[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 83 (Monday, April 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18744-18745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-10502]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
[ATSDR-108]
Notice of the Revised Priority List of Hazardous Substances That
Will Be the Subject of Toxicological Profiles
AGENCY: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), U.S.
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) 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 that
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 subsequently a candidate
for the identification of priority data needs.
ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the 1995 CERCLA Priority List of
Hazardous Substances That Will Be The Subject of Toxicological Profiles
and Support Document or comments on this notice should bear the docket
control number ATSDR-108, and should be submitted to: ATSDR, Division
of Toxicology, Emergency Response and Scientific Assessment 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, any comments received will be placed
in a publicly accessible docket; therefore, please do not submit
confidential business information.
Electronic Availability: The 1995 Revised Priority List will be
available as an electronic file on the Federal Bulletin Board on or
near the day of publication in the Federal Register. By modem, dial
(202) 512-1387 and set your parity to None, Data Bits to 8, and Stop
Bit to 1 (N,8,1). To access the Federal Bulletin Board via Internet,
use the telnet command to fedbbs.access.gpo.gov. This file is available
in WordPerfect 5.1, Dbase IV, and ASCII. The top 20 substances from the
priority list are also listed on ATSDR's Home Page on the World-Wide
Web located at http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ATSDR, Division of Toxicology,
Emergency Response and Scientific Assessment Branch, 1600 Clifton Rd.,
NE., Mailstop E-29, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone (404) 639-6300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CERCLA establishes certain requirements for
ATSDR and EPA with regard to hazardous substances that 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
[[Page 18745]]
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 that are determined to pose the most
significant potential threat to human health. In 1995, the agencies
decided to alter the publication schedule of the priority list by
moving to a 2-year publication schedule, reflecting the stability of
this listing activity (see 60 FR 16478, March 30, 1995). As a result,
the priority list is now on a 2-year publication schedule with a yearly
informal review and revision. 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 subsequently a candidate
for the 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 to
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 became available for the 1995 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 the 1995 listing activity, as in the previous three
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 group of
substances previously considered for the 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). The same approach and the same algorithm
were used in the 1995 listing activity. As a result, more than 750
candidate substances have been ranked to create the current list of 275
substances.
The additional information used in the 1995 listing activity has
been entered into ATSDR's HazDat database since the development of the
1993 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 at NPL sites.
At this time the list includes 275 substances that 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 14,000 contaminant data records to
the HazDat database since the 1993 listing activity has allowed the
agencies to better assess the potential for human exposure to
substances at NPL hazardous waste sites. With these additional data, 23
substances have been replaced on the list of 275 substances. Of the 23
replacement substances, 12 are new candidate substances, and 11 are
substances that were previously under consideration. These changes in
the order of substances appearing on the CERCLA Priority List of
Hazardous Substances will be reflected in the program activities that
rely on the list for future direction. These changes reflect the
dynamic nature of scientific data on substances present at NPL
hazardous waste sites.
This evaluation activity and announcement of a revised Priority
List of Hazardous Substances fulfills the conditions of CERCLA Section
104(i), as amended. ATSDR and EPA intend to publish the next revised
list of hazardous substances in two years, with an informal review and
revision performed in one year. These revisions will reflect changes
and improvements in data collection and availability. Additional
information on the existing methodology used in the development of the
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances can be found in the
Federal Register notices mentioned previously.
Administrative Record
ATSDR and EPA are establishing a single administrative record
entitled ATSDR-108 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 (not a mailing address).
Dated: April 22, 1996.
Claire V. Broome,
Deputy Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
[FR Doc. 96-10502 Filed 4-26-96; 8:45 am]
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