[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]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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]
BILLING CODE 4163-70-P