[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 12 (Thursday, January 19, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6546-6548]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01228]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0686; FRL-9958-49-OW]

Request for Nominations for Peer Reviewers and for Public Comment
on Peer Review Materials To Inform the Derivation of a Water
Concentration Value for Lead in Drinking Water

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; request for nominations for peer reviewers and request
for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
release of materials for public comment that relate to the expert
external peer review of documents intended to support the EPA's Safe
Drinking Water Act assessment of lead in drinking water. EPA invites
the public to nominate scientific experts to be considered as peer
reviewers for the contract-managed peer review. Nominations of peer
review candidates will be accepted by EPA's contractor, Eastern
Research Group, Inc. (ERG). EPA also requests public comment on the
draft report entitled ``Proposed Modeling Approaches for a Health Based
Benchmark for Lead in Drinking Water'' and the draft charge questions
for the expert peer review panel. These materials will be reviewed by
an expert peer review panel and public comments will be made available
to the peer reviewers for consideration in their review.

DATES: The nominations for expert peer review candidates must be
received by ERG on or before February 21, 2017. Comments on the draft
lead modeling report and draft peer review panel charge questions must
be received by EPA on or before March 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Any interested person or organization may nominate
scientific experts to be considered as peer reviewers. Nominations
should be submitted to ERG no later than February 21, 2017 by one of
the following methods:
     Email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>(subject line: Lead in Drinking
Water Peer Review)
     Mail: Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), 110 Hartwell
Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421, ATTN: Laurie Waite (must arrive by
nomination deadline).
    Nominations should include all nominee information outlined in
section III of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
    Submit your comments on the draft lead modeling report and draft
charge, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0686, to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or withdrawn. EPA may publish any comment received to its
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment content located outside of
the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning nominations of
expert peer reviewers should be directed to Eastern Research Group,
Inc. (ERG), 110 Hartwell Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421; by email at
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>(subject line: Lead in Drinking Water Peer Review);
or by phone:<PHONE_NUMBER> (ask for Laurie Waite).
    For additional information concerning the draft lead modeling
report and draft peer review charge questions, please contact Erik Helm
at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Ground Water and
Drinking Water, Standards and Risk Management Division, (Mail Code
4607M), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460; by phone:
202-566-1049; or by email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information on EPA's Lead in Drinking Water Modeling

    EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water is in the process
of considering National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and
Copper: Regulatory Revisions (LCR) to improve public health protection
by making changes to rule requirements under the Safe Drinking Water
Act (SDWA). EPA has engaged with stakeholder groups and the public to
inform revisions to the LCR. As part of this work, the EPA's National
Drinking Water Advisory Committee (NDWAC) Lead and Copper Rule Working
Group was established to inform NDWAC advice to the Administrator on
recommendations to strengthen public health protections of the Lead and
Copper Rule. In December 2015, the NDWAC provided specific
recommendations to the EPA Administrator for LCR revisions related to
lead service line replacement, public education, corrosion control
treatment, copper, tap sampling, and the establishment of a ``household
action level.'' The NDWAC recommended that water systems be required to
notify the consumer and the local public health agency if this level
was exceeded, with the expectation that individuals and local health
officials will use this information to take prompt actions at the
household level to mitigate lead risks.
    While EPA has not yet determined the specific role of a household
action level in the revised LCR, the Agency has developed potential
scientific modeling approaches to define the relationship between lead
levels in drinking water and blood lead levels, particularly for
sensitive life stages such as formula fed infants and children up to
age seven. EPA is using the terminology ``health based benchmark'' to
refer to this concept. EPA is conducting an expert peer review of
alternative approaches to inform future consideration of a health based
benchmark for the LCR revisions. The purpose of this review is to
obtain feedback on various lead modeling methods that can be used to
characterize the relationship between lead in drinking water and
children's blood lead levels.
    EPA has developed three approaches that model how lead in drinking
water influences blood lead levels (BLLs) of children. All the
approaches use the Integrated Exposure Uptake and Biokinetic (IEUBK)
Model for Lead in Children. Approaches 1 and 2 assess the relationship
between water lead concentration and potential BLLs at different points
in the IEUBK predicted distribution of BLLs. Approach 3 uses EPA's
Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation model for multimedia,
multipathway chemicals (SHEDS-Multimedia), coupled with IEUBK, to
determine the drinking water lead concentrations that would result in
BLLs at particular percentiles of a simulated national distribution of
BLLs for children at various ages.

II. How To Obtain the Draft Lead Modeling Report and the Draft Peer
Review Charge Questions

    EPA's draft lead modeling report entitled ``Proposed Modeling
Approaches for a Health Based Benchmark for Lead in Drinking Water''
and the draft charge for the peer review panel are available
electronically and can be accessed using the Public Docket at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2016-0686). All written
comments must be submitted during the public comment period.

