[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 211 (Wednesday, November 1, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 55466-55467]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27069]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 300

[FRL-5323-8]


Notice of Policy Change: Partial Deletion of Sites Listed on the 
National Priorities List

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of policy change.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is changing its 
policy concerning deletion of sites listed on the National Priorities 
List (NPL), or Superfund sites. EPA will now delete releases of 
hazardous substances at portions of sites, if those releases qualify 
for deletion. Sites, or portions of sites, that meet the standard 
provided in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan (NCP), i.e., no further response is appropriate, may 
be the subject of entire or partial deletion. EPA expects that this 
action will help to promote the economic redevelopment of Superfund 
sites, and will better communicate the completion of successful partial 
cleanups.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 1, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hugo Paul Fleischman, (5203G), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 
20460; (703) 603-8769. An alternative contact is the Superfund Hotline; 
1-800-424-9346 (TDD 800-553-7672), or in the Washington, D.C. area, 
(703) 412-9810), (TDD 703-412-3323).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With State concurrence, EPA may delete sites 
from the NPL when it determines that no further response is appropriate 
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). See 40 CFR 300.425(e). In making that 
determination, EPA typically considers: whether responsible or other 
parties have implemented all appropriate and required response actions; 
whether all appropriate Fund-financed responses under CERCLA have been 
implemented and EPA has determined that no further cleanup by 
responsible parties is appropriate; or whether the release of hazardous 
substances poses no significant threat to the public health, welfare or 
the environment, thereby eliminating the need for remedial action.
    To date, EPA policy has been to delete releases only after 
evaluation of the entire site. However, deletion of entire sites does 
not communicate the successful cleanup of portions of those sites. 
Total site cleanup may take many years, while portions of the site may 
have been cleaned up and may be available for productive use. Some 
potential investors or developers may be reluctant to undertake 
economic activity at even a cleaned-up portion of real property that is 
part of a site listed on the NPL.
    Therefore, EPA will delete portions of sites, as appropriate, and 
will consider petitions to do so. Such petitions may be submitted by 
any person, including individuals, business entities, States, local 
governments, and other Federal agencies. Partial deletion will also be 
governed by 40 CFR 300.425(e). State concurrence will continue to, 
thus, be a requirement for any partial deletion. 

[[Page 55467]]
EPA will consider partial deletion for portions of sites when no 
further response is appropriate for that portion of the site. Such 
portion may be a defined geographic unit of the site, perhaps as small 
as a residential unit, or may be a specific medium at the site, e.g., 
groundwater, depending on the nature or extent of the release(s).
    Again, EPA wishes to emphasize that the primary purpose of the NPL 
is to serve as an informational and management tool. Whether property 
is part of an NPL site is unrelated to CERCLA liability because neither 
NPL listing nor deletion assigns liability to any party or to the owner 
of any specific property. Liability under CERCLA is determined under 
CERCLA section 107, which makes no reference to NPL listing or 
deletion. Listing or deleting a site from the NPL does not create 
CERCLA liability where it would not otherwise exist. As with entire 
sites, deleted portions of sites remain eligible for further Fund-
financed remedial actions should future conditions warrant such action. 
Whenever there is a significant release from a site or portion of a 
site deleted from the NPL, the site or portion may be restored to the 
NPL without application of the Hazard Ranking System. See 40 CFR 
300.425(e)(3).

    Dated: October 24, 1995.
Elliott P. Laws,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-27069 Filed 10-31-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P