Board of Scientific Counselors

Search | Index | Home | Glossary | Contact Us

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE AGENCY FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND DISEASE REGISTRY
Board of Scientific Counselors
Charter

Purpose

The Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), is authorized under Section 104(i) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)(42 U.S.C. 9604(i)), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986(SARA) and Sections 3019 and 3001(b)(1) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 U.S.C. 6939a and 6921(b)(1)), to determine the extent of danger to the public's health from a release or threat of release of a hazardous substance at Superfund or RCRA sites by conducting health assessments and to conduct directly or by grants or contracts, research, experiments, and demonstrations relating to the prevention of human health effects from exposure to toxic substances. CERCLA (Section 104(i)(13)) stipulates that all studies and results of research conducted by ATSDR shall be reported or adopted only after appropriate peer review.

Authority

42 U.S.C. 217a, Section 222, of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. The Board is governed by the provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees.

Function

The Board of Scientific Counselors, ATSDR, shall provide advice and guidance to the Secretary, HHS; the Assistant Secretary for Health; and the Administrator, ATSDR, on ATSDR programs to ensure scientific quality, timeliness, utility, and dissemination of results. Specifically, the Board shall advise on the adequacy of science in ATSDR-supported research, emerging problems that require scientific investigation, accuracy and currency of the science in ATSDR reports, and program areas to emphasize or deemphasize. In addition, the Board shall make recommendations regarding research programs and conferences that ATSDR may support through grants to universities, colleges, research institutions, hospitals, and other public and private organizations.

Structure

The Board of Scientific Counselors, ATSDR, shall consist of eleven members, including the Chair. Members and the Chair shall be selected by the Secretary, or designee, from authorities knowledgeable in the fields of medicine, toxicology, pharmacology, engineering, industrial

hygiene, environmental chemistry, epidemiology, hydrology, and environmental health. The Board shall also consist of two nonvoting ex officio members representing the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and such additional officials of the United States Government as the Secretary, or designee, deems necessary for the Board to effectively carry out its functions.

Members shall be invited to serve for overlapping four-year terms; terms of more than two years are contingent upon the renewal of the Board by appropriate action prior to its termination. Members shall serve after the expiration of their terms until their successors have taken office.

The one standing subcommittee, the Community/Tribal Subcommittee, is composed of members of the parent committee and special consultants representing communities and American Indian tribes. The Department Committee Management Officer will be notified upon establishment of any additional subcommittee(s) and will be provided information on such subcommittee's name, membership, function, and estimated frequency of meetings.

Management and support services shall be provided by the Office of the Assistant Administrator, ATSDR.

Meetings

Meetings shall be held approximately two times a year at the call of the Chair with the advance approval of a government official, who shall also approve the agenda. A government official shall be present at all meetings. Meetings shall be open to the public except as determined otherwise by the Secretary or other official to whom the authority has been delegated; notice of all meetings shall be given to the public.

Meetings shall be conducted, and records of the proceedings kept, as required by applicable laws and Departmental regulations.

Compensation

Members who are not full-time Federal employees shall be paid at the rate of $188 per day, plus per diem and travel expenses in accordance with Standard Government Travel Regulations.

Annual Cost Estimate

Estimated annual cost for operating the Board, including compensation and travel expenses for members but excluding staff support, is $93,775. Estimate of annual person-years of staff support required is 0.70, at an estimated annual cost of $73,515.

Reports

In the event a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, a report shall be prepared annually, which shall contain at a minimum, a list of members and their business addresses; the Board's functions, dates and places of meetings; and a summary of activities and recommendations made during the fiscal year. A copy of the report shall be provided to the Department Committee Management Officer.

Termination Date

Unless renewed by appropriate action prior to its expiration, the Board of Scientific Counselors, ATSDR, will terminate on July 28, 2001.

APPROVED:

Administrator
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

This page last updated on July 1, 2001

Information Center / atsdric@cdc.gov