[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 154 (Monday, August 10, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48132-48134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16860]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300
[EPA-HQ-SFUND-1983-0002; FRL-10012-98-Region 8]
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan;
National Priorities List: Partial Deletion the Anaconda Co. Smelter
Superfund Site
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 is issuing
a Notice of Intent to Delete the Beryllium Operable Unit 9 (OU9), the
Flue Dust OU11 and the Arbiter OU12 of the Anaconda Co. Smelter
Superfund Site (Site) located in Anaconda, MT, from the National
Priorities List (NPL) and requests public comments on this proposed
action. The NPL, promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) of 1980, as amended, is an appendix of the National Oil and
[[Page 48133]]
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP). The EPA and the
State of Montana, through the Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ), have determined that all appropriate response actions at these
identified parcels under CERCLA, other than operation and maintenance,
monitoring and five-year reviews, have been completed. However, this
deletion does not preclude future actions under Superfund.
This partial deletion pertains to three Operable Units; the
Beryllium (OU9), the Flue Dust (OU11) and the Arbiter (OU12). The other
areas of the Site will remain on the NPL and are not being considered
for deletion as part of this action.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 9, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-
SFUND-1983-0002, by one of the following methods:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow on-line instructions
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or
removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received
to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of
the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Email: Charles Coleman at [email protected].
Phone: Public comment by phone may be made by calling
(406) 457-5038 and following the directions provided for public
comment.
Written comments submitted by mail are temporarily
suspended and no hand deliveries will be accepted. We encourage the
public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID no. EPA-HQ-SFUND-
1983-0002. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through https://www.regulations.gov or email. The https://www.regulations.gov website
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without
going through https://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the https://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in the hard
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available electronically
in https://www.regulations.gov.
The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Regional
Records Centers for public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting
COVID-19. In addition, many site information repositories are closed
and information in these repositories, including the deletion docket,
has not been updated with hardcopy or electronic media. For further
information and updates on EPA Docket Center services, please visit us
online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Coleman, Remedial Project
Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, 10 West 15th
Street, Suite 3200, Helena, Montana 59626, (406) 457-5038, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
III. Deletion Procedures
IV. Basis for Partial Site Deletion
I. Introduction
EPA Region 8 announces its intent to delete three Operable Units of
the Anaconda Co. Smelter Superfund Site (Site); the Beryllium (OU9),
the Flue Dust (OU11) and the Arbiter (OU12), from the National
Priorities List (NPL) and request public comment on this proposed
action. The NPL constitutes appendix B of 40 CFR part 300 which is the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP),
which EPA promulgated pursuant to section 105 of the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of
1980, as amended. EPA maintains the NPL as those sites that appear to
present a significant risk to public health, welfare, or the
environment. Sites on the NPL may be the subject of remedial actions
financed by the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Fund). This partial
deletion of the three Operable Units of the Anaconda Co. Smelter
Superfund Site (Site); the Beryllium (OU9), the Flue Dust (OU11) and
the Arbiter (OU12), is proposed in accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e)
and is consistent with the Notice of Policy Change: Partial Deletion of
Sites Listed on the National Priorities List. 60 FR 55466 (November 1,
1995). As described in 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP, a portion of a site
deleted from the NPL remains eligible for Fund-financed remedial action
if future conditions warrant such actions.
EPA will accept comments on the proposal to partially delete this
site for thirty (30) days after publication of this document in the
Federal Register.
