; and (iii) may not report directly to the Environmental Protection Agency. . (e) Public participation Section 8 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4365 ) is amended by amending subsection (h) to read as follows: (h) (1) To facilitate public participation in the advisory activities of the Board, the Administrator and the Board shall make public all reports and relevant scientific information and shall provide materials to the public at the same time as received by members of the Board. (2) Prior to conducting major advisory activities, the Board shall hold a public information-gathering session to discuss the state of the science related to the advisory activity. (3) Prior to convening a member committee or investigative panel under subsection (e) or requesting scientific advice from the Board, the Administrator shall accept, consider, and address public comments on questions to be asked of the Board. The Board, member committees, and investigative panels shall accept, consider, and address public comments on such questions and shall not accept a question that unduly narrows the scope of an advisory activity. (4) The Administrator and the Board shall encourage public comments, including oral comments and discussion during the proceedings, that shall not be limited by an insufficient or arbitrary time restriction. Public comments shall be provided to the Board when received, and shall be published in the Federal Register grouped by common themes. If multiple repetitious comments are received, only one such comment shall be published along with the number of such repetitious comments received. Any report made public by the Board shall include written responses to significant comments, including those that present an alternative hypothesis-based scientific point of view, offered by members of the public to the Board. (5) Following Board meetings, the public shall be given 15 calendar days to provide additional comments for consideration by the Board. . (f) Operations Section 8 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4365 ) is further amended