[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4446]
[Federal Register: February 28, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
[ATSDR-78]
Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That Will Be the
Subject of Toxicological Profiles
AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
Public Health Service (PHS), Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), as amended by the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), requires that ATSDR and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) annually revise the Priority List
of Hazardous Substances to include additional substances most commonly
found at facilities on the CERCLA National Priorities List (NPL). This
announcement provides notice that the agencies have developed and are
making available a revised CERCLA Priority List of 275 Hazardous
Substances, based on the most recent information available to ATSDR and
EPA. This revised priority list includes newly listed substances which
have been determined to pose the most significant potential threat to
human health at or around NPL hazardous waste sites. Each substance on
the priority list is a candidate to become the subject of a
toxicological profile prepared by ATSDR and subsequent identification
of priority data needs.
ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the revised Priority List of
Hazardous Substances, a copy of the ``Supplemental Document for the
1993 Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances'', or comments on
this notice should bear the docket control number ATSDR-78, and should
be submitted to: ATSDR, Division of Toxicology, Quality Assurance
Branch, Mail Stop E-29, 1600 Clifton Rd., NE., Atlanta, GA 30333.
This is an informational notice only, and comments are not being
solicited at this time. However, comments will be placed in a publicly
accessible docket; therefore, please do not submit confidential
business information.
Electronic Availability: The 1993 Revised Priority List is
available as an electronic file on The Federal Bulletin Board the day
of publication in the Federal Register. By modem dial 202-512-1387 or
call 202-512-1530 for disks or paper copies. This file is available in
Wordperfect 5.1, Dbase III, and ASCII.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Quality Assurance Branch, Division of
Toxicology, ATSDR, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone (404) 639-6308.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances which are most
commonly found at facilities on the CERCLA NPL. Section 104(i)(2) of
CERCLA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 9604(i)(2)), requires that the two
agencies prepare a list, in order of priority, of at least 100
hazardous substances that are most commonly found at facilities on the
NPL and which, in their sole discretion, are determined to pose the
most significant potential threat to human health (see 52 FR 12866,
April 17, 1987). CERCLA also requires the agencies to revise the
priority list to include 100 or more additional hazardous substances
(see 53 FR 41280, October 20, 1988), and to include at least 25
additional hazardous substances in each of the three successive years
following the 1988 revision (see 54 FR 43619, October 26, 1989; 55 FR
42067, October 17, 1990; 56 FR 52166, October 17, 1991). CERCLA also
requires that ATSDR and EPA shall, not less often than once every year
thereafter, revise the list to include additional hazardous substances
which are determined to pose the most significant potential threat to
human health. Each substance on the CERCLA priority list of hazardous
substances is a candidate to become the subject of a toxicological
profile prepared by ATSDR and the subsequent identification of priority
data needs.
The previous priority lists of hazardous substances were based on
the most comprehensive and relevant information available when the
lists were developed. More comprehensive sources of information on the
frequency of occurrence and the potential for human exposure of
substances at NPL sites became available for use in the 1991 priority
list with the development of ATSDR's HazDat database; additional
information from HazDat has become available for this year's listing
activity. In the initial listing activities (1987-1990), new substances
were added to the end of the list, without a comparative reranking. A
notice announcing the intention of ATSDR and EPA to revise and rerank
the priority list of hazardous substances was published on June 27,
1991 (56 FR 29485). In this year's listing activity, as in the previous
two years, new candidate substances (substances found at three or more
NPL sites) were assigned a toxicity/environmental score (TES) using the
EPA Reportable Quantity methodology, and were added to the pool of
substances previously considered for the annual list. All substances
were then evaluated together for consideration on the priority list.
The approach used to generate the 1991 revised priority list was
summarized in the ``Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances'' (56
FR 52166, October 17, 1991). Using the same approach, and the same
algorithm this year, over 700 candidate substances have been ranked to
create the current list of 275 substances.
The additional information used in this year's listing activity was
entered into ATSDR's HazDat database since the development of the 1992
Priority List of Hazardous Substances. As with other site-specific
information used in the listing activity, this information has been
collected from ATSDR Public Health Assessments and from site file data
packages used in the development of Public Health Assessments. The new
information includes more recent NPL frequency of occurrence data,
additional concentration data, and more information on exposure or
potential exposure to substances present at NPL sites.
At this time the list includes 275 substances which ATSDR and EPA
have determined to pose the most significant potential threat to human
health based on the criteria of CERCLA section 104(i)(2) (42 U.S.C.
9604(i)(2)). All candidate substances have been analyzed and ranked
with the current algorithm, and may become the subject of toxicological
profiles in the future.
The addition of approximately 12,800 contaminant data records (for
air, water and soil) to the HazDat database since October 1992 has
allowed the agencies to better assess the potential for human exposure
to substances at NPL hazardous waste sites. With this additional data,
10 new candidate substances have been added to the list, and 13
substances under consideration last year have moved onto the list.
Accordingly, 23 substances have been replaced on the list of the 275
substances. These changes in the order of substances appearing on the
CERCLA priority list of hazardous substances will be reflected in the
program activities which rely on the list for future direction. For
example, Dicofol moved up significantly (to number 107) on the 1993
list when compared to last year's list. As a result it will be included
in the pool of substances that may become the subject of new
toxicological profiles in the next fiscal year. Similarly, alpha-
Endosulfan (number 33) moved well into the range of those substances to
be considered for the development of updated toxicological profiles
(CERCLA also requires ATSDR to evaluate new information on profiled
substances for potential revision every three years). These changes
reflect the dynamic nature of scientific data on substances present at
NPL (and other) hazardous waste sites.
This annual evaluation activity and announcement of a revised
priority list of hazardous substances fulfills the conditions of CERCLA
section 104(i), as amended, which requires ATSDR and EPA to revise the
list yearly to include additional hazardous substances. The agencies
intend to revise the list of hazardous substances annually thereafter
to reflect changes and improvements in data collection and
availability. Additional information on the methodology used in the
development of the CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances can be
found in the Federal Register notices mentioned above.
Administrative Record
ATSDR and EPA are establishing a single administrative record
entitled ATSDR-78 for materials pertaining to this notice. All
materials received as a result of this notice will be included in the
public file which is available for inspection from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal legal holidays, at the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, #4 Executive Park Drive, Suite
2400, Atlanta, Georgia.
Dated: February 18, 1994.
Walter R. Dowdle,
Deputy Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 94-4446 Filed 2-25-94; 8:45 am]
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