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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON D.C. 20460
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April 13, 2016
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
EPA-SAB-16-004
The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
Subject: Science Advisory Board (SAB) Consideration of EPA Planned Actions in the Fall 2015
Unified (Regulatory) Agenda and their Supporting Science
Dear Administrator McCarthy:
As part of its statutory duties, the Science Advisory Board recently concluded discussions about possible
review of the science supporting major EPA planned actions associated with the Fall 2015 Unified
(Regulatory) Agenda and Regulatory Plan. The EPA Office of Policy provided notice of the release of
this information on November 20, 2015. The SAB discussed 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, during a public meeting held on March 31 and April 1, 2016.
The SAB focused its attention on five major actions identified by the EPA Office of Policy as being
planned but not yet proposed as of the date the Regulatory Agenda was published in the Federal
Register. At the public meeting, the SAB decided that it will not undertake review of the science
supporting any actions in the semi-annual regulatory agenda at this time. The list of actions considered
is enclosed. The Board notes that it previously reviewed the risk assessment supporting the planned
action, Considering Cost in Appropriate and Necessary Finding for the Mercury and Air Toxics
Standards MATS (2060 AS-76).
The SAB found that the agency used a similar approach to account for reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions in the Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support Rule (2060 AS-66) as it used in the New
Source Performance Standards for Electricity Generating Units (2060 AQ91) reviewed in the Spring
2013 Regulatory Agenda. After evaluating the science and technical issues associated with New Source
Performance Standards for Electricity Generating Units, the SAB found that a regulatory framework for
commercial-scale carbon sequestration needs to ensure the protection of human health and the
environment. The Board further advised the agency to monitor technological progress on carbon capture
and noted that research on carbon sequestration merits review by the National Research Council or the

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SAB. Based on the previous evaluation, SAB recommendations, and the similar approach to utilize
carbon capture and storage in the Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support Rule (2060-AS66) the
SAB welcomes the agency's offer to provide briefings on how the agency is considering recent carbon
capture and sequestration research, NRC publications, coordination with Department of Energy
programs and the agency's cross programmatic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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 Work Group recommendations, 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,
/Signed/
Dr. Peter S. Thorne, Chair
Science Advisory Board
Enclosure
(1)	Summary of Proposed Actions Considered
(2)	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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Summary of Proposed Actions Considered
Proposed actions in the Fall 2015 Unified (Regulatory) Agenda and Regulatory Plan
considered by the Science Advisory Board and whether to provide advice and comment
on the adequacy of the science supporting the action
RIN1
Planned Action Title
2040-AF57
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System General Permit Remand Rule
2060-AS62
Revisions to the Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas
(GHG) Permitting Regulations and Establishment of a GHG Significant Emissions Rate
2060-AS66
Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support Rule
2060-AS72
Proposed Renewable Fuel Volume Standards for 2017 and Biomass Based Diesel
Volume (BBD) for 2018
2060-AS76
Considering Cost in Appropriate and Necessary Finding for the Mercury and Air Toxics
Standards (MATS)
^he Regulatory Identification Number provides a hyperlink to the Office of Management and Budget's
webpage and information on the planned action provided in the Unified Regulatory Agenda.
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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, College
of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
MEMBERS
Dr. Joseph Arvai, Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise and Director, Erb Institute, School
of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Dr. Kiros T. Berhane, Professor, Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Sylvie M. Brouder, Professor and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research,
Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Dr. Ingrid Burke, Director and Wyoming Excellence Chair, Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of
Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux, Dean, School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Michael Dourson, Director, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment Center and Professor of
Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Dr. Joel J. 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, Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication,
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA
Dr. Susan P. Felter, Research Fellow, Global Product Stewardship, Procter & Gamble, Mason, OH
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, Glenn E. Futrell 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, Department of
Economics, Clark University, Worcester, MA
Dr. Kimberly L. Jones, Professor and Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Howard University, Washington, DC
Dr. Catherine J. 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. 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. Robert E. Mace, Deputy Executive Administrator, Water Science & Conservation, Texas Water
Development Board, Austin, TX
Dr. Mary Sue Marty, Senior Toxicology Leader, Toxicology & Environmental Research, The Dow
Chemical Company, Midland, MI
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, Samuel L. and Julia M. Flom 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. Kari Nadeau, Naddisy Family Foundation Professor of Medicine, Director, FARE Center of
Excellence at Stanford University and, Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at,
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
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. Thomas F. Parkerton, Senior Environmental Associate, Toxicology & Environmental Science
Division, ExxonMobil Biomedical Science, Houston, TX
Mr. Richard L. Poirot, Independent Consultant, Burlington, VT
Dr. Kenneth M. Portier, Vice President, Department of Statistics & Evaluation Center, American Cancer
Society, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Kenneth Ramos, Associate Vice-President of Precision Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine,
Arizona Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Dr. David B. Richardson, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Dr. Tara L. Sabo-Attwood, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Global
Health, College of Public Health and Health Professionals, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
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. Jay Turner, Associate Professor, Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering,
Campus Box 1180, Washington University , St. Louis, MO
Dr. Edwin van Wijngaarden, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, School of
Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Dr. Jeanne M. 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
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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, Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, The Maxwell School,
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Dr. Robyn S. Wilson, Associate Professor, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Mr. Thomas Carpenter, Designated Federal Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington, DC
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