UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON D.C. 20460
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
June 16,2015
EPA-SAB-15-009
The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
Subject: Science Advisory Board (SAB) Consideration of EPA Planned Actions in the Fall 2014
Unified (Regulatory) Agenda and their Supporting Science
Dear Administrator McCarthy:
As part of its statutory duties, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) recently concluded discussions about
possible review of the science supporting major EPA planned actions associated with the Fall 2014
Unified (Regulatory) Agenda and Regulatory Plan. The EPA Office of Policy provided notice of the
release of this information on November 21, 2014. The SAB held a public teleconference on May 27,
2015, 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.
The SAB focused its attention on seven major actions identified by the EPA Office of Policy as being
planned but not yet proposed as of the date the Agenda was published in the Federal Register. At the
May 27, 2015, public teleconference, the SAB decided that it will not undertake review of the science
supporting any actions in the Fall 2014 semi-annual regulatory agenda at this time.
The Board notes that one action, Proposed Finding that Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aircraft Cause
or Contribute to Air Pollution that May Reasonably be Anticipated to Endanger Public Health and
Welfare and Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2060-AS31), addresses a topic of high interest.
The SAB recognizes that the action will be based on information that has been well-reviewed and that
will be based on inference approaches for which there is precedent. However, the SAB anticipates that
subsequent steps in the regulatory process will involve substantive scientific issues that may warrant
SAB consideration. It asks the agency to regularly inform the SAB about the status of subsequent steps
on this topic and also asks the EPA to provide it with briefings on the science underlying agency
approaches to address greenhouse gas emissions and related climate change actions.
An additional action, the Proposed Rulemaking for 40 CFR Part 192: Amendments to Health and
Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings (2060-AP43) was included
in this review and discussed at the May 27, 2015, teleconference meeting. This proposed action was
previously considered in the Board's review of the Spring 2013 Regulatory Agenda and a disposition
was deferred by the Board because information provided by the agency was insufficient to evaluate the
scientific and technical basis at that time. The SAB's Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) had
reviewed the draft technical report supporting the proposed rulemaking and the agency briefly
responded to the SAB's comments in 2012; however, limited information on how the agency addressed

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those recommendations was available to the Board. From the additional information provided during
this most recent review of EPA planned actions, the SAB found that the agency addressed the 2012 SAB
recommendations and incorporated most of the recommendations into the proposed action. Yet, it was
not clear if the current modeling techniques were adequate (e.g., validated science-based techniques that
address the varying conditions at the site). Accordingly, the SAB finds that this action does not merit
further SAB consideration. However, the Board recommends that the agency consider guidance in the
final rule that addresses the validity of the use of existing or proposed modeling techniques at sites with
varying physical and chemical conditions (input parameters) not previously encountered in site profiles.
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 EPA Staff are available on the SAB website.
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,
/S/
Dr. Peter S. Thorne, Chair
Science Advisory Board
Enclosure
(1) Roster of SAB Members

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NOTICE
This report has been written as part of the activities of the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB), a public
advisory group providing extramural scientific information and advice to the Administrator and other
officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. The SAB 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 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 of commercial products constitute a recommendation for
use. Reports of the SAB are posted on the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/sab.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
BOARD
CHAIR
Dr. Peter S. Thorne, Professor and Head, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health,
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
MEMBERS
Dr. George Alexeeff, Director, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, California
Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland, CA
Dr. Joseph Arvai, Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, Director, Erb Institute, School of
Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Sylvie M. Brouder, Professor and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research,
Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Dr. Thomas Burbacher, Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences,
School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Ingrid Burke, Director and Wyoming Excellence Chair, Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of
Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
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, Hockessin, DE
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, Hamerschlag University Professor and Department Head, Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Dr. Elaine M. 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
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Dr. Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund, Boston, MA
Dr. Cynthia M. Harris, Director and Professor, Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University,
Tallahassee, FL
Dr. Robert J. 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 and Environmental Engineering,
Howard University, Washington, DC
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, ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics, Department of
Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
Dr. Nancy K. Kim, Independent Consultant, Independent Consultant, 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. Lois Lehman-McKeeman, Distinguished Research Fellow, Discovery Toxicology, Bristol-Myers
Squibb, Princeton, NJ
Dr. Cecil Lue-Hing, President, Cecil Lue-Hing & Assoc. Inc., Burr Ridge, IL
Dr. Elizabeth Matsui, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, MD
Dr. Denise Mauzerall, Professor, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Dr. Kristina D. Mena, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental
Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, El Paso, TX
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. H. Keith Moo-Young, Chancellor, Office of Chancellor, Washington State University, Tri-Cities,
Richland, WA
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Dr. Eileen Murphy, Senior Director Corporate & Foundation Relations, Rutgers University Foundation,
New Brunswick, 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. Martin Philbert, Dean and Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Mr. Richard L. Poirot, Air Quality Planning Chief, Air Quality and Climate Division, Vermont
Department of Environmental Conservation, Montpelier, VT
Dr. Stephen Polasky, Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics, Department of
Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Dr. David B. Richardson, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Dr. Amanda D. Rodewald, Director of Conservation Science, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Associate
Professor, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Dr. William Schlesinger, President Emeritus, Cary 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. 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, Professor and Founding Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University
of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Dr. Elke Weber, Jerome A. Chazen Professor of International Business, Columbia Business School, New
York, NY
Dr. Charles Werth, Professor and Bettie Margaret Smith Chair in Environmental Health Engineering,
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering,
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Dr. Peter J. Wilcoxen, Associate Professor, Economics and Public Administration, The Maxwell School,
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
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Dr. Dawn J. Wright, Chief Scientist, Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), Redlands, CA
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Thomas Carpenter, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Science
Advisory Board, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
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