff Director, in
consultation with SAB leadership, can grant a waiver that
will allow an individual to serve on a panel, if it is
determined that the participation of the individual is so
vital as to outweigh the conflict of interest. The waiver is
a matter of public record at the time of the panel meeting.
In addition to concerns about conflicts that may
exist for individual members of a Panel, the SAB is also
concerned about overall balance of the panel in terms of
the points of view presented, as mandated by the Federal
Advisory Committee Act. At the SAB, a balanced panel
is characterized by inclusion of 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
address the charge adequately. The SAB is a technical
advisory body, not a committee designed to reflect
stakeholder views. Hence, balancing membership is
driven by a number of factors.
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Recognizing that it is important to inform and
involve the public in the process of panel formation, the
SAB has adopted specific procedures to identify
candidates with the needed expertise, avoid conflicts of
interest, and achieve appropriate balance.
The "Widecast" phase includes an opportunity
for the public to nominate potential panel members. This
request aims to gain public assistance in broadening the
pool of experts from whom panel members will be drawn.
In the "Short List" phase, SAB Staff, using
established criteria, screens "Widecast candidates" to
identify a "short list" of potential panel members.
Criteria to Be Used in Evaluating an Individual Panelist
1. Expertise, knowledge, and experience (primary factors)
2. Availability and willingness to serve
3. Scientific credibility and impartiality
4. Skills working in committees and advisory panels
SAB Staff confers with candidates and searches
independently for background information on them to
understand their qualifications and points of view.
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To be considered for selection on a panel, each
"Short List" candidate is required, during the "Short List"
phase, to submit a "Confidential Financial Disclosure
Form for Special Government Employees Serving on
Federal Advisory Committees at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency." On that form the prospective
panelist lists all professional, consulting, and financial
connections, including research funding. Candidates also
describe any reasons their impartiality in the matter being
addressed might be questioned. SAB Staff reviews the
confidential form in detail and confers with candidates to
understand any potential conflict of interests that might
arise.
An important part of the "Short List" phase is
public involvement. The SAB Staff publishes the names
and biosketches of "Short List" candidates on the SAB
Website. The SAB Staff asks the public to provide the
Board with information, analysis, or documentation that
the Board should consider in evaluating candidates. This
information plays an important part in determining the
panel members chosen during the "Panel Selection"
Phase.
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The SAB Staff Director, in consultation with SAB
leadership, as appropriate, makes the final decision about
who will serve on the panel in the "Panel Selection"
Phase. In that phase, SAB Staff completes its review of
information regarding conflicts of interest, appearance of
impartiality, and appropriate balance and breadth needed
to address the charge. They review all the information
provided by candidates, along with any other information
that the public may provide in response to the posting of
information about the prospective panel on the SAB
website during the "Short List Phase," and information
gathered by SAB Staff independently on the background
of each candidate. SAB Staff documents the rationale
underlying the selection of each panel in a "Panel
Selection" document.
The SAB's process for panel formation has been
designed for three purposes: to help the Board meet
EPA's legal requirements; to be transparent and open to
public input, so that the public can understand and
participate in the process; and to help the Board fulfill its
mission. The Board can only fulfill its mission by
assembling panels of individuals who will provide useful,
timely advice that is technically and scientifically sound,
independent, and balanced. The SAB will continue to
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refine details of the panel formation process over time,
based on the advice of its Executive Committee, the
Agency, and members of the public interested in the
Board and its work.
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For further information
SAB information and reports are available
from:
U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board (1400A)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460-0001
Telephone: (202) 564-4533
Fax: (202) 501-0323 or (202) 501-0582
www.epa.gov/sab
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