UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
February 10, 2004
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
EPA SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
EPA-SAB-EPEC-CON-04-002
The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Subject:
Dear Administrator Leavitt:
EPA's Strategy on Suspended and Bedded Sediments: An EPA
Science Advisory Board Notification of a Consultation
The Ecological Processes and Effects Committee of the EPA Science Advisory Board
(SAB) met on October 2, 2003 to conduct a consultation with staff and managers from the
Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water and the Office of Research and
Development, to gain advice and recommendations on the best potential approaches to
developing water quality criteria for suspended and bedded sediments. The approaches were
described in a draft discussion paper entitled Developing Water Quality Criteria for Suspended
and Bedded Sediments (SABS) — Potential Approaches. In addition, the Office of Water was
seeking recommendations on additional criteria development approaches for different types of
water body uses, other than aquatic life, and was also seeking advice on any potential criteria
derivation methodology not included in the discussion paper. Information from the consultation
will be used as guidance for the choices EPA will make in choosing a strategy for developing
water-quality criteria for suspended and bedded sediments.
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.
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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/ /Signed/
Dr. William Glaze, Chair Dr. Virginia Dale, Chair
EPA Science Advisory Board Ecological Processes and Effects Committee
EPA Science Advisory Board
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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). 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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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board (SAB)
Ecological Processes and Effects Committee (EPEC)
Panel on Suspended and Bedded Sediments
CHAIR
Dr. Virginia Dale, Corporate Fellow, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
EPEC MEMBERS
Dr. Gregory Biddinger, Environmental Sciences Advisor, Exxon Mobil Refining and Supply
Company, Fairfax, VA
Dr. Ivan J. Fernandez, Professor and Chair, Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental
Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME
Dr. Cynthia Gilmour, Associate Curator, Estuarine Research Center, The Academy of Natural
Sciences, St. Leonard, MD
Dr. Charles Hawkins, Professor, Fisheries and Wildlife Department, Watershed Science Unit,
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Dr. Lawrence L. Master, Chief Zoologist, NatureServe, Boston, MA
Dr. Judy L. Meyer, Distinguished Research Professor, Institute of Ecology, University of
Georgia, Athens, GA
Dr. Michael C. Newman, Professor of Marine Science, School of Marine Sciences, Virginia
Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA
Dr. Charles A. Pittinger, Principal, The Cadmus Group Inc., Cincinnati, OH
CONSULTANTS
Dr. Brian Bledsoe, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Civil Engineering, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins, CO
Dr. Charles Rabeni, U.S. Geological Survey, Leader of the Missouri Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit, University of Missouri - Columbia, Columbia, MO
Mr. Timothy Thompson, Engineer/Scientist, The RETEC Group, Seattle, WA
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Dr. Joseph Bachman, Designated Federal Officer, EPA Science Advisory Board (1400A), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
Board
CHAIR
Dr. William H. Glaze, Professor, Department of Environmental & Biomolecular Systems, OGI
School of Science & Engineering, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR
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
Also Member: Research Strategies Advisory Committee
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
in
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Dr. Roger E. Kasperson, Executive Director, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm,,
Sweden
Also Member: Research Strategies Advisory Committee
Dr. Raymond C. Loehr, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas ,
Austin, TX
Dr. Genevieve Matanoski, Professor , Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD
Also Member: Research Strategies Advisory Committee
Dr. M. Granger Morgan, Head, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Rebecca Parkin, Associate Research Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health,
Public Health and Health Services, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Also Member: Integrated Human Exposure Committee
Dr. William H. Smith, Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Forest Biology, Yale
University, Center Harbor, NH
Dr. R. Rhodes Trussell, Senior Vice President, MWH-Montgomery Watson Harza, Pasadena,
CA
Also Member: Drinking Water Committee
LIAISONS
Dr. Jerald Schnoor, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University
of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Liaison from the EPA Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC)
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Thomas Miller, Designated Federal Officer, EPA Science Advisory Board (1400A), 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460
IV
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