Feb 13 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking nominations for technical experts to serve as Special Government Employees (SGEs) on a review panel under the authority of the Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), a federal advisory committee to the Office of Research and Development (ORD). Selected experts will participate in the review of the ORD's draft report on a case study that uses value of information (VOI) analysis to weigh the public health and economic trade-offs associated with the timeliness, uncertainty, and costs of the draft EPA Transcriptomic Assessment Product (ETAP). The ETAP is a proposed ORD assessment product that utilizes a standardized short-term in vivo study design and data analysis procedures to develop transcriptomic-based toxicity values for data poor chemicals. The review will take place between April and July 2023. Nominations should be submitted by March 3, 2023.
Members of the BOSC constitute a distinguished body of non-EPA scientists, engineers, and economists who are experts in their respective fields. The chartered BOSC provides scientific advice to the EPA Administrator on a variety of EPA science and research topics. All the work of BOSC standing committees and ad-hoc panels is conducted under the auspices of the chartered BOSC. The chartered BOSC executive committee review all BOSC standing committee and ad-hoc panel draft reports and determine whether each meets the BOSC's criteria and high-quality standards required to deliver them to the EPA Administrator.
The BOSC will evaluate ORD's draft report on a case study that uses value of information (VOI) analysis to weigh the public health and economic trade-offs associated with the timeliness, uncertainty, and costs of the draft EPA Transcriptomic Assessment Product (ETAP). The ETAP is a proposed ORD assessment product that utilizes a standardized short-term in vivo study design and data analysis procedures to develop transcriptomic-based toxicity values for data poor chemicals. The draft report will be provided in the BOSC docket prior to the meeting and will present an in-depth comparison of the ETAP with traditional toxicity testing and human health assessment processes across different chemical exposure scenarios, health endpoint valuations, exposure mitigation costs, and decision contexts. The review of the draft report on the VOI case study by the BOSC is being performed in close coordination with a separate BOSC review of the underlying scientific studies supporting development and implementation of the ETAP.
The EPA invites nominations of individuals to serve as SGEs with expertise or extensive experience in the following scientific disciplines and topic areas as they relate to human health and the environment:
-- Decision analysis, including value of information
-- Human health chemical risk assessment
-- Toxicology
-- Exposure science, including computational exposure modeling
-- Statistics, including Bayesian methods
-- Health economics
-- Transcriptomics, including dose response modeling of transcriptomic data
BOSC:
https://www.epa.gov/bosc
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-03018