Section II of this preamble explains the criteria for deleting
sites from the NPL. Section III of this preamble discusses procedures
that EPA is using for this action. Section IV of this preamble
discusses where to access and review information that demonstrates how
the deletion criteria have been met for the Beryllium (OU9), the Flue
Dust (OU11) and the Arbiter (OU12) of the Anaconda Co. Smelter
Superfund Site
[[Page 48134]]
II. NPL Deletion Criteria
The NCP establishes the criteria that EPA uses to delete sites from
the NPL. In accordance with 40 CFR 300.425(e), sites may be deleted
from the NPL where no further response is appropriate. In making such a
determination pursuant to 40 CFR 300.425(e), EPA will consider, in
consultation with the State, whether any of the following criteria have
been met:
i. Responsible parties or other persons have implemented all
appropriate response actions required;
ii. All appropriate Fund-financed response under CERCLA has been
implemented, and no further response action by responsible parties is
appropriate; or
iii. The remedial investigation has shown that the release poses no
significant threat to public health or the environment and, therefore,
the taking of remedial measures is not appropriate.
Pursuant to CERCLA section 121(c) and the NCP, EPA conducts five-
year reviews to ensure the continued protectiveness of remedial actions
where hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain at a
site above levels that allow for unlimited use and unrestricted
exposure. EPA conducts such five-year reviews even if a site is deleted
from the NPL. EPA may initiate further action to ensure continued
protectiveness at a deleted site if new information becomes available
that indicates it is appropriate. Whenever there is a significant
release from a site deleted from the NPL, the deleted site may be
restored to the NPL without application of the hazard ranking system.
III. Deletion Procedures
The following procedures apply to deletion of the Beryllium (OU9),
the Flue Dust (OU11) and the Arbiter (OU12) of the Site:
(1) The EPA consulted with the State before developing this Notice
of Intent for Partial Deletion.
(2) The EPA has provided the state 30 working days for review of
this action prior to publication of it today.
(3) In accordance with the criteria discussed above, EPA has
determined that no further response is appropriate.
(4) The State of Montana, through the MDEQ, has concurred with the
deletion of the the Beryllium (OU9), the Flue Dust (OU11) and the
Arbiter (OU12) of the Anaconda Co. Smelter Superfund Site from the NPL.
(5) Concurrently, with the publication of this Notice of Intent for
Partial Deletion in the Federal Register, a notice is being published
in the Anaconda Leader and Montana Standard. The newspaper announces
the 30-day public comment period concerning the Notice of Intent for
Partial Deletion of the Site from the NPL.
(6) The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed
partial deletion in the deletion docket, made these items available for
public inspection, and copying at the Site information repositories
identified above.
If comments are received within the 30-day comment period on this
action, EPA will evaluate and respond accordingly to the comments
before making a final decision to delete the Beryllium (OU9), the Flue
Dust (OU11) and the Arbiter (OU12). If necessary, EPA will prepare a
Responsiveness Summary to address any significant public comments
received. After the public comment period, if EPA determines it is
still appropriate to delete the Beryllium (OU9), the Flue Dust (OU11)
and the Arbiter (OU12) of the Anaconda Co. Smelter Superfund Site, the
Regional Administrator will publish a final Notice of Partial Deletion
in the Federal Register. Public notices, public submissions and copies
of the Responsiveness Summary, if prepared, will be made available to
interested parties and included in the site information repositories
listed above.
Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not itself
create, alter, or revoke any individual's rights or obligations.
Deletion of a portion of a site from the NPL does not in any way alter
EPA's right to take enforcement actions, as appropriate. The NPL is
designed primarily for informational purposes and to assist EPA
management. Section 300.425(e)(3) of the NCP states that the deletion
of a site from the NPL does not preclude eligibility for future
response actions, should future conditions warrant such actions.
IV. Basis for Partial Site Deletion
The EPA placed copies of documents supporting the proposed partial
deletion in the deletion docket. The material provides explanation of
EPA's rationale for the partial deletion and demonstrates how it meets
the deletion criteria. This information is made available for public
inspection in the docket identified above.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 300
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals,
Hazardous substances, Hazardous waste, Intergovernmental relations,
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Superfund, Water
pollution control, Water supply.
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
Dated: July 29, 2020.
Gregory Sopkin,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.
[FR Doc. 2020-16860 Filed 8-7-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P