National Priorities List

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 300</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-HQ-OLEM-2024-0068; FRL-11724-02-OLEM]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>National Priorities List</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA” or “the Act”), as amended, requires that the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (“NCP”) include a list of national priorities among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants throughout the United States. The National Priorities List (“NPL”) constitutes this list. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the Environmental Protection Agency (“the EPA” or “the agency”) in determining which sites warrant further investigation. These further investigations will allow the EPA to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with the site and to determine what CERCLA-financed remedial action(s), if any, may be appropriate. This rule adds one site to the General Superfund section of the NPL. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> The rule is effective on January 15, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> <E T="03">Contact information for the EPA Headquarters:</E> • Docket Coordinator, Headquarters; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CERCLA Docket Office; 1301 Constitution Avenue NW; William Jefferson Clinton Building West, Room 3334, Washington, DC 20004, (202) 566-0276. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Vanessa Van Note, Site Assessment and Remedy Decisions Branch, Assessment and Remediation Division, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (Mail code 5203T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460, telephone number: (571) 882-3866, email address: <E T="03">vannote.vanessa@epa.gov.</E> The contact information for the regional dockets is as follows: • Holly Inglis, Region 1 (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT), U.S. EPA, Superfund Records and Information Center, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109-3912; (617) 918-1413. • James Desir, Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, VI), U.S. EPA, 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007-1866; (212) 637-4342. • Lorie Baker, Region 3 (DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV), U.S. EPA, 4 Penn Center, 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Mail code 3SD12, Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 814-3355. • Sandra Bramble, Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN), U.S. EPA, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Mail code 9T25, Atlanta, GA 30303; (404) 562-8926. • Todd Quesada, Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI), U.S. EPA Superfund Division Librarian/SFD Records Manager SRC-7J, Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604; (312) 886-4465. • Michelle Delgado-Brown, Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX), U.S. EPA, 1201 Elm Street, Suite 500, Mail code SED, Dallas, TX 75270; (214) 665-3154. • Kumud Pyakuryal, Region 7 (IA, KS, MO, NE), U.S. EPA, 11201 Renner Blvd., Mail code SUPRSTAR, Lenexa, KS 66219; (913) 551-7956. • David Fronczak, Region 8 (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY), U.S. EPA, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Mail code 8SEM-EM-P, Denver, CO 80202-1129; (303) 312-6096. • Leslie Ramirez, Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, AS, GU, MP), U.S. EPA, 75 Hawthorne Street, Mail code SFD-6-1, San Francisco, CA 94105; (415) 972-3978. • Brandon Perkins, Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA), U.S. EPA, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Mail code 13-J07, Seattle, WA 98101; (206) 553-6396. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. What are CERCLA and SARA?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. What is the NCP?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What is the National Priorities List (NPL)?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. How are sites listed on the NPL?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. What happens to sites on the NPL?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Does the NPL define the boundaries of sites?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. How are sites removed from the NPL?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. May the EPA delete portions of sites from the NPL as they are cleaned up?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. What is the Construction Completion List (CCL)?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. What is the Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use measure?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. What is State/Tribal correspondence concerning NPL Listing?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Availability of Information to the Public</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. May I review the documents relevant to this final rule?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. What documents are available for review at the EPA Headquarters docket?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What documents are available for review at the EPA regional dockets?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. How do I access the documents?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. How may I obtain a current list of NPL sites?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Contents of This Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Additions to the NPL</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. What did the EPA do with the public comments it received?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental Health and Safety Risks</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Congressional Review Act</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. What are CERCLA and SARA?</HD> In 1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. 9601-9675 (“CERCLA” or “the Act”), in response to the dangers of uncontrolled releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, and releases or substantial threats of releases into the environment of any pollutant or contaminant that may present an imminent or substantial danger to the public health or welfare. CERCLA was amended on October 17, 1986, by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (“SARA”), Public Law 99-499, 100 Stat. 1613 <E T="03">et seq.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. What is the NCP?</HD> To implement CERCLA, the EPA promulgated the revised National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (“NCP”), 40 CFR part 300, on July 16, 1982 (47 FR 31180), pursuant to CERCLA section 105 and Executive Order 12316 (46 FR 42237, August 20, 1981). The NCP sets guidelines and procedures for responding to releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances, or releases or substantial threats of releases into the environment of any pollutant or contaminant that may present an imminent or substantial danger to the public health or welfare. The EPA has revised the NCP on several occasions. The most recent comprehensive revision was on March 8, 1990 (55 FR 8666). As required under section 105(a)(8)(A) of CERCLA, the NCP also includes “criteria for determining priorities among releases or threatened releases throughout the United States for the purpose of taking remedial action and, to the extent practicable, taking into account the potential urgency of such action, for the purpose of taking removal action.” “Removal” actions are defined broadly and include a wide range of actions taken to study, clean up, prevent or otherwise address releases and threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants (42 U.S.C. 9601(23)). <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. What is the National Priorities List (NPL)?</HD> The NPL is a list of national priorities among the known or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants throughout the United States. The list, which is appendix B of the NCP (40 CFR part 300), was required under section 105(a)(8)(B) of CERCLA, as amended. Section 105(a)(8)(B) defines the NPL as a list of “releases” and the highest priority “facilities” and requires that the NPL be revised at least annually. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation to assess the nature and extent of public health and environmental risks associated with a release of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants. The NPL is of only limited significance, however, as it does not assign liability to any party or to the owner of any specific property. Also, placing a site on the NPL does not mean that any remedial or removal action necessarily need be taken. For purposes of listing, the NPL includes two sections, one of sites that are generally evaluated and cleaned up by the EPA (the “General Superfund section”) and one of sites that are owned or operated by other Federal agencies (the “Federal Facilities section”). With respect to sites in the Federal Facilities section, these sites are generally being addressed by other federal agencies. Under Executive Order 12580 (52 FR 2923, January 29, 1987) and CERCLA section 120, each Federal agency is responsible for carrying out most response actions at facilit ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 35k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━