6560-50-P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-11944–01-OA]
Science Advisory Board Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards Panel;
Closed Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB)
Staff Office announces a meeting of the Scientific and Technological Achievement
Awards (STAA) Panel. The purpose of the meeting is to review the 2024 STAA
nominations and to make recommendations for awards. The meeting is closed to the
public.
DATES: The SAB STAA Panel will meet on the following dates. All times listed are in
eastern time.
1. July 8, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
2. July 19, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3. August 8, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
4. August 12, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The SAB STAA Panel meeting will be conducted virtually.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to obtain
further information concerning this notice may contact Dr. Shaunta Hill-Hammond,
Designated Federal Officer (DFO), via telephone (202) 564-3343, or via email at hillhammond.shaunta@epa.gov. General information about the SAB as well as any updates
concerning the meetings announced in this notice can be found on the SAB website at
https://sab.epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The SAB was established pursuant to the Environmental Research,
Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act (ERDDAA), codified at 42 U.S.C.
4365, to provide independent scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator
on the scientific and technical basis for agency positions and regulations. The SAB is a
Federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA), 5 U.S.C. 10. The SAB will comply with the provisions of FACA and all appropriate
SAB Staff Office procedural policies. Pursuant to FACA and EPA policy, notice is hereby
given that the SAB STAA Panel, will hold a closed meeting to review the 2024 STAA
nominations and to make recommendations for awards and recommendations for
improvement of the Agency's STAA program.
The STAA awards are established to honor and recognize EPA employees who have
made outstanding contributions in the advancement of science and technology through
their research and development activities, as exhibited in publication of their results in
peer reviewed journals. In conducting its review, the SAB considers each nomination in
relation to the following four award levels:
•

Level I awards are for those who have accomplished an exceptionally highquality research or technological effort. The awards recognize the creation or
general revision of a scientific or technological principle or procedure, or a highly
significant improvement in the value of a device, activity, program, or service to
the public. Awarded research is of national significance or has high impact on a
broad area of science/technology. The research has far reaching consequences
and is recognizable as a major scientific/technological achievement within its
discipline or field of study.

•

Level II awards are for those who have accomplished a notably excellent

research or technological effort that has qualities and values similar to, but to a
lesser degree, than those described under Level I. Awarded research has timely
consequences and contributes as an important scientific/technological
achievement within its discipline or field of study.
•

Level III awards are for those who have accomplished an unusually notable
research or technological effort. The awards are for a substantial revision or
modification of a scientific/technological principle or procedure, or an important
improvement to the value of a device, activity, program, or service to the public.
Awarded research relates to a mission or organizational component of the EPA,
or significantly affects a relevant area of science/technology.

•

Honorable Mention awards acknowledge research efforts that are noteworthy
but do not warrant a Level I, II or III award. Honorable Mention applies to
research that: (1) May not quite reach the level described for a Level III award;
(2) show a promising area of research that the STAA Panel wants to encourage;
or (3) show an area of research that the STAA Panel feels is too preliminary to
warrant an award recommendation at this time.

The SAB reviews the STAA nomination packages according to the following five
evaluation factors:
•

The extent to which the work reported in the nominated publication(s) resulted
in either new or significantly revised knowledge. The accomplishment is
expected to represent an important advancement of scientific knowledge or
technology relevant to environmental issues and EPA’s mission.

•

The extent to which environmental protection has been strengthened or
improved, whether of local, national, or international importance.

•

The degree to which the research is a product of the originality, creativeness,
initiative, and problem-solving ability of the researchers, as well as the level of
effort required to produce the results.

•

The extent of the beneficial impact of the research and the degree to which the
research has been favorably recognized from outside EPA.

•

The nature and extent of peer review, including stature and quality of the peerreviewed journal or the publisher of a book for a review chapter published
therein.

I have determined that the meetings of the STAA Panel and Chartered SAB will be closed
to the public because they are concerned with selecting employees deserving of awards.
In making these recommendations, the Agency requires full and frank advice from the
SAB. This advice will involve professional judgments on the relative merits of various
employees and their respective work. Such matters relate solely to EPA’s internal
personnel rules and practices and involve the discussion of information that is of a
personal nature and the disclosure of which would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy and, therefore, are protected from disclosure by section 10(d) of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. 10, and subsections (c)(2) and (c)(6) of
the Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b. Minutes of the meetings of the STAA
Panel and the Chartered SAB will be kept and certified by the chair of those meetings.
Michael S. Regan,
Administrator.

[FR Doc. 2024-12613 Filed: 6/7/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 6/10/2024]