[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37370-37371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15029]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6716-3]


Notice of Superfund Recycling Equity Act Stakeholders Public 
Meeting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public 
meeting to examine whether or not to issue guidance dealing with 
prospective (i.e., post-enactment) recycling transactions covered by 
the Superfund Recycling Equity Act (SREA). To address this question, 
EPA will hear views on whether such guidance is needed, what type of 
guidance might be needed, and what the content of any such guidance 
should be. More specifically, attendees will be given an opportunity to 
share their views with EPA on the issue of what constitutes 
``reasonable care'' as contemplated by sections 127(c)(5), (6) of the 
SREA. Accordingly, EPA is seeking relevant factual information on 
standard practices in the recycling industry, quantity and quality of 
publicly available environmental compliance information, and 
information useful to the agency and industry to implement the 
reasonable care standard contemplated in the SREA. This notice 
identifies a contact person for registration, and includes information 
on the topic, place, date and time of the meeting.

DATES: The public meeting will be held on July 17, 2000, 8:30 a.m. to 5 
p.m. If you would like to attend the meeting, you must notify the 
Agency by July 10, 2000. Any written comments you wish to submit, 
whether or not you attend the meeting, must be submitted as set forth 
below and before July 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at U.S. EPA Headquarters, 
Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. (entrance on 12th 
Street N.W.), in the NETI Conference Room No. 6226, Washington, DC 
20004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherry Green, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement, Subject: Recycling 
Meeting, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Mailcode 2272A, Washington, DC 
20460, 202-564-4303, Fax 202-564-0461, or e-mail: [email protected]. 
Registration: there is no registration fee for this public meeting, 
but, to assure room capacity for all those attending, notice of your 
intention to attend must be received by July 10, 2000. Due to possible 
limitations on space in the meeting room, up to two participants per 
organization is requested, unless special arrangements are made with 
the Agency in advance of the meeting. All interested persons may give 
notice of their intention to attend via email to: [email protected], 
Subject: Recycling Meeting, Fax 202-564-0461, or regular mail to the 
address noted above, and should provide the following information: 
Name, Affiliation (if applicable), Address, Phone, Fax, and Email 
address (if available). All timely comments, both oral and written, 
will be considered.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Superfund Recycling Equity Act (SREA) was enacted on November 
29, 1999, amending the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq. 
SREA may also in some uses be referenced as the ``D.C. Appropriations 
Act 2000, Sec. 6001,'' the ``Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY 
2000, Sec. 6001,'' or P.L. 106-113, Section 6001, and is codified at 42 
U.S.C. Sec. 9627. The purpose of this meeting is to listen to the views 
of all concerned on the issues raised by the SREA pertaining to post-
enactment transactions, in particular, the issue of the reasonable care 
standard under sections 127(c)(5), (6) of the Act. Accordingly, the 
questions listed below have been provided to serve as the framework for 
the dialogue and information exchange at the meeting on July 17, 2000. 
To assure adequate time for all participants, oral remarks will be 
limited to seven minutes per individual or organization. Oral remarks 
may be supplemented with a written statement. All written statements 
(whether you plan to attend the meeting or not) must be received in 
electronic format by EPA by July 10, 2000 (seven days before the 
meeting). Written statements will be made available for public access 
at www.epa.gov/oeca/osre/recycle.html, once received by EPA. We 
encourage all persons planning to attend the meeting to read as many of 
these statements as have been posted before attending the meeting since 
it will inform the group dialogue. Copies of written statements are 
likely to be too voluminous to be provided by EPA at the meeting, so 
please bring your own copies if you intend to refer to them during the 
meeting. Following the presentations, if time permits, EPA will invite 
group discussion of the issues raised to further assist it in 
considering the questions to be addressed.

II. Questions To Be Addressed at the Public Meeting

    (1) How does a generator of scrap material currently exercise 
reasonable care in determining whether a consuming facility has been in 
compliance with substantive provisions of Federal, State or local 
environmental laws?
    (2) What factors does a generator of scrap material currently take 
into account when evaluating the compliance status of a consuming 
facility?
    (3) What prevailing industrial practices are used when assessing a 
facility's compliance status?
    (4) How much inquiry does a generator of scrap material generally 
believe is needed to be reasonably comfortable that it has sufficient 
information to make a decision about a consuming facility's compliance 
status?
    (5) As part of the assessment of what constitutes sufficient 
information, how much weight should standard industrial practices or 
prior business relationships with a particular facility or company be 
given in determining an individual consuming facility's behavior and 
compliance status?
    (6) How do the criteria contained in section 127(c)(6) regarding 
``reasonable care'' shape or direct the type of inquiry that is 
necessary to determine that a consuming facility is in compliance with 
substantive provisions of Federal, State or local environmental laws?
    (7) Under what circumstances should site visits be required?
    (8) What compliance information is available from state and local 
authorities? From other authorities?
    (9) How often/frequently should generators be required to re-check 
the compliance status of consuming facilities?
    (10) Under what circumstances is it appropriate/sufficient to rely 
on a consuming facility's checklist or self-certification to satisfy 
the ``reasonable care'' standard?

    Dated: June 8, 2000.
Barry Breen,
Office Director, Office of Site Remediation Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 00-15029 Filed 6-13-00; 8:45 am]
BILL

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