\ J UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON D.C. 20460 OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD July 26, 2013 EPA-SAB-13-006 The Honorable Gina McCarthy Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20460 Subject: Science Advisory Board (SAB) Discussions about EPA Planned Actions in the Fall 2012 Unified (Regulatory) Agenda and their Supporting Science Dear Administrator McCarthy: As part of its statutory duties, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) recently concluded a series of discussions about possible review of the science supporting major EPA planned actions. The EPA Office of Policy provided notice of release of the Fall 2012 Unified (Regulatory) Agenda and Regulatory Plan on December 21, 2012. Since that time, the SAB held three public teleconferences to discuss whether to review the science supporting any of the planned regulatory actions in that agenda in order to provide advice and comment on the adequacy of the science, as authorized by section (c) of the Environmental Research, Development and Demonstration Authorization Act. The SAB appreciates the information provided by the EPA Office of Policy and the EPA program offices describing the planned actions, associated scientific questions, and agency plans for scientific analyses and peer review. The written information provided and the results of fact-finding discussions with SAB members have been posted on the SAB website. The SAB focused its attention on 41 major planned actions, identified by the EPA Office of Policy, that had not yet been proposed. The Board noted that the EPA had already requested that either the SAB or the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee review the science associated with six of these actions (see enclosed table). Based on its deliberations in the three public teleconferences held since receiving the list of planned actions, the SAB has decided that it will not undertake review of the science supporting any other actions in the December 2012 Unified (Regulatory) Agenda. In regard to the action entitled Revised Regulations for Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Nuclear Power Plant Operations (2060 AR12), while the SAB will not undertake any immediate actions, it welcomes the commitment made by staff of the Office of Air and Radiation to provide the SAB with information summarizing public comments in response to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The SAB has a strong interest in the science supporting this important topic. ------- On behalf of the SAB, I thank you for the opportunity to support EPA through consideration of the science supporting actions in the agency's regulatory agenda. Sincerely, Dr. David T. Allen, Chair Science Advisory Board Enclosures (1) Planned actions for which EPA has requested SAB or CASAC science review (2) Roster of SAB Members ------- Enclosure Planned actions for which EPA has requested SAB or CASAC science review Title and RIN Clean Water Protection Rule, 2040-AF30 National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR): Group Regulation of Carcinogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), 2050-AF29 NPDWR for Lead and Copper: Long-term Regulatory Revisions, 2040 AF 15 NPDWR: Regulation of Perchl orate, 2040-AF28 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act/ he Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act Reporting Requirements for Air Releases of Hazardous Substances From Animal Waste at Farms, 2050-AG66 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone, 2060-AP3 . . . . Status . . . . EPA has committed to future SAB review EPA has committed to future SAB review SAB review completed SAB review completed SAB review completed CASAC review currently underway ------- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board FY 2013 CHAIR Dr. David T. Allen, Gertz Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources, The University of Texas, Austin, TX MEMBERS Dr. George Alexeeff, Director, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland, CA Dr. Pedro Alvarez, Department Chair and George R. Brown Professor of Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX Dr. Joseph Arvai, Svare Chair in Applied Decision Research, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Dr. Thomas Burbacher, Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington , Seattle, WA Dr. Ingrid Burke, Director, Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY Dr. Thomas Burke, Professor and Jacob I. and Irene B. Fabrikant Chair in Health, Risk and Society Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Dr. Edward T. Carney, Departmental Senior Science Leader and Director of Predictive Toxicology Center, Toxicology & Environmental Research and Consulting, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI Dr. Terry Daniel, Professor of Psychology and Natural Resources, Department of Psychology, School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Dr. George Daston, Victor Mills Society Research Fellow, Global Product Stewardship, The Procter & Gamble Company, Mason, OH Dr. Costel Denson, Managing Member, Costech Technologies, LLC, Newark, DE Dr. Otto C. Doering III, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN Dr. Michael Dourson, President, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, Cincinnati, OH Dr. Joel Ducoste, Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC ------- Dr. David A. Dzombak, Walter J. Blenko, Sr. University Professor of Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA Dr. T. Taylor Eighmy, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Dr. Elaine Faustman, Professor and Director, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Dr. R. William Field, Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, and Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Dr. H. Christopher Frey, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC Dr. John P. Giesy, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Dr. Cynthia M. Harris, Director and Professor, Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL Dr. Robert Johnston, Director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute and Professor, Economics, Clark University, Worcester, MA Dr. Kimberly L. Jones, Professor and Chair, Department of Civil Engineering, Howard University, Washington, DC Dr. Bernd Kahn, Professor Emeritus and Associate Director, Environmental Radiation Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA Dr. Catherine Karr, Associate Professor - Pediatrics and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and Director - NW Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Dr. Madhu Khanna, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Dr. Nancy K. Kim, Senior Executive, Health Research, Inc., Albany, NY Dr. Francine Laden, Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, and Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Dr. Cecil Lue-Hing, President, Cecil Lue-Hing & Assoc. Inc., Burr Ridge, IL 11 ------- Dr. Elizabeth Matsui, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Dr. Surabi Menon, Director of Research, ClimateWorks Foundation, San Francisco, CA Dr. James R. Mihelcic, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL Dr. Christine Moe, Eugene J. Gangarosa Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA Dr. Horace Moo-Young, Dean and Professor, College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology, California State University, Los Angeles, CA Dr. Eileen Murphy, Director of Research and Grants, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ Dr. James Opaluch, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, College of the Environment and Life Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI Dr. Duncan Patten, Director, Montana Water Center, and Research Professor, Hydroecology Research Program, Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT Dr. Martin Philbert, Dean and Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Dr. Stephen Polasky, Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN Dr. C. Arden Pope, III, Professor, Department of Economics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT Dr. Amanda Rodewald, Director of Conservation Science, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Dr. James Sanders, Director and Professor, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, University of Georgia, Savannah, GA Dr. William Schlesinger, President, Gary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY Dr. Gina Solomon, Deputy Secretary for Science and Health, Office of the Secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento, CA Dr. Daniel O. Stram, Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Biostatistics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Dr. Peter S. Thorne, Director, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center and Professor and Head, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA iii ------- Dr. Paige Tolbert, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA Dr. Jeanne VanBriesen, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA Dr. John Vena, University of Georgia Foundation Professor in Public Health and Head, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar, College of Public Health , University of Georgia, Athens, GA Dr. R. Thomas Zoeller, Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC IV ------- |