III. How To Submit Nominations for Peer Reviewers

    Expertise sought: EPA is seeking candidates who are nationally and/
or

internationally recognized scientific experts to serve as external peer
reviewers for the draft report regarding approaches to modeling
children's BLL associated with lead in drinking water. The review is
not intended to provide EPA with advice on the public health
implications of alternative BLLs. As such, EPA is seeking nominees who
possess a strong background and demonstrated expertise in one or more
of the following areas: (1) Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic
modeling, particularly with regard to lead, (2) environmental lead
exposure analyses, particularly with regard probabilistic modeling.
    Selection criteria: Selection criteria for individuals nominated to
serve as external peer reviewers of the draft report include the
following: (1) Demonstrated expertise through relevant peer reviewed
publications; (2) professional accomplishments and recognition by
professional societies; (3) demonstrated ability to work constructively
and effectively in a committee setting; (4) absence of financial
conflicts of interest; (5) no actual conflicts of interest or
appearance of lack of impartiality; (6) willingness to commit adequate
time for the thorough review of the draft report; and (7) availability
to participate in-person in a one-day or two-day peer review meeting in
the Washington, DC metro area, projected to occur in June 2017 (exact
date will be published in the Federal Register at least 30 days prior
to the external peer review meeting). Further logistical information
regarding the external peer review meeting will be announced at a later
date in the Federal Register.
    Required nominee information: To receive full consideration, the
following information should be submitted to ERG at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>(the subject line should read: Lead in Drinking Water Peer Review): (1)
Contact information for the person making the nomination; (2) contact
information for the nominee; (3) the disciplinary and specific areas of
expertise of the nominee; (4) the nominee's curriculum vitae; and (5) a
biographical sketch of the nominee indicating current position,
educational background, past and current research activities, recent
service on other advisory committees, peer review panels, editorial
boards or professional organizations, sources of recent grant and/or
contract support and other comments on the relevance of the nominee's
expertise to this peer review topic. Compensation for non-federal peer
reviewers will be provided by ERG.
    Selection process: EPA's contractor, ERG, will notify nominees of
selection or non-selection. ERG may also conduct an independent search
for candidates to assemble a balanced group representing the expertise
needed to fully evaluate EPA's draft report, entitled ``Proposed
Modeling Approaches for a Health Based Benchmark for Lead in Drinking
Water.'' ERG will consider and screen all nominees against the criteria
previously listed. Following the screening process, ERG will narrow the
list of potential reviewers to approximately 10-16 candidates. Prior to
selecting the final peer reviewers, a Federal Register document will be
published (exact date to be determined) to solicit comments on the
interim list of candidates. In that document, the public will be
requested to provide relevant information or documentation on the
nominees within 30 days of the announcement of the interim list of
candidates. Once ERG has considered the public comments on the interim
list of candidates, ERG will select the final list of peer reviewers,
based on who, collectively, will best provide expertise spanning the
disciplines previously listed and (to the extent feasible) best provide
a balance of perspectives.

    Dated: January 10, 2017.
Joel Beauvais,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 2017-01228 Filed 1-18-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


			  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

		        DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

			  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

			          WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation on October 18, 2004

NOTICE OF ACTION TAKEN -- DOCKET OST-2004-18704

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

This serves as notice to the public of the action described below, taken
by the Department official indicated (no additional confirming order
will be issued in this matter).

Applicant:  Golden Wings Charter Limited				Date Filed:  July 21, 2004

Relief requested: Exemption authority from 49 U.S.C. § 41301 to engage
in charter foreign air transportation of persons, property and mail
between any point or points in the Bahamas and any point or points in
the United States, with small aircraft.

If renewal, date and citation of last action:  New authority

Applicant representative:  Pierre Murphy<PHONE_NUMBER>

DOT Analyst:  Gordon H. Bingham<PHONE_NUMBER>

Responsive pleadings:  None filed

	DISPOSITION

Action:  Approved								Action date:  October 18, 2004

Effective dates of authority granted:  October 18, 2004-October 18, 2005

Basis for approval (bilateral agreement/reciprocity):  Comity and
reciprocity with the Bahamas

Except to the extent exempted/waived, this authority is subject to the
terms, conditions, and limitations indicated:

X  Standard exemption conditions (Attached)

Special conditions/Partial grant/Denial basis/Remarks:  Based on the
record in this case, we found that Golden Wings is financially and
operationally qualified to perform the services authorized above.
However, due to the involvement of non-homeland citizens in the
ownership and control of Golden Wings, the record in this case does not
permit us to make definitive findings that Golden Wings is substantially
owned and effectively controlled by homeland nationals. The record
indicates that while the applicant is 60% owned by a Bahamian national,
the remaining 40% is owned by a citizen of the United States.  In
addition, the U.S. citizen is one of Golden Wings’ four directors/key
management personnel.  The remaining three directors are citizens of the
Bahamas.  There is no evidence on the record that would suggest that the
ownership and control of Golden Wings would make grant of this authority
inimical to U.S. aviation policy and interests.  Under the circumstances
present, we find that it is consistent with the public interest to use
our discretion and to waive our ownership and control standard in this
instance.  The carrier is properly licensed by the Government of the
Bahamas to perform the proposed services.  By memorandum dated September
2, 2004, the FAA advised us that it knew of no reason why we should act
unfavorably on Golden Wings’ application.

The charter authority granted to Golden Wings above is limited to
operations involving aircraft designed to have a maximum passenger
capacity of not more than 60 seats or a maximum payload capacity of not
more than 18,000 pounds.

Action taken by:  Paul L. Gretch, Director

		     Office of International Aviation

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

Under authority assigned by the Department in its regulations, 14 CFR
Part 385, we found that (1) the applicant was qualified to perform the
proposed operations; (2) our action was consistent with Department
policy; (3) grant of the authority was consistent with the public
interest; and (4) grant of the authority would not constitute a major
regulatory

2

action under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975.  To the
extent not granted/deferred/dismissed, we denied all requests in the
referenced Docket.  We may amend, modify, or revoke the authority
granted in this Notice at any time without hearing at our discretion.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of the action set
forth in this Notice under the Department’s regulations, 14 CFR §
385.30, may file their petitions within seven (7) days after the date of
issuance of this Notice.  This action was effective when taken, and the
filing of a petition for review will not alter such effectiveness.

An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide
Web at:

  HYPERLINK "http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp"
http://dms.dot.gov//reports/reports_aviation.asp

Attachment

In the conduct of the operations authorized, the foreign carrier
applicant(s) shall:

(1)  Not conduct any operations unless it holds a currently effective
authorization from its homeland for such operations, and it has filed a
copy of such authorization with the Department;

(2)  Comply with all applicable requirements of the Federal Aviation
Administration, including, but not limited to, 14 CFR Parts 129, 91, and
36, and with all applicable U.S. Government requirements concerning
security, including, but not limited to, 49 CFR Part 1546 or 1550, as
applicable.  To assure compliance with all applicable U.S. Government
requirements concerning security, the holder shall, before commencing
any new service (including charter flights) from a foreign airport that
would be the holder’s last point of departure for the United States,
contact its International Principal Security Inspector (IPSI) to advise
the IPSI of its plans and to find out whether the Transportation
Security Administration has determined that security is adequate to
allow such airport(s) to be served;

(3)  Comply with the requirements for minimum insurance coverage
contained in 14 CFR Part 205, and, prior to the commencement of any
operations under this authority, file evidence of such coverage, in the
form of a completed OST Form 6411, with the Federal Aviation
Administration’s Program Management Branch (AFS-260), Flight Standards
Service (any changes to, or termination of, insurance also shall be
filed with that office);

(4)  Not operate aircraft under this authority unless it complies with
operational safety requirements at least equivalent to Annex 6 of the
Chicago Convention;

(5)  Conform to the airworthiness and airman competency requirements of
its Government for international air services;

(6)  Except as specifically exempted or otherwise provided for in a
Department Order, comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 203,
concerning waiver of Warsaw Convention liability limits and defenses;

(7)  Agree that operations under this authority constitute a waiver of
sovereign immunity, for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. 1605(a), but only with
respect to those actions or proceedings instituted against it in any
court or other tribunal in the United States that are: (a)  based on its
operations in international air transportation that, according to the
contract of carriage, include a point in the United States as a point of
origin, point of destination, or agreed stopping place, or for which the
contract of carriage was purchased in the United States; or (b)  based
on a claim under any international agreement or treaty cognizable in any
court or other tribunal of the United States.  In this condition, the
term "international air transportation" means "international
transportation" as defined by the Warsaw Convention, except that all
States shall be considered to be High Contracting Parties for the
purpose of this definition;

(8)  Except as specifically authorized by the Department, originate or
terminate all flights to/from the United States in its homeland;

(9)  Comply with the requirements of 14 CFR Part 217, concerning the
reporting of scheduled, nonscheduled, and charter data;

(10) If charter operations are authorized, except as otherwise provided
in the applicable aviation agreement, comply with the Department's rules
governing charters (including 14 CFR Parts 212 and 380); and

(11) Comply with such other reasonable terms, conditions, and
limitations required by the public interest as may be prescribed by the
Department, with all applicable orders or regulations of other U.S.
agencies and courts, and with all applicable laws of the United States.

This authority shall not be effective during any period when the holder
is not in compliance with the conditions imposed above.  Moreover, this
authority cannot be sold or otherwise transferred without explicit
Department approval under Title 49 of the U.S. Code.

												05/2004

  The U.S. citizen, Lori Roach, is the wife of the Bahamian owner,
Cameron Roach